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Hour-long Ysbyty Glan Clwyd visit condemned ‘gutted’ Richard Madeley to expulsion from I’m a Celebrity camp

27 Nov 2021 4 minute read
Richard Madeley. Credit ITV

Richard Madeley has said that he was “gutted” to be informed he couldn’t return to I’m a Celebrity after an hour-long visit to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Rhyl.

He said that before the show started they had “all quarantined for two weeks in cottages on Anglesey or in Snowdonia” to ensure that they were Covid-free, and that the production team couldn’t take any risks.

The television presenter said that a nurse recommended he leave the camp for “precautionary tests” after a “funny turn” that he blamed on dehydration.

After being taken to hospital, reported as Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, he felt “absolutely fine – but by that point, the penny had dropped”. Writing in the Telegraph he said that “a slightly tearful producer then confirmed my fears”.

“By going to hospital and coming into contact with doctors, nurses, porters and so on, I’d broken the show’s hermetically sealed Covid bubble,” he said. “There was no way I’d be able to return to the castle.

“It’s no exaggeration to say I felt completely gutted. It seemed ridiculous – I was loving my time in the camp – but I understood their reasoning.

I’m A Celebrity didn’t want to suffer the same plight as Strictly, on which contestants have repeatedly come down with the virus, meaning there had to be zero-tolerance on Covid risks.”

He added that reports in the media that he was seriously unwell or had suffered from a stomach bug after a trial were untrue.

Security breach

The first week on the set of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! has been beset by problems at Gwrych Castle. ITV announced today that there will be no new episodes this weekend after the production area suffered damage during Storm Arwen.

Earlier, they revealed that an intruder was removed following a security breach.

A statement from the programme said: “A security breach was identified, and an intruder was removed from the location with immediate effect. The safety of both our celebrities and our production crew remains our primary concern.”

Yesterday, three further members of the camp were also reported to have had medical issues, leading to speculation that the show was on the verge of collapse.

Some reports suggested that choreographer and Strictly judge, Dame Arlene Phillips was dealing with chronic pain, Frankie Bridge from the Saturdays needed medical attention for a skin condition, while mental health issues and anxiety about his mother who has dementia were affecting DJ and music producer, Naught Boy.

All this happened before adverse conditions forced the show to pre-record an episode on Friday as Storm Arwen descended on the UK.

Following the severe weather warnings, precautionary measures were instigated by ITV, including pre-recording this week’s show. Co-hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly recorded their links early, and posted a video from outside the castle ahead of the show, with the sound of the rising storm in the background.

“You’ve probably heard we’ve had to record the show a bit earlier tonight because of the winds here at Storm Arwen,” said Donnelly.

“It’s bad, isn’t it, it’s really windy. You can hear it, it’s rattling the tent, it might blow this away, so we’ve got to get it done and get out of here,” said McPartlin.

“It’s due to get worse later so everyone is afraid that the satellite is going to go down and all of that, so it’s a bit risky to do a live show, so we’re going to have to do it recorded tonight, which is the first time we’ve ever done that,” added Donnelly.

The producers are said to be hoping that they can maintain morale and not lose any more celebrities, and they confirm that there are no replacement celebrities waiting in the wings.


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Grayham Jones
2 years ago

Close all borders with England now they have this new
Virus 🦠 we in wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 have got to stop being little Englanders and be proud to be welsh it’s time for a new wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

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