Learning English - Words in the News

07 December, 2005 - Published 16:18 GMT

Carol Thatcher wins TV show


Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first woman Prime Minister in 1979.
The daughter of Margaret Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister, has won a television show which involved surviving in the jungle in Australia. Carol Thatcher had to do unpleasant things, such as eating kangaroo testicles. This report from Bernadette Kehoe:

Listen to the story
Carol Thatcher reportedly never told her mother that she was going to the Australian jungle to appear on the show, I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here. 52-year-old Carol, who qualified as a solicitor before switching to journalism, showed the spirit of an iron lady, when it came to challenges such as eating squelching kangaroo testicles and fish eyes as well as swimming across a lake with poisonous frogs, snakes and furry bushrats on her head. There was also the embarrassment of being caught on camera going to the toilet.
So what would mother have made of it all? Carol says we'll probably never know.

CAROL THATCHER: "I'm not too sure, with the greatest respect in the world to I'm A Celebrity, that this is my ma's sort of programme. I don't think she was glued to every episode."

Carol Thatcher is described in today's British newspapers as an "unlikely national treasure" and "a true British eccentric, blissfully unaware of her own genius." She was an outsider to win, and, as a result, the bookmakers have lost a good deal of money. They're now saying they shouldn't have been surprised that a Thatcher has an iron constitution.

Listen to the words
I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here
A real-life or reality television programme which features well known personalities living together in unusual places like the jungle

showed the spirit of an iron lady
demonstrated that she had a very strong will and personality, Margaret Thatcher was known as "the iron lady"

being caught on camera
having your photograph taken without knowing about it

So what would mother have made of it all?
What would her mother have thought about the reality television show?

my ma's sort of programme
my mother's first choice of television programme

she was glued to every episode
she watched every programme with great interest

unlikely national treasure
someone who would not be considered to be a much loved personality by the British public

a true British eccentric
someone who has habits or opinions that other people think are slightly strange and show the real characteristics of British people

an outsider to win
someone who is definitely not expected to win

the bookmakers
people who take your money when you bet and give you money when you win