Sam Thompson almost quit I'm A Celebrity in unaired scenes after health scare

18 December 2023 , 13:48

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Sam Thompson almost quit I'm A Celebrity in unaired scenes after health scare

I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here star Sam Thompson has revealed that he nearly quit the ITV show after spending a week in isolation and just one day in the jungle.

The 31 year old reality TV star who was crowned King of the jungle earlier this month said that he suffered a panic attack on the first day of being in the jungle. Speaking on the podcast he shares with his "brother" Pete Wicks called Staying Relevant, he said: "So on the first day when we go in, I had a panic attack. And I went in really guns blazing, I was so excited."

Sam Thompson reveals that he nearly quit the ITV show (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

He added: "I was like 'oh my god everyone's here', like energy through the roof and then suddenly it hit me what we were doing and I literally sat on my bed and went 'oh my god'." He then continued: "My heart was going really quick and I was sweating and I really wanted to be sick, and I went 'I'm either really ill and I'm going to have to see the medic day one, and I'm going to be like you might have to pull me out'," he said, unable to finish his sentence.

He added: "I had a full-blown panic attack on the first day, and people were coming up to me and asking 'why are you being so quiet' and I was like 'I don't know, I don't know what's going on, and it took me a bit of time to acclimatise because I was so overwhelmed with the whole experience. It's a really weird experience when you first get in there, really, really weird, but everyone is so nice." Since returning from the show filmed in Queensland Australia, Sam has been rushed off his feet but managed to take time out to celebrate the birthday of his girlfriend, Zara McDermott.

He even splashed out a whopping £3,000 on a Bottega Vanetta handbag to celebrate her 26th birthday after waiting weeks before they could be reunited. Zara, who recently competed in this year's Strictly Come Dancing took to social media to show off her birthday present.

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But despite it being her birthday, Sam once again managed to sideline the birthday girl as he took to Instagram and wrote: "@tonybellew it’s been a full day without each other thank you so much for making the past month the best of my life." And she was not impressed as she penned: "It’s my birthday yet you’re writing soppy captions for Teddy T??? Priorities?"

Sam appeared on This Morning alongside is former campmate Josie Gibson and Craig Doyle. And it seems viewers felt Sam would be a natural fit as a presenter on the show. He joined the TV duo for the Spin to Win competition on the programme. One person wrote commented: "Imagine Sam hosting This Morning. We would all love the show then because it means someone else can be as happy and hyper in the mornings and not us." Another added: "Hire Sam as the new #ThisMorning host now." And a third said: "Sam to host This Morning with @Josiestweet."

Lucretia Munro