Former Love Island star Olivia Attwood has shared the “absolutely frightening” reason she left the I’m a Celebrity jungle. It comes after she has was rushed to A&E by the production crew following blood tests.
Olivia then had to leave the jungle just 24 hours after arriving. She has now revealed that this was because she was dangerously anaemic, reports the Mail on Sunday.
Campmates, which this year includes radio DJ Chris Moyle, rugby world cup winner and royal family member Mike Tindall and former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, undergo routine blood tests throughout their stay Down Under. Olivia’s showed she had worryingly low sodium and potassium levels, which forced her exit on medical grounds.
Olivia, 31, told The Mail on Sunday: “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.
“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.
“‘It felt like the longest journey ever. 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.”
Attwood revealed that the tests were re-taken in the hospital, and the results came back normal. She assumed the first test had been faulty and therefore she’d be allowed to return to the jungle, but an ITV producer broke the news that she couldn’t return to camp due to the result of the original blood test taken by the show’s medical team.
Olivia said: “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.”
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