Greg O'Shea is set to spend his first Christmas away from Ireland as he jets to South Africa with his girlfriend Jeanni Mulder.
The couple will spend the festive season with her family and friends 15 months after they "hard launched" and confirmed their romance on social media.
He also revealed why he would never do Dancing With The Stars - but he would go into the celebrity jungle.
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Greg told RSVP Live: "This is going to be my first Christmas away from my family. I am 29 years old and my mother is not happy.
"She was here with me in Dublin the other day and there were nearly tears at the door as we shared hugs and kisses.
"I am going to South Africa with my partner. She never gets to see her family, who live there, and I get to see mine every couple of weeks."
The former Six O'Clock Show presenter added: "It is going to be my first hot Christmas. We will be there for Christmas and New Years to spend time with her family.
"I will miss my family, but it is all part of growing up. You can’t spend every Christmas with your mum."
This is Greg's second time meeting Jeanni's family, but this trip will be more relaxed and less pressured.
He said: "We had been together for a year and I still hadn’t met her family or friends. Things were getting pretty serious between us so I knew I had to meet the special people in her life.
"We planned a trip to South Africa in May for two weeks. It was like doing a series of interviews, I met everyone back to back.
"I met her parents, her stepdad, her grandparents and her friends. I got to meet the whole lot of them. I passed the test, thankfully, so I got invited back there again.
"South Africans are like Irish people, we are all humble and up for the craic."
Greg had no issue "Hard launching" their relationship on Instagram in September 2023.
He said " Some people have a no holds barred approach to social media. They share their partner, their home, their granny and their kids.
"With me, it was a learning curve. I got thrown into the world of social media after being on Love Island in 2019. I had to figure it out on the hop and I made a lot of mistakes.
"But I learned from those mistakes nearly six years on from the show. You can’t fake anything on social media, everyone is smart and you will get caught out.
"We were together a year before we put it out there because people would see us out for dinner and at events."
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Greg's Love Island co-star Maura Higgins is a firm favourite on this season of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!
He said: "I haven’t seen it but I heard from my friends and family that she came in like a bombshell just like Love island. Maura’s smart and she knows what stories to tell.
"She knows people are going to love her. She is not fake at all so I hope she does well."
The Olympian would love to head into the jungle if he got the chance.
He said: "I would love to do a show like that. I would love it. With the route that Maura followed after Love Island, she went to London and did the red carpets and brands.
"But I came home and my goal was to go to the Olympics. I only did that show for 12 days and I got straight back into training. I’m in that fitness world now and I would like a show like I’m a Celebrity because I’m into fitness and adventure.
"I would also be suited to a Hell Week. You need to stay in London in that bubble to be on reality TV and I didn’t do that. I stuck to my guns and what I like to spend my life doing."
Greg has been asked to do Dancing With The Stars here in Ireland, but he has also turned it down for one reason.
He said: "I have been asked three times and I think I am on the list of people who are not going to do it. At the time, I had just retired from rugby 7s and my friend Jordan Conroy did it.
"It was his thing and I didn’t want to step on his toes. He did amazingly, he came second.
"I would never do as well as him. He has a great personality and he is an incredible athlete. I don’t know if Dancing with the Stars is for me."
Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland has partnered with TV Presenter and Olympian Greg O’Shea to announce the return of its Designated Driver campaign for the 20th anniversary.
The campaign seeks to reward the Designated Drivers who are the zero heroes on nights out to ensure friends and family get home safely with two free soft drinks or water from the Coca-Cola range.
Greg said: "It fits my lifestyle, boringly enough. I turn 30 in March and I have become much less of a drinker much to the dissatisfaction of my friends.
"It suits my lifestyle not to be hungover the next day. As you get older it becomes harder to get over those hangovers.
"Sometimes you can feel a bit left out if you are the designated driver when people are drinking around. But now you can go to the bar and get a free Coca Cola."
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