He’s the flamboyant latecomer who’s stolen the I’m A Celebrity jungle with his velvet vocabulary, operatic serenades to snakes, and sonnets delivered from the camp’s bathing pool like a glamorous merman. But is Tom Read Wilson, 39, really like that off-screen? According to the woman who’s known him for a staggering 34 years – his childhood best friend Charlie Collins – the answer is a resounding YES… and then some.
Tom Read Wilson’s true character outside of I’m A Celebrity has been revealed by his childhood friend in a very lengthy post shared on Instagram on Thursday
In an emotional, heart-melting Instagram post that’s gone viral, Charlie (who met Tom when they were just four years old) has lifted the lid on the real Tom Read Wilson – and it’s even more wholesome than we dared hope.
Posting a joyous throwback of Tom sprinting through a field in a full suit (because of course he is), Charlie wrote:
“We are so proud of this one in a million man @tomreadwilson.
Tom was my first kiss and I fear I was his and put him off girls for life 😂
We used to star as leads together in school plays, but Tom – more sparkly and effervescent than anyone – was absolutely born for the stage.
When Miranda and I would be playing, Tom would be scaling octaves in his room, priming those vocal cords for all his performances!”
She went on to reveal just how relentlessly kind the Celebs Go Dating star has always been:
“In later life, Tom always said yes to helping with anything – performing Christmas songs at the random consignment store I worked in, reading to kids at my sister’s school, celebrating my book launch, or serenading our wedding guests in 2022 with the funniest poem you’ve ever heard. Tom is always there when you need him.”
Charlie even confessed that her nearly five-year-old son Ivo is obsessed with Tom’s children’s books – and she reads them in her best Tom voice, naturally.
As for family? “Words can’t describe what he means to his sister Miranda, brother Jack, and my goodness does he dote on his fabulous mummy @cheesemanjuliette. Tom frequently whisks our mums out for champagne lunches, spoiling them rotten with hilarious stories and magical company. Tom is just so kind.”
Wrapping up her love letter, Charlie declared:
“In a world full of scary things, you are the sunshine and the spoonful of sugar we all need… You are the yolk to our egg Tom! Tom for the win!”
### The teacher–pupil romance that started it all
While Tom has charmed the nation (and campmate Aitch) by crediting his extraordinary “lingo” to his English teacher father, he’s been slightly more reserved about how his parents actually met.
The truth? His dad, Crispin Read Wilson, began a relationship with one of his 18-year-old pupils – Juliette Cheeseman, who later became Tom’s mum.
Appearing on 8 Out of 10 Cats last year, Tom casually dropped the bombshell:
“My father was an English teacher and that’s how I happened. My maternal grandfather taught at the same school and sometimes the eldest girls of the faculty would date the youngest teachers.”
When a stunned Rob Beckett asked, “So your dad was a teacher there and your mum was a child there?” Tom clarified:
“Well she was 18, coming of age. He was 16 years her senior… Yes, he was 34 and she was 18. I never really thought about it.”
His parents have since separated, with his father remarrying, but Tom remains close to both. His proud mum Juliette, who jetted into Australia this week, told reporters at the airport:
“He was born with a dictionary in his mouth! His father was an English teacher so that’s where he gets it from. He doesn’t get it from me, unfortunately. Sometimes I don’t even understand what he says!”
### Verdict from the jungle? 100% genuine
From hypnotising snakes with song to reciting Shakespeare in the bush shower, everything we’re seeing in the jungle appears to be the real Tom – just turned up to eleven.
As Charlie says: he was born to make others smile. And right now, the entire nation is beaming.
Team Tom all the way! 🌟