Mum of Coleen Rooney says 'I've finally got my daughter back' in heartfelt I'm A Celebrity moment

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The mum of Coleen Rooney has said 'I've finally got my daughter back' in a heartfelt I'm A Celebrity moment.

The WAG's jungle moments have captured the heart of the nation and made her one of the favourites to win. But as her mum held her daughter closely in her arms during a camp visit, she realised how nervous Coleen was about how she was being perceived back home.

In an exclusive interview with our sister publication, the Mirror, Colette McLoughlin opened up about her moment with her daughter in the jungle and how grateful she is to see her daughter get her confidence back after the Wagatha Christie trial.

Mum Colette said: “As I held her, one of the things she said to me was ‘mum, have I been boring?’ It broke my heart hearing that but I said, ‘no, you've been yourself and that’s all that matters.

“She is obviously thinking about what people are thinking, but she needn’t worry. If she went in shouting and being loud, that wouldn’t be her. We've seen the true Coleen."

The proud mum said that her daughter’s jungle experience has been just what she needed after a tough two years centred around her High Court battle, and she believes that the show has helped get her zest for life back.

Colette explained: “Absolutely, the show’s helped it come back, and also her confidence, because she was really lacking in it.

“It was horrendous, because at one time during the trial, we lost Coleen. Coleen wasn't Coleen. She couldn't be herself. We didn't know before the trial what was going on because she didn't tell us. We noticed a difference in her behaviour, in her attitude, she even distanced herself.

“So when it all came out, it was a relief for us, really, because then we knew what was going on. But now we've got her back fully.”

After so long apart, Colette was eager to find out on her camp visit just how Coleen was doing in the jungle. But she was left under no illusions just how hard the experience had been.

Colette said: “She said that she didn’t want me to go, and I said ‘come home now, come home. But then she calmed down, and I asked her: ‘how is it?’

"She said that she had a headache for the first few days because she was getting no sugar, and must have been detoxing, but then she said how hard it had been.”

As viewers saw, the arrival of her boys lifted her spirits tremendously. And in the minutes before seeing their mum, they were practically bubbling over with excitement.

“They keep asking: ‘Is she here, really?’ They kept thinking she was going to jump out from behind a bush any minute. We kept saying to them 'five more minutes and you'll see your mum again'. They just couldn't wait. It was so lovely.”

When the moment came, it brought a tear to Colette’s eye. “I heard almost a squeal of a cry from her, and my heart just lifted when I saw her,” she says.

“It was wonderful seeing the boys in her arms, and they were so excited.” Soon the boys were having a VIP tour of camp from their mum.

“They really wanted to see the dunny and the beds, and were asking endless questions,” Colette laughs.

“They were obsessed. Coming away was hard but we told them it won’t be long before you see your mum again, and they accepted that, although Cass got quite emotional at the end.”

With Coleen in the jungle, and Wayne busy managing Plymouth Argyle on the south coast, Colette has been looking after the boys with her husband Tony.

“Her dad sobbed this morning when he watched Coleen with the boys,” she says. “He's very protective of Coleen and all his children, and it really moved him.”

She says that the boys have been a delight to look after and are “used to being with me and their granddad so it's nothing new.”

And while she is in Australia, her two eldest boys Kai, 15, and Klay, 11 have been busy Facetiming her. “They are saying how proud of their mum they are, especially the drinking trials ... .everyone is particularly impressed by how she just downed it,” Colette laughs.

She is also in regular contact with husband Wayne on Facetime. “Today he was saying: ‘get in there’ when she got through. He's over the moon, he really is. He obviously misses her but he is really proud of how she is doing,”she says.

Like the millions of viewers at home, the whole family have been impressed by her calmness under pressure when it comes to the trials. But for Colette, this was never in doubt.

“Coleen is very patient, she takes her time, and she’ll think things through. She would never give up, that’s not her,” she says.

“She hesitated a little putting her hand up at the trials but that was out of her being polite. She was giving other people a chance, because she's done quite a few. And she didn't want to be seen to be too pushy.”

Fans of the show have lapped up Coleen’s hilarious anecdotes - including her bizarre meeting with Donald Trump. But for Colette one story is very much her personal favourite.

“I love the one about Wayne proposing in a petrol station and how they celebrated with corned beef hash back home,” she says “That’s where they are happiest, when they’re around family.”

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She says her and Wayne are “just a normal couple” despite being in the public eye since they were teenagers.

“She lives in her car and is always driving the boys around….I don’t know how she does it, getting them to football, getting them to school. The day starts at 6am on the dot,” she says, adding laughing: “I said to her in the jungle ‘have you had a rest?’ and she looked at me and said: ‘No’. She said: 'I've been up and down there all the time to get wood.'”

There have been more poignant moments in camp too. During one discussion, Coleen told how Wayne can’t watch Kai play football anymore because of all the attention he receives.

“The boys feel it…they want their dad to be with them,” she says. “People come up to him, sadly, thinking it's their right. It’s not that easy to refuse them, but he just wants to spend time with his own children.”

For Colette, she always knew that Coleen would cope with the great outdoors - after loving their £200 caravan growing up.

“She had baths in a tin bath outside the caravan..these were all the memories she's kept,” she says.

With all eyes on the final, Colette says she has no expectations as to how her daughter will fare. But one thing’s for sure: she couldn’t be prouder…or excited for that matter.

“I’ve been in trouble with everyone back home because I’ve been ringing them so excited, and I haven’t realised what the time is and I am waking them all up,” she laughs.

“Coleen wanted people to see her for who she is. And I think she's achieved that. It is the Coleen we know, but now it’s the Coleen everyone knows."

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