Things heat up between Joey Essex and Maria Thattil on I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!

Steamy scenes from tonight’s episode of I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! see some curious late-night activity between two unlikely stars.

This year’s inevitable I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! romance has levelled up – with British reality star Joey Essex and Aussie model Maria Thattil sneaking a late-night “cuddle” in the jungle tonight.

The flirty pair are seen sharing a bed in a snippet from the Channel 10 show from tonight’s episode, briefly disappearing beneath the covers for a make out sesh away from the camera.

Watching on from their own sleeping bags, fellow campmates Brooke McClymont and faux influencer David Subritzky gasped and giggled as they looked over to see the pair moving under the covers.

David could barely contain his excitement at the prospect of things heating up between Maria and Joey.

Country music singer Brooke McClymont gasped when she realised what was going on.

Essex, 31, and Thattil, 28, instantly hit it off when they met in week one and were seen holding hands last week.

After the intimate moment, Essex admitted during a confessional that “something is there” between the pair.

Thattil, who was Miss Universe Australia in 2020, was talking about qualities she looks for in a potential partner, as the pair held hands in front of their campmates.

The two get very close in tonight’s episode.

“I like people who are adventurous, creative and open,” Thattil said.

Essex responded: “I’ve pretty much got all those things haven’t I? I’m just saying. If there was like a piece of paper with all the boxes I reckon every one would be ticked.”

The TOWIE star later said in a confessional: “It’s nice to have someone in here who I can talk to, who I can be with in a friendly way but at the same time, something is there.” During her own confessional, Thattil mirrored Essex’s sentiments.

“I think we’ve hit it off really, really well. We’re having great conversation. It’s really lovely. He is very charming,” she said.

The genetically-blessed stars are set to be this year’s I’m A Celeb jungle couple.

It comes after Thattil told The Daily Telegraph she had no idea who Essex was when he entered the Aussie jungle as an intruder in week one.

“I had no concept of who he was so when I was getting to know him, I wasn’t getting to know ‘Joey Essex’ the character,” Thattil told the publication.

“I am not overly impressed or flustered by that side of things. It is more, are you a nice, kind, attractive person that I am vibing? Cool, let’s enjoy that. It didn’t really phase me because I had no idea who he was.”

Thattil has said she didn’t know who Joey Essex was when he showed up in the jungle.

Essex starred in The Only Way Is Essex from 2011 to 2013.

Last week, Thattil opened up about her sexuality, revealing she has dated both men and women in the past.

The model told Sydney Confidential that she had hidden her sexuality until recently because it had been “shamed” out of her when she was in school.

“It is something I have felt for a very long time,” Thattil told Confidential.

“I grew up having crushes on girls in school and just completely invalidated it because of religion and also because there were many homophobic sentiments in my school around being a lesbian, around anything other than heteronormativity.

“You don’t have a lot of bisexual visibility in popular culture and so you don’t understand what it is.”

Thattil explained that her last relationship ended two years ago, which prompted her to start “exploring and dating women”.

While she is yet to have a serious relationship with a woman, she said she has “dated women casually”.

I’m A Celeb was shot in northern NSW late last year, with Thattil now back in Melbourne and Essex in the UK.

I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! continues tonight at 7.30pm AEDT on Channel 10.

Originally published as Things heat up between Joey Essex and Maria Thattil on I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!