The lucky last arrival into the jungle, George was a welcome addition to our merry batch of celebrities - hungrier than ever, their mouths watered with glee seeing the celebrity chef walk into camp. But going into the jungle wasn't such an easy decision for George.
"Before going in, I was nervous, excited, and apprehensive - a lot of feelings," George told 10. "I'm 47 years old, removing all my shields, removing the noise of the outside world, no contact with my family... It's pretty daunting, but I wouldn't change any part of it.
"I’ve always loved the show for its values; it’s not nastiness, it’s not about strategy… It’s got a lot of the values of MasterChef in many ways," George continued. "Nurturing, caring, supporting, telling a story, being part of something, and hopefully influencing someone out there.
"That, for me, was a big plus, and all the boxes were ticked, so I thought, let’s do it, let’s go and be part of this."
Entering the camp a few days after everyone else, George had to adjust to his new surroundings, adding that the first 24 hours were certainly the most difficult.
"I'm a control freak, I like things done my way, you know? I lead teams... Suddenly I'm part of the team, and I'm living with strangers... in terms of a social experiment, it's pretty amazing," George said.
"And you know what was lovely? There were some really good people in there; we looked after each other, cared for each other, and supported each other," he said.
Having formed such tight bonds with his fellow campmates, George admitted that he was surprised by how emotional things could get in the jungle, but the experience also allowed Australia to see a different side to him than the judge they'd be used to seeing.
"I stood at the top of the room for 11 years on MasterChef, bringing out the emotions of contestants. Suddenly... I'm the one opening up and being vulnerable," he said, adding, "I never thought I'd do that, and not on national TV."
After seeing a few episodes, a close friend reached out to George and said he was thrilled that the rest of the country could meet the real George. "I went, 'What are you talking about? I was on MasterChef for 11 years!' and he said, 'That wasn't George, that was George the chef, the judge. This is real and vulnerable.'"
Inundated with messages from fans, George was a little surprised at some of the comments he's received since his jungle debut. "The outpouring of support has been beautiful... and no, I'm not going back on MasterChef," he laughed.
"I still get a lot of that, [but] that chapter's done, it was wonderful, and the three of us are very grateful for those 11 years, but it's been awesome."
George's time in the jungle also continued a very troubling trend of celebrity chefs being the worst offenders when it comes to sneaking contraband into camp. "Lucky I didn't pull out a kitchen sink," George joked.
In one of the more creative spreads of contraband, George snuck in salt and pepper, salt and vinegar powder, furikake, stock, and wasabi powder, just to name a few items. "If I could do anything to enhance the food and make my fellow celebs happy, well then, I was going to do it," George said.
But the 'under-bench staples' George had snuck in were soon surrendered to the ever-watching eyes of the jungle gods. "I forgot that there's a million cameras," he laughed.
While all of the celebrities have to adjust to living life with the bare minimum, the camp chef really had to wrap his head around cooking with the items delivered each night.
"I struggled, I really did," George admitted. "Everything was so plain, and that was the hardest thing for me. I'm in the flavour business, so I've always got a pantry full of stuff... but it made me really think outside the square.
"We ate really well, but it just wasn't enough! We were starving," he added.
As one of three celebrities yet to face an elimination battle at the Elephant's Graveyard, George was summoned alongside Nath Valvo and Concetta Caristo to play a tactical trivia game. Each celeb was blindfolded and tied to a support pole by a series of ropes while dangling over a mud pit.
Each celeb had the same number of ropes supporting them, but they wouldn't know how many ropes. As they were asked a series of 'closest to' questions, the winner would pick one of the other two celebs to have one of their ropes cut. The first to have all their ropes severed would fall into the mud and out of the race for the jungle throne.
While the game was designed to turn the celebs against each other, George, Nath and Concetta instead attempted to make it as fair as possible, taking turns to cut one another's ropes.
"I answered the most questions correctly, and I could have just picked one of them, gotten rid of them and saved myself. But that's not what this is about," George said.
"These are human beings who are my family now, I'm not going to do that to them, and they weren't going to do that to me! So we shared it around, and I fell into the mud," he laughed.
Released back into the real world, George was just thrilled to have made it to finals week. His fall into the mud was softened by the warm shower, bed, and glass of wine waiting for him on the other side of the Tunnel of Doom.
George's time in the jungle was in support of BeyondBlue, one of the nation’s most trusted and well-known mental health organisations, offering information, support and hope to those who are struggling, need advice, or are recovering.
"To be able to be in [the jungle] and talk about my struggle and my dark time, where it could have gone really sh*ts up, I was just lucky I had family there for me and around me," George said.
"There are a lot of people out there who don't have that luxury, so to ring the bell and hopefully make people listen... hopefully there's somebody who is doing it tough or is in a dark space who may have watched it and thought, you know what? I'm going to pick the phone up," he continued.
"I love the fact that we all get the opportunity to talk about this stuff; there's not enough good television like this out there; that's why I love I'm A Celebrity," George said, adding, "I was also really chuffed to come back home again.
"Channel 10 means a lot to me. It has given me so many opportunities, and to be back on the network where it all started for me was a real honour."
You can find out more about BeyondBlue and all the charities our other celebs are supporting here.
I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! continues Sundays at 7pm and Monday-Wednesday at 7.30pm. Watch + Stream Free on 10
