Richard Madeley has been taken to hospital in the early hours of the morning after falling ill in the camp of I’m A Celebrity. According to sources, the 65-year-old only received precautionary medical care and is now reportedly “on the mend”. But the presenter is no stranger to health scares. During one 2014 interview, Madeley told how recurring bouts of aching left him worried he may have cancer.
The presenter, who is taking part in the current I’m A Celebrity series at Gwrych Castle, is said to have fallen ill after partaking in a trial.
The challenge, known as the “Kitchen Nightmares”, saw the presenter get drenched in rotting fruit and fish guts.
In it, Madeley was tasked with finding a series of stars among a kitchen setting covered in bugs and rodents.
The presenter was disappointed by his performance after he only managed to retrieve four of the 10 stars.
READ MORE: Richard Madeley sparks I’m A Celeb backlash with distracting habit: ‘How many times!’
An ITV spokesperson said: “Richard was unwell in the early hours and was immediately seen by our on-site medical team.
“He’s since been taken to hospital as a precaution, the health and stay of our campmates is our priority.”
Detailing the moment Madeley fell ill, a source told The Sun: “It was horrifying – campers were really upset and concerned, all of the crew and medics rushed to set to help him.
“It was a real scare for everyone involved.”
DON’T MISS:
The presenter is taking part in the ITV show alongside Frankie Bridge, Olympic diving champion Natty Lee, EastEnders star Adam Woodyatt and former BBC host Louise Minchin.
Madeley has spoken of his troubling health scares in the past, including one which transpired to pneumonia.
“I’m very lucky that I’ve been very healthy all my life. Every morning I’ve woken up feeling as I did aged 20,” said the journalist.
“But last autumn I woke up feeling absolutely terrible.
“I was afflicted for about 24 hours at a time with a really unpleasant flu-like illness – aching, throbbing, lights before my eyes.”
“At Christmas I realised I had to get it checked out. They did some blood tests but still couldn’t figure it out and thought I might have some primary tumours causing my immune system to break down.
“So I then had a full body scan which, though nerve-racking, showed I had no tumours. What it did find was a little bit of fluid on the lung.
The journalist continued: “I saw a consultant and it turns out I’d had low-level pneumonia for about six months which kept coming back. In the end I saw it off.”
Some of Madeley’s health scares are said to stem from his mother’s cancer battle, which tragically claimed her life in March 2014. Mary was also battling Alzheimer’s disease at the time of her death.
“My mother, about 12 years ago now, she was in her early 80s then, but she began to get some strange symptoms,” Madeley told the Express in May.
“And she was diagnosed on the same day as having both lung cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, which came as a complete shock to everybody, but she was terribly laid back about it.”
He continued: “Anyway, mum did succumb to the cancer first, although the dementia, I wouldn’t say it was advanced, but it was very apparent that it was beginning to get a grip on her. Her memory was going, her focus was going.”
Richard is married to wife Judy Finnigan, with whom he shares two children named Chloe and Jack.