Was it a virus? Could I be pregnant? What on earth was wrong with me...
For days, viewers have speculated over why she suddenly vanished from the camp. Now, in her f irst interview since leaving I’m A Celeb, distraught OLIVIA ATTWOOD reveals the terrifying hospital dash that left her fearing for her life
THE jungle life might not be for everyone, but almost a week on from her sudden, unexplained exit from I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here, Olivia Attwood is still distraught. She should be sparring with Matt Hancock, or even, maybe, jostling for pole position on the ITV show she had dreamed of appearing on for five years. Instead, she is at her Manchester home, being comforted by her beloved rescue dogs, Lola and Stitch, after she was sent home from the Australian set, prompting a nationwide guessing game.
One minute she was seen by more than eight million viewers jumping out of a helicopter and cooking a stir fry with campmate Charlene White, the next she was rushed to A&E by deeply concerned doctors and ITV staff, never to be seen on screen again.
There were various theories doing the rounds. One was that Olivia’s ADHD attention disorder wasn’t conducive to outback living. She’s always been very open about the condition, which was diagnosed in her 20s when she was suffering from acute anxiety and depression.
Another was that she couldn’t be allowed back into the jungle as the hospital visit had meant she’d broken a Covid bubble, and risked infecting her campmates. Then there were misogynistic accusations that she was simply too weak and diva-like to hack it. Some were even convinced she was pregnant.
But today, in an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, Olivia reveals the real reason she had to leave after Monday’s broadcast – and it’s nothing as dramatic as the conspiracy theorists have cooked up, although heartbreaking nonetheless.
SHE says a routine blood test, which all the jungle campmates undergo randomly throughout the show, suddenly and inexplicably disclosed she was dangerously anaemic. It also flagged up worryingly low sodium and potassium levels, which prompted ITV staff to immediately take her to A&E. All of which came as a complete shock to Olivia, 31, who was, she stresses, feeling ‘absolutely fine’.
‘I was so scared, I was like “what the hell is wrong with me?”,’ she says in her first interview since her exit. ‘They couldn’t give me an answer, they just told me that they had to get me to the hospital immediately.
‘The results were really, really low when they put them into their reader and they consulted with another doctor off site. I had those bloods done in England before I left, and they were fine. I was confused and of course very, very worried.’
ITV staff then took Olivia, a model who first found fame on ITV2’s Love Island, to the hospital, 40 minutes from the camp on what was last Tuesday evening in Australia.
‘It felt like the longest journey ever,’ she said. ‘I didn’t know what to think. I was wondering if I had picked up a virus, was I pregnant, all of these things were going through my head. It was absolutely frightening.’
Then, the tests were repeated in the hospital – and came back normal. Naturally, she assumed the first tests had been faulty and that she’d simply be allowed to return to the jungle and the campmates she was keen to get to know better.
‘But instead I was taken to a hotel to get some sleep while ITV decided what they would do with me,’ she says.
Olivia didn’t think for a minute that she wouldn’t be allowed to go back, but remembers lying in bed, worried and confused as to what was going on. She had a restless night with her fate in ITV’s hands, with bosses locked in meetings as to whether they would let her back in or not. ‘I tried to keep a hold of my emotions but it started to feel like I wasn’t going back, you know when you just get a feeling? It started to dawn on me that I was out for good,’ she admits.
‘But then I was trying to rationalise it, there was nothing wrong with me so why wouldn’t I be able to? I also knew how much the production team wanted me on the show. None of it was making sense. I was waiting for someone to tell me.’
Olivia’s fate was sealed when there was a knock on the door of her hotel room and an ITV producer and executive entered to deliver the news that her dream of winning the jungle crown was over. Iron deficiency anaemia can make someone more at risk of illness or infection, while low mineral levels may indicate underlying health problems. The broadcaster just wasn’t prepared to risk it.
‘They said because of the results the show’s medical team got from my readings, they were not happy to sign me off to come back in, even though I had the clean bill of health from the hospital,’ she says.
‘If I went back into camp, they feared my levels might drop and it could be detrimental to my health and wellbeing. They were not willing to authorise my return and therefore I wasn’t insured. I was absolutely devastated. I’m not a crier but I started to cry, it was so emotional. I was heartbroken and gutted. I tried to keep my emotions in check and keep it in perspective, things could be so much worse.
‘Then the show’s staff told me everyone liked me and I was favourite to win so that leaving felt like a punch to the gut.
‘Just two days before, I jumped out of a helicopter which I loved. I did a trial which I loved. I was so happy and elated. It was an extreme high to an extreme low. I felt empty.’
Also in question is whether Olivia will receive her full fee for the show, reportedly between £100,000 to £125,000. ‘We haven’t discussed that yet,’ she says.
Since coming third on the 2017 series of Love Island with her exboyfriend Chris Hughes, Olivia has become one of ITV’s most important stars as the broadcaster strives to attract young audiences. ITV quickly signed
I was devastated. I’m not a crier, but I started to cry. It was so emotional. I was heartbroken
the pair up for their own reality show but after they split, Olivia went off on her own and now makes documentaries such as Getting Filthy Rich, which investigates the phenomenon of the Only Fans website, which allows users to charge for adult content.
But nothing could help bosses overcome the red tape to keep her in the jungle. ‘It was unfixable, because of how my blood tested I wouldn’t have been insured,’ says Olivia. ‘It felt so unfair. This had been five years in the making. I just needed to get home.’ Following the decision, Olivia was chaperoned to the airport by a member of ITV staff, with her exit still shrouded in secrecy from the outside world. While she appreciates ‘there are bigger problems in the world’, she said her journey home was deeply depressing:
By the time she was in the air, the rumour mill had gone into overdrive, with fans desperate to know why she left the show. Because of the intense interest she was whisked through Heathrow Airport’s Windsor Suite – the elite lounge usually reserved for royalty and A-listers.
One of her first chores on landing was to have more blood tests, which once again came back fine.
Finally able to use her phone, she called her fiancé, Brad Dack, a midfielder for Blackburn Rovers and her parents. But she took the decision to delete her social media apps in an attempt to not upset herself further.
She admitted: ‘When I first got my phone back I saw clips of me on the show that showed my little happy face. It actually made me feel really sad, I didn’t want to see them. ’
Olivia was made aware, however, of how the I’m A Celeb audience was speculating about her exit, much of which, she says, felt misogynistic. ‘I mean, I saw on Twitter that I was pregnant. I’m not,’ she says.
‘There is an underlying misogynistic feel to the rhetoric. They’re saying, “I bet she fainted” or “I bet she was scared of sleeping outside” or that “she didn’t fancy it because it was raining”.
‘The reason it was so frustrating is because I am the complete opposite of that – and to make it more irritating, people could see on the show that I was absolutely loving it. There was nothing I would have said no to in the jungle. I loved it from the first hour and I was embracing
There’s a misogyny to some of the rumours about why I left
every moment of it. I’m a nature geek, so I loved seeing all the bugs, and I even saw a kangaroo.’
Olivia cheers up when she reminisces about her short stint in the jungle. She has some happy memories – albeit a lot fewer than she’d hoped – and made some good friends. After being voted to get VIP treatment when she first arrived, she dined with former Radio One DJ Chris Moyles before spending a night on an island with him, Boy George and television presenter Scarlette Douglas.
‘It was so much fun,’ she says. ‘I was in my element and I really threw myself into jungle life.’
So who does Olivia think will be crowned king or queen of the jungle? ‘I have a feeling Chris Moyles has a chance, he is very, very funny. Or Babatunde. I like Charlene a lot as well. There isn’t an obvious frontrunner right now but I’m going for one of those three.’