'Fred's so buff he just loves to get his kit off'

As Fred Sirieix stirs things up in the jungle, Laura Tott weighs up his chances of winning and tells new everyone fancies him

- ZARA ZUBEIDI

It didn't take long for First Dates maître d' Fred Sirieix to cause a commotion in the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! camp by confronting politician Nigel Farage over his "shameful" Brexit poster last week. But 24 hours later it was his clash with influencer Nella Rose that dominated the news.

Nella, 26, accused the 51-year-old Frenchman of "disrespecting her" when he joked he was old enough to be her dad soon after she spoke to him about her father's death in 2020.

"I don't want to be around you," Nella raged. "I only allow people to disrespect me once. You hurt my feelings."

Addressing the feud-dubbed #dadgate - on Instagram, First Dates waitress Laura Tott said she was "proud" of how Fred handled himself.

Here, Laura, 29, shares her thoughts on the drama and reveals the secret to her co-star Fred's impressive physique.

Hi, Laura! You must be so proud of Fred...

I am. It almost feels like having a family member in the jungle. Having worked with him for so long, he's like a naughty brother. He's doing amazing. I love that people are getting to see who he is. They've probably seen a softer side to him as well.

What was your initial reaction to #dadgate?

It was a really uncomfortable watch. I just felt sorry for Fred because I know how upset he would have been thinking he'd offended someone. He'll be heartbroken. We saw how much he was apologising. At the moment it sounds like their friendship is done. But the thing is, people deal with grief differently, and tensions are rising in there because they're not eating or sleeping properly.

Do you think Fred and Nella's friendship can come back from this?