As a father of four Michael Bassingthwaighte has stood back many times and had faith in each of his daughters whenever they have stepped out to bravely try something new.
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But during the last week Mr Bassingthwaighte said watching Natalie jump so far out of her comfort zone was uncomfortable. Especially on Sunday night when she was tied to a bungee cord and asked to take a giant leap of faith on WIN’s I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.
Natalie Bassingthwaighte has only been in the jungle a week but already done many things she never has before. “My heart was jumping last night I can tell you. I saw a preview clip at about 3 o’clock on Sunday afternoon..and could see she was quite nervous and petrified and my heart started to jump,” Mr Bassingthwaighte said.
The having to wait four hours to find out what was going to happen was “nerve-racking”. He said the family having no contact with Natalie while she is in the African jungle is hard. The filming is only done a day or two before and as far as he knows she has never bungee jumped before. In fact she is not likely to have done many things she is doing on the reality TV show before. “She jumped out of an airplane the first night and then put her hand in a box full of snakes and rats and scorpions that day. And the bungee jump was a 100 metre drop apparently. That is the length of a football field.”
Mr Bassingthwaighte said Natalie’s three sisters all seemed impressed making supporting and encouraging comments on social media seeing they can’t communicate with her directly.
And he is impressed with how supportive and encouraging the contestants were with each other.
“Just before she was about to jump I saw Steve Price each over and grab her hand which I thought was really nice,” he said.
“That was a bit comforting but watching the whole thing was a bit challenging for me as a farther I have got to say.”
Mr Bassingthwaighte said it was too early to tell if his daughter may become the first female to ever be the last one standing at the end of the six weeks.
“There is still a long way to go I think,” he said.
“I think next Sunday they say who is the first to leave.”
Asked if thought many Wollongong and Shellharbour people would vote to keep her on the program he said he had heard some good feedback from people in the Illawarra region and it is nice to knwo she is likely to get that local support.
“She is always putting Wollongong out there in terms of anything she does. She is always saying this is where she is from,” he said.
“I had a good few people commenting at golf on Saturday. And when I wander up town people stop me and ask how she is going. That hard part for me is because I can’t make any contact I can’t ring her up and say “well done” or “I am so proud of you”. I am watching her from afar like everyone else.”
Mr Bassingthwaighte said it was clear before the jump on Sunday she was very traumiatised. But after she had done it he thinks she was pretty pleased with herself.
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Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
