03 March 2024 , 08:00
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Danielle Harold has lifted the lid on her friendship with Bobby Brazier - admitting that snaps of them taken at the National Television Awards were so cosy even her nan thought they were a couple.
The former EastEnders actress, 31, insists that she and Bobby - who is now dating fellow Strictly star Ellie Leach - have been romantically involved. And she says she is very much single, though she admits her appearance in the I'm A Celebrity jungle has sparked a flood of male attention.
Speaking on our Invite Only podcast, Danielle laughed: “Poor Bobby. He must think, ‘Oh look, I’m getting attached to this old bird’. I’m like, ‘Sorry Bobby, it keeps me looking young, so...’ Bless him, he was just being the biggest gent that night (the pictures were taken) because I could not walk in my shoes at all. We were at the NTAs. And our car left us, like, all the way around the back.
“I said, ‘Bobby, I can’t, I can’t, listen, I can’t walk.’ He was like, ‘Yes, you can.’ He was just being a gent and now he gets named as my boyfriend every two minutes. Bless him. You just laugh, and go that’s just how it is.
Danielle and Bobby at the National Television Awards (CLICK NEWS AND MEDIA)
Danielle insists Bobby was just being a gentleman (Alucard / SplashNews.com)“Even my nan thought I was with Bobby. She said, ‘That was a lovely picture of you and your new boyfriend. I was like, ‘No nan, I’m not going out with Bobby.’ She’s so sweet.” Asked about men sliding into her DMs after the jungle, she smiled: “I did have messages about cups of tea. I came out and I was like, ‘What?’
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“I had just come out of the jungle, so didn’t really go on my phone too much, I just sort of had a quick look, and saw ‘tea, tea, tea, Yorkshire tea’ and said, ‘What’s with this tea business, Mum?’
“Tony Bellew did a secret mission in the camp and he had to pretend to write a love song to his wife Rachael, and he was going to sing it. I was there embracing the love. But then I just said, ‘I can’t even get someone to get me a cup of tea.’ And then, yeah. I was hoping I’d actually get sent some boxes of tea (by admirers), but that hasn’t happened yet.”
Danielle – who played EastEnder Lola Pearce for more than a decade – says she signed up for the show to give audiences a laugh after “making them cry for a year” following her character’s brain cancer storyline.
And it was later reported she had suffered a secret illness in the camp, which brought her close to quitting. But the actress said that while she felt down in the first week, she quickly adjusted and went on to thrive on the show.
She said: “It was my first week... I took a dip. But you just do when you’re not eating. Me, I’m such a sugar (addict), I love a bit of sugar, I’m terrible. So when you’re coming off sugar... I can’t tell you how weird it is, coming off all of these things. But it wasn’t a big deal, I just had a wobble day.”
Danielle finished sixth, one place ahead of Hollyoaks star Nick Pickard. Asked what she gained from the jungle experience, she said: “Oh my gosh, there was so much I learned about myself in there. I’m a lot stronger than I thought I was, definitely.
“And I’m still in touch with everyone, we’re all going to go for dinner soon. We have a WhatsApp group, and because everyone’s so busy and have all these great jobs and travel, it’s great to see where everyone is. Frankie (Dettori) is the best on there. What is next for me? I’m not sure but definitely more adventures.
Listen to Danielle’s full interview here.