10 December 2023 , 09:02
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Former EastEnders star Danielle Harold battled a secret jungle illness during her time on ITV's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! but her health struggles were kept from viewers.
The 31-year-old soap star was left feeling "wiped out" by her experience in the Australian jungle but her medical drama was not shown on screen leaving those at home completely unaware. It was a series of medical dramas with both Grace Dent and Jamie Lynn Spears succumbing to this fate and seeing their time on the reality show cut short as they had to depart from the series earlier than intended.
Danielle's time with her campmates came to an end on Thursday, when she was the fifth celebrity to be evicted by voting viewers and it was only then that family and friends learned of her struggles. A friend of Danielle told The Sun that she had said: "I felt wiped out, so rough and unwell, but I was determined to stay in there. I hadn’t gone all that way for it to end like that."
Danielle Harold tells of her time in camp, after eviction (James Gourley/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)A source close to the BBC soap star, who made her name playing Lola Pearce on Albert Square, told the publication that she had "developed a nasty infection" and this had made her feel "very unwell". It led to Danielle to be seen by the camp doctor "several times" but she "powered through" as she wanted a shot at being crowned Queen of the Jungle.
The source added that Danielle "kept smiling" and was determined to not be sent to hospital and to combat the sickness, she "tried to eat as much as possible."
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Danielle's cause was not helped by the bad weather during the first week of her time in the jungle but she "cracked on" and was kept under close monitoring by the medics so that the infection was kept under control. Despite this, the soap star lost "nearly a stone" during that time, causing concern and leading to thoughts that she might have to leave the show.
Danielle Harold leaves the 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!' camp (James Gourley/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)The actress spoke about her struggles in an interview at the Marriott Hotel on the Gold Coast, where the celebrities are taken after they are evicted from the jungle. Hinting at some of the problems she faced, Danielle said: “The jungle eats you alive. You have on and off days. There is no food. And my adrenaline gets me so bad. It is so tough. But I just smiled, even through the tough times.”
Danielle is looking forward to her next role after leaving EastEnders in September, when her character died from brain cancer, in heartbreaking scenes. Speaking about becoming an actor, Danielle said: “I didn’t get into acting to play one role, so I’m excited to explore other roles.”