Owen Warner and Mike Tindall chatting on I'm A Celeb
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I’m A Celebrity: Mike Tindall ‘under pressure and had sudden shift in emotions’ when discussing royals

Mike opened up last night

I’m A Celeb star Mike Tindall appeared to have a “sudden shift in his emotions” as he spoke about the royals last night, an expert has claimed.

Rugby star Mike opened up about the royal family briefly during Thursday night’s show as he was asked about Buckingham Palace by campmate Owen Warner.

Owen asked Mike: “Have you been to Buckingham Palace much? What’s it like there?”

Mike replied: “More than most. A lot of it’s all the state rooms and there’s only a little bit of living.”

Mike Tindall sitting in the jungle on I'm A Celeb
Royal Mike Tindall opened up last night (Credit: ITV)

Mike Tindall on I’m A Celeb

Owen then asked: “When you first started chatting to Zara, how late in did you know she was royalty? Straight away?”

Mike said: “Yeah, because I know she’s Princess Anne’s daughter. Princess Anne is patron of Scottish Rugby.”

Owen said: “Did you feel a bit of pressure? If I was chatting to a girl and then found out she was royalty, I’d be nervous.”

However, Mike said: “No, because we were friends first and then William and Harry were massive England fans at the time, so we’d met them numerous times. Met more of the family than you’d normally have met of the woman you start dating.”

According to body language expert Darren Stanton, Mike appeared slightly guarded when answering questions about the royals.

Speaking on behalf of Betfair Casino, Darren said: “I think Owen has an interesting style of asking questions, which comes across as very innocent.

“He clearly has a genuine interest and is curious about Mike’s life outside of the jungle.

“There were several interesting moments in the few minutes that Owen and Mike were talking, especially from Mike who showed expressions we have not seen from him before.

I'm A Celeb star Owen Warner speaking
To pass the time, Owen quizzed Mike on royal life (Credit: ITV)

“At one point, I noticed a sudden shift in his emotions internally and a slight change in his posture.

“You’ll notice from the footage on certain questions that Mike, who was sitting on the floor, reached up to the bridge of his nose with his hand.”

Darren continued: “This is what we call a self reassurance gesture or a pacifier in psychology. This gesture is often used for reassurance and to make sure that we are doing or saying the right thing.

“Even though Mike comes across as a very open and honest guy, there were a few moments where he was considering very carefully what he was going to say about the royal family.”

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Mike and Zara Tindall

Meanwhile, Darren also spoke about Owen’s questions to Mike about his relationship with Zara.

Darren added: “[Mike] also used deflective linguistics, which usually occurs when a person is under pressure. During their conversation, Mike volleyed the question back to Owen and asked, ‘How do you mean?’ I think this was a clever way of buying himself a few seconds to consider his answer.

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“I also noticed he made the same gesture of placing his hand on his nose and his right leg began to shake for a few seconds.

“Again, this denotes a shift in emotion. Although Mike is generally honest and open, I think he is ever so slightly guarded when speaking about the royals.”

I’m A Celebrity continues on ITV1 and ITV X, tonight, from 9:15pm.

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Rebecca Carter
Associate Editor (News)