The Lloyd Mullaney previously left the ITV jungle after just four days
Former Coronation Street star Craig Charles has revealed why he couldn’t watch I’m A Celebrity after his brother’s death.
Known for playing Lloyd Mullaney on the ITV soap from 2005 until 2015, as well as starring in Red Dwarf as Dave Lister, the actor and DJ appeared on the Ant and Dec reality series back in 2014. However, he only stayed in the Australian jungle for four days.
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Craig had to go back home to the UK after he was informed that his brother Dean had suffered a fatal heart attack. Dean was just 52-years-old when he lost his life.
However, Craig is now taking part in I’m A Celebrity All Stars. Serving as an All Stars version of the series, he’s taking part with the likes of his former Coronation Street colleague Beverley Callard, TOWIE’s Gemma Collins and football legend Harry Redknapp.
Viewers on Monday night (April 6), saw Craig and Gemma introduced as the season’s first late entries. Speaking to ITV, Craig reflected on how Dean’s passing affected how he viewed the programme.
“The death of my brother, Dean, changed my life the last time I was on I’m A Celebrity… I was 50 at the time, my brother was 52, I had been in Corrie for ten years and I came in to do the jungle, then Dean passed away.
“It made me re-evaluate things. I just thought if that had happened to me, would I be happy with what I’d achieved? I came up with the answer and it was ‘no’. I had been in Corrie for ten years and I felt in a rut.
“I was really enjoying my time in the Australian jungle and it got sadly cut short. I knew I wanted to have some new adventures after that. “But since I left, there have been years of ‘What ifs?’ It’s nice to put that to bed,” he said.
Craig continued: “At first, I’m A Celebrity… felt bittersweet after I’d left,” he admits. “And in the first few years I couldn’t watch the show. It made me sad and it opened a world of loss.
“Every year it came around, I would feel a sense of loss and a feeling of what might have been – both for my brother and for me. He was only 52 and he would have been 63 now, which is no age.
“But that feeling has decreased over the years, and the last few years I have been able to watch it again without feeling the pain and the grief. And so, when this came round, it was at the right time. I feel strong and confident enough to face it again and have a laugh!”
Asked if Dean were still alive today, would he like to make him proud by going into the jungle again, Craig noted that his brother did get to see him in the jungle before he died.
“I found out when I got back for the funeral that after the first episode, he turned to his wife and said: ‘he is going to win that’. But sadly, Dean never woke up and so hopefully I will make him proud,” she stated.
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