I'm a Celeb's Olivia Attwood reveals "devastating" reason for her exit
The former Love Island star was forced to leave the show at the start of the week.
Olivia Attwood has finally explained why she was forced to leave I'm A Celebrity after quitting the show earlier this week, with the reality star revealing she was rushed to A&E.
The former Love Islander, who entered the Jungle with Chris Moyles, told the Mail on Sunday that she was taken to hospital after a routine blood test, which all campmates undergo randomly on the show, showed that she was dangerously anaemic.
"I was so scared, I was like, 'what the hell is wrong with me?' They couldn't give me an answer, they just told me that they had to get me to the hospital immediately," she said.
"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."
While Attwood said that she wondered whether she had "picked up a virus" or could have been "pregnant", the tests came back normal in the hospital – however, ITV wasn't prepared to risk her returning to camp, she claimed.
"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.
"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."
She said that she was "absolutely devastated" by the decision, adding: "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."
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As for whether Attwood will receive her full show fee, the reality star said that she hasn't discussed that with ITV yet.
A show spokesperson told RadioTimes.com earlier in the week that Attwood needed to leave the Jungle to undergo medical checks as "a precautionary measure".
"Unfortunately, the medical team has advised it is not safe for Olivia to return to camp as there needs to be further investigation. She has been absolutely brilliant and she'll be very much missed on the show."
Meanwhile, a few days later, Attwood broke her silence over her leaving the show on Instagram, writing that she "did not leave the Jungle due to COVID reasons", with RadioTimes.com understanding that reports of her 'breaking the COVID bubble' were unrelated to quitting.
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