It was one of the exciting topics in this year’s jungle camp: When almost all the stars were sitting around the campfire together or bustling around in the camp, ex-footballer David Odonkor addressed Leyla Lahouar and Kim Virginia Hartung. “Can you please put something on? I always look there when you stand there,” he said. The background: Leyla and Kim Virginia both wore skimpy bikini bottoms instead of the red, long camp cargo pants.
“I don’t think that’s suitable for the jungle camp. This isn’t a dating app. You’re welcome to do this freedom at home. Everyone knows what a woman isn’t allowed to do and what a man isn’t allowed to do,” David said afterwards in the jungle phone. The scene not only caused reactions in the camp, but also online. Both Leyla and Kim felt attacked and were defended by Mike Heiter and Fabio Knez. Jungle fans argued online. Some showed understanding for David, others accused him of misogyny. But what does jungle queen Lucy Diakovska actually think about the topic?
“I didn’t experience the situation myself because I wasn’t there. But I heard about it afterwards and of course saw the pictures now. David found it difficult as a man to have these buttocks in front of his face. It was uncomfortable for him. “Not all men are so open to receiving women’s freedom of movement,” she says in an interview with the star. “I’m conflicted about this. I once asked Kim to put on pants,” reveals the reigning jungle queen. Kim asked Lucy to give her a massage at the camp. “And I said it just doesn’t fit that I’m sitting on her naked bottom,” said the No Angels singer. Given that background, she could definitely understand her camp colleague David. Nevertheless: “The girls wanted to feel free. And they are right when they say: Why are men allowed to run around shirtless? And I also walked around in a bikini,” said Diakovska. It is a very difficult topic, said the Bulgarian.
Ever the diplomatic queen, she tries to protect David. “I don’t think David violated women’s rights or women’s freedom. That’s my opinion,” said Lucy. “Sometimes things happen in exceptional situations. Your nerves are more frayed and you are more sensitive,” said the jungle monarch.
During the 17 days in the jungle, Diakovska managed to reveal private information and master several jungle tests. She talked about her own coming out to her parents in the early noughties. At that time she sent her mother a fax in which she explained that she was a lesbian. However, her sexuality was never an issue within the No Angels. “I went straight into the room during the casting and said that I was a lesbian. And that was very important for me,” she says in an interview. Only her father didn’t know about it at the time, which is why she kept it a secret from the public. “In the end it was really easy for him. He just didn’t like the fact that I told my mother in front of him,” she says.
In her home country of Bulgaria, Diakovska’s open nature is still an exception today. In Bulgaria I am the only homosexual person in public. That’s sad,” she once said herself. “It’s a taboo topic for many artists. I know this because I am friends with many of them. They are afraid of losing their fans. I don’t have the right to lecture others. But I can only say I’m lucky that I lived my life in Germany and lived it very openly,” she tells stern. For her, her sexuality was never something special, says Lucy. “I never saw myself as something ‘other’ Are defined. When you do that, people often don’t like it. Because they rarely like ‘being different’,” she explains.
Transparency note: The star is part of RTL Deutschland.
