Harry Garside breaks silence on the brutal career fallout from joining I’m A Celeb

Harry Garside stayed silent when his trainer dumped him for signing up to a reality show. Now, he’s finally speaking out.

Lightweight boxing champion Harry Garside’s cover as an I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here contestant was blown back in February, when his trainer publicly axed him for privately signing on to this season of the show.

“The ingredients for being a world champion are hard work and commitment,” legendary trainer Johnny Lewis told The Daily Telegraph.

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“You can’t keep knocking back fights. There are no shortcuts in the fight game. I’m actually really disappointed but I genuinely wish him well although I’m not sure that he’s choosing the right path.”

Boxing champ Harry Garside in his I’m A Celeb garb.

Garside says he’s at a career crossroads.

Garside, in a media blackout before his I’m A Celeb stint, had to stay publicly silent – until now.

I met with the softly-spoken 25-year-old in South Africa, the day before he entered the jungle, and found him typically philosophical about being so publicly dumped.

“I can understand his position completely, but I can also understand my position. It‘s my life and my decisions,” he said. “But we were walking in different directions and we wanted different things. So how can you get to the same destination if you want different things?”

And Garside said it was actually to his benefit that he needed to maintain a public silence about what had happened: Rather than working through his feelings in the media, he got to do it privately with two of his biggest springboards – his parents.

Garside with trainer Johnny Lewis, who recently dropped him as a client – and blew his I’m A Celeb secret. Picture: No Limit Boxing/Brett Costello

“They’re the only people who knew that I was going. I could just talk to them, bounce off them, and I could get through it. But if I had to talk to people and constantly delve into it … The fact that I had to just not answer any calls, not answer any messages, made it a bit easier.”

So what does Garside make of his former trainer’s accusation that his heart’s no longer in boxing?

Expecting a fierce rebuttal, I instead found Garside wearing his heart on his sleeve as he described the “career crossroads” he’s currently facing, as he mulls over three very different paths ahead.

“One, stay professional [in boxing] and turn away from my heart, but potentially set my family up for life with money,” he began.

Garside, seen here at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is mulling over whether he should chase more Olympic glory. Picture: Buda Mendes/Getty

“Option two, try go to the Olympics next year, try and win a gold medal and honour myself, honour my country, honour my heart, and honour my pride – but have no money.

“Or option three, walk away from boxing altogether and focus my energy on something else.”

It’s a big decision to make – and a lot of weight on the shoulders of a 25-year-old who grew up without much money, knowing that the first option could set him and his family up for life financially.

“I‘m sitting on a bit of a lottery ticket right now, where I realistically could cash in on my boxing career. There’s a big potential that I could make a lot of money. So there, of course, is that pressure,” he acknowledges.

“I want to set my family up and I want to buy my mum and dad a house. And I want my kids to eat well. Of course I want that.”

“But is it to the detriment of [my] happiness? That’s the dilemma.”

He said he plans to use his downtime in camp – and the wisdom and experience of his older campmates – to try to plan his next move.

“I’d love to finish this experience knowing what direction to walk in over the next few years.”

I’m A Celeb continues 7.30pm tonight on Ten.

Nick Bond travelled to South Africa as a guest of Ten.

Originally published as Harry Garside breaks silence on the brutal career fallout from joining I’m A Celeb