‘I think Katie Hopkins wants me’: X-Factor star Jake Quickenden talks politics and first kisses with The Tab

The Yorkshire self proclaimed “lad” gave us an insight into what it’s like to peak in three months.

Jake Quickenden made his cameo north of the border on Tuesday.

We chatted about everything with the I’m A Celebrity star, from politics and Katie Hopkins to sex, drugs and sniffing thongs.

He’s been a busy boy since August when we first saw Jake on the X-factor.

This Clark Kent character was modest like any Superman: “I’m a hero-ish… I haven’t really done much.”

Going from the sparkling singers’ studio and into the reality celeb-sphere, Jake was just as shocked: “It’s mental, I can’t get my head around it. It’s a whole new life.”

Scunny United’s answer to Ronaldo shared his life before the glitz and glam: “Before I was like any lad – got pissed played a few gigs.

“I played my guitar, wrote a few songs, started publishing under other people.

“But before I knew it I was going into jungle.”

Attitude’s poster boy explained how his look has created a bit of a stir: “I’ve had a lot of prejudice for my tattoos.

“Like, they used to mean you were a thug, but now you’re an outsider if you don’t have one.

“The one that means the most to me is the bird on my wrist.

“I got that one when my brother died.”

Naturally, since the cover with the gay magazine, Jake has been known as an icon: “I think it’s great.

“I love gay people, one of my mates from home came out as gay and does it fuck change anything.

“It’s good for me to have a different group of people interested in my work that aren’t just girls.

Jake’s known for being a bit of a lady’s man, but with his new found fame added into the equation, he’s getting more than he’s bargained for.

“Someone gave me a pair of thongs just yesterday.

“I’ve had them on all day.”

Jake dead pan joked: “I sniffed them.”

They say you never forget your first kiss. This couldn’t be more true for Jake: “It was awful. I was actually 14 when I was on holiday in Turkey.

“I’d just taken a bite of a burger, and we made out tongue to tongue.”

Then we asked if he’s had a lot of that kind of attention now he said: “Yes, fucking too right.”

But now: “I’m just concentrating on work.

“I’ve just come out of a relationship.”

But Jake’s been so busy either with his music or being whisked away to jungles, his political education’s taken a turn for the worse.

When we asked if he thought the Lib Dems would win the general election he answered: “I dunno- I don’t even know who they are.”

Seeing as he was in Aberdeen, we asked what he thought about independence: “It’s up to Scotland, I think everyone should have a say, though.

And as Yorkshire is the biggest geographical county in England, he joked: “I am independent.

“I don’t know about the rest of Yorkshire.”

The political inquisition about who Nigel Farage was reminded Jake of his encounter with a contestant from the jungle: “This is like sitting with Edwina Curry.”

“When I was talking to her I was like yeah, I’m not really listening.

“She used to tell me stuff for hours.

“And once all I could hear was this fly buzzing about my head and I just wished it would fuck off.”

But Jake did appreciate Edwina’s company: “Edwina’s a diamond, she’s so nice.

“She was a randy little devil as well.

“But to be honest, I didn’t have a clue who she was at first.”

But she wasn’t his BFFIJ: “I got on the most with Jimmy.

“To be honest he hasn’t got an off button which is hard sometimes.

“But I haven’t got a bad word to say about him.”

But while with celebrity comes legions of haters, Jake’s got to have some of the worst C-list luck in the industry. Outrageous Katie Hopkins enjoys a good bitch about Jake.

“She dug me out on X Factor and whilst I was in the jungle.

“She gave me a lot of shit at the start.

“But to be fair, at the end she started saying nice stuff about me, like how I wore my heart on my sleeve.

“It was like she was obsessed!

“I think she wants a bit of me.”

So, due to his lothario status we asked the ultimate, intimate question, how many have you shagged?

After a long hesitation to divulge, he said: “Double figures, lets just say it’s a number between 10 and 99.”

We asked what Jake’s craziest night outs consisted of: “A lot of them involved skinny dipping.”

“I’ve had a night out where I woke up in a bush.

“I went back to the flat that I was staying in and my trousers were hung up.

“That means that I went home, hung my trousers up and went out again.”

Seeing as Jake is quickly moulding into a new generation of celebrity it seemed appropriate to ask his thoughts on drugs.

His non-contro answer about whether weed should be legalised was: “I think it could go one way another.

“It is illegal and people still do it.

“I don’t…

“If we make it illegal then it leads to prohibition.

“If you’re poorly you can get it but to be honest nobody has died from weed.

“But I’m not gonna say yes.”

The conversation ended with a question on how his first time trying MDMA was, he said: “I’ve never tried MDMA and I’d never do it.”

But once the recorder stopped rolling he grabbed us and whispered: “I have. It was great!”