Complaints have been raised over Ian Wright's "perceived bullying" of Andrew Maxwell during their time on I'm a Celebrity, but now the former footballer has an unlikely ally in his corner – Andrew's wife! After touching down at Brisbane Airport ahead of the first live eviction on Friday, Suraya El-Wakil, who married Andrew in 2016, insisted that the tension between the two has been blown out of proportion and admitted that the comedian is "not easy" to live with.
"Is it bullying? No, not at all," she told The Mirror. "He's a grown-up man. They're all fine. You put anyone in that environment and you're going to have disagreements, with sleep deprivation and food deprivation." Suraya even joked that Ian has become Andrew's "jungle wife". She added: "At the beginning it felt like Kate Garraway was going to step in to the jungle wife role for him. But now I feel like Ian is being his jungle wife and they’re just having a lot of tiffs."
Tension was caused by Andrew going to sleep instead of helping Caitlyn Jenner do the dishes
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Suraya, who shares two children with Andrew, admitted she understood how some of the rows had occurred, referencing an incident this week which saw Ian frustrated at Andrew after he took a nap instead of washing up with Caitlyn Jenner. She added: "I will be the first to tell you he is not the easiest to live with. Not doing the dishes after dinner is a daily struggle, so I feel for you, Caitlyn. He is being himself as best as anyone can be in that situation. Sometimes he gets tired and hungry in there. There have been times when he has been struggling. It’s a really tough environment. He is only human and he is exhausted. He has good days and bad days but is doing well."
Both Ian's wife and Andrew's wife have dismissed bullying claims
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Suraya's support of Ian comes after the footballer's own wife Nancy defended his behaviour. She told The Sun: "I think everyone gets a bit tetchy after a while. He has his moments but he's doing well. I don't think it's anything particular between them. They're both quite strong characters. I can't wait to see him. It's been a long time not seeing him. I think he's doing brilliantly. Lots of challenges but he's doing really well."
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