BRIAN PADDICK
Age: 50
Occupation: Former London Mayoral Candidate and Ex-Deputy Assistant Commissioner for London's Metropolitan Police Service
Phobias: None
Special Skills: Cooking
He says: If theres somebody there whos having a really hard time
then Im going to be the guy who puts their arm round them. And if they start crying then Im likely to join in.
Brian Paddick says he is heading into the jungle stop people from taking him so seriously and he thinks hell probably burst into tears while hes in there.
Brian says he wants people to realise he is fun, and hopes that by appearing on Im A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here ! the requests for him to comment on serious issues will dry up.
He says: I get asked to do very serious programmes. I go on and debate policing issues. I talk about terrorism. I talk about racism in the police. And really its all very heavy and very serious.
He continues jokingly: And Im thinking once Ive done this I probably wont get asked to do any of those things any more and thatll be great. Hopefully I might get asked to do different things. But at least the really heavy, serious stuff will dry up.
I did 30 years in the police and now whenever there is a crisis at Scotland Yard whether its something to do with drugs or racism or all the serious stuff then the phone doesnt stop ringing and I want to do something trivial. I want to start enjoying myself. This is about doing something for fun and showing people that Im not just a serious politician and a serious former police officer.
I think the public when they see me in the jungle are going to see that Im not some camp, that Im not some sort of liberal guy whos got really crazy ideas about everything on the planet including drugs. I think theyre going to see somebody who actually is fairly normal, whatever normal is.
And he also says he empathises with people so much that if he is talking to someone who starts to cry, he will cry with them.
He says: I empathise with people a lot. Ive been in a situation where one of my officers in the police, his father was killed in a car accident, and I had to tell him and he started crying and I started crying, even though we were both in full uniform.
So when people get upset I tend to join in. I dont know what it is about me, whether I was dropped on my head as a baby or something, but Ive got this thing about caring for other people.
I really want to look after other people. And if theres somebody there whos having a really hard time, either from somebody else whos in the jungle or just because theyre finding it difficult to cope with being without their loved one or whatever, then Im going to be the guy who puts their arm round them. And if they start crying then Im likely to join in. I have a lot of empathy for other people, particularly people who are vulnerable.
He also revealed that he will be getting married to his Norwegian partner in January 2009.
He says: Ive fallen in love with this gorgeous Norwegian guy and were going to get married in January. So if it all goes t*ts up I can just go off to Norway where nobody will have seen the programme and everything will be fine.
He said his partner and his electric razor are the two things he will miss the most.
