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'I lost everything': Sam Dastyari details marriage breakdown on I'm a Celebrity
It's been four days in the South African jungle for the contestants on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and their walls are starting to come down.
Between deeply uncomfortable challenges and in-camp clashes, the 12 famous faces are discovering each other's inner workings - and in the case of Tuesday's episode, it was former politicians Sam Dastyari and Jacqui Lambie who let their guards down the most.
Former Tasmanian Senator Lambie opened up about the post-traumatic struggles she endured after being medically discharged from the army in 2000 after sustaining a back injury.
Talking to campmates Natasha Exelby and Justin Lacko, Lambie detailed her battle to secure appropriate treatment for the injury and to claim the entitlements she was owed from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
The almost decade-long fight saw Lambie reach breaking point, culminating in a suicide attempt.
"That's why I hate [the Department of Veterans' Affairs] and that's why I take them on," Lambie said. "It cost them double the amount to fight me. Your taxpayers' money was wasted and I lost 10 years of my life and I nearly lost my life in 2009 by walking out in front of a car.
Jacqui Lambie. Credit: Network 10
"You wouldn’t believe I had to walk out in front of a car for them to help me."
Asked by Exelby how she'd managed to heal emotionally, Lambie said the attempt to take her own life finally saw her receive the compensation and treatment she'd been entitled to.
"Once I walked out in front of car they started to give me help, so I spent the next two years in and out of a psych unit - I think I spent about 28 weeks there," Lambie said.
Later in the episode, it was Dastyari's turn to reveal all to some of his campmates, with the former Labor MP openly discussing the "self-inflicted" downfall that saw his career in politics and eight-year marriage to Helen Barron come to an end.
"I did this because I literally had no idea what else I wanted to do," Dastyari told campmates Exelby, Justine Schofield and Yvie Jones of his decision to enter I'm a Celebrity. "Everyone here is so positive and everyone's at different stages of their careers... I'm like this unequivocal trainwreck."
Shooshing objections from Exelby, Dastyari detailed what it was like losing his job in the aftermath of the Chinese donations scandal in 2017, metaphorically likening it to feeling like he'd been handed a loaded gun.
"You're expected to shoot yourself," he said. "And I had done that to so many people.
"For about two weeks, it was the best feeling I've ever had in my life. I have done every single drug. Every single drug I have done, none of them were as good as that euphoria. My problem was that I had one thing in my life, and it was everything. Everything was my politics," Dastyari continued.
Former politician Sam Dastyari. Credit: Network 10
Asked by former Gogglebox star Jones if his politics came before his family, Dastyari admits he made mistakes.
"I think I threw my family away for my politics, and that was one of my other big regrets. I blew everything up. I blew up my entire life.
"Going through the scandal stuff, Helen was really supportive, till we got through. And then when we got to the end of it, like when I was out... there was nothing there. So I moved out.
"It got pretty bad. Things got pretty bad. I lost everything ... I didn't lose my kids, that's the only thing I didn't lose [but] I lost a lot. I lost my marriage."
Talking to the camera later, Dastyari was black and white in summing up the events of the last few years.
"There are some things time heals and there are some things that time doesn't. My career is over, my marriage is over, my reputation is shattered... and I have to accept that all of that is completely self-inflicted," he said. "And there's a darkness to that. There is a darkness to that that knows no end."
On a much lighter note in the camp, self-described gossip guru Richard Reid spilled the beans on some of his most famous interactions, describing Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Lopez as the two "best" celebrities he's ever dealt with.
"Sandra Bullock is the nicest person," he said. "So nice. Absolutely down to earth, not a vain bone in her body. And then, JLo. She's just the hardest-working girl. She's still Jenny from the Block, you know?"
Richard Reid.Credit: Network 10
On the flip side? Reid is no fan of Tommy Lee Jones, decribing the legendary actor as "not nice".
When the show resumes on Wednesday night, the first food-based challenge of the season will take place, with Exelby, Lacko, Lambie and Schofield competing to see who can keep down the most disgusting meals producers can cook up.
All in the name of charity, eh.
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