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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Mark Jefferies

Boy George's mum says she is 'not surprised' he almost quit I'm A Celeb in her honour

Boy George 's mum has spoken of her love for her son and says she is "not surprised" he almost quit I'm A Celebrity in her honour.

The singer, 61, could be seen in tears on Wednesday night's show after disgraced MP Matt Hancock arrived.

George explained his mum almost died during the coronavirus pandemic when she was in hospital in Greenwich, London. Hancock was the failing health secretary forced to resign and highly criticised for his work in the Covid crisis.

Dinah O'Dowd told the Mirror: "George and I are very close and I'm so very proud of him.

"He is always there for me, so his reaction wasn't a surprise, and I am waiting to hug him when he gets home."

Dinah O'Dowd (left) has spoken about her son Boy George (right) appearing on I'm a Celebrity (Getty Images)
He almost quit the show recently after politician Matt Hancock joined the campmates (ITV)

The touching response came after Boy George appeared to have decided to stay in camp having been talked round by Coronation Street actor Sue Cleaver.

Speaking in the Bush Telegraph he said: "I don't really know what to do with my feelings. You know, today was obviously quite emotional for me.

"I don't know what it's going to be like, I don't know whether I....I actually don't really know if I want to be here."

After leaving the Bush telegraph he was encouraged to stay and sleep on his thoughts by Corrie actor Sue.

Sue said: "I think you just have to sleep on it tonight. Look, why he came in and what he's doing here. It's not our responsibility. And it's not for us to take on."

Boy George replied: "That's good advice. When did you get so wise."

Sue Cleaver (left), pictured with Boy George (right) and Mike Tindall (centre), encouraged the singer against rushing into a decision to leave camp (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

George and his mum Dinah, 83, have always been close and he spoke when she was in hospital in April 2020 admitting how worried he was for her.

She required medical attention at Greenwich Hospital for "heart or lung" issues unrelated to the novel coronavirus COVID-19.

George was seen on Twitter saying: "My beautiful mum is in the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Woolwich. She's stable but they have said they won't resuscitate her if things go wrong? Apparently, it won't work? How can they know. Please pray!"

The singer has four brothers and one sister. His father Jeremiah died in 2003 but George has spoken in the past about how his father beat his mother and didn't treat her well.

In his book Take It Like A Man he says she was a "cartoon housewife" who "kept going day in, day out" working to feed and cloth her kids.

In 2017, he detailed how he once kept his mother alive following an overdose.

Talking on Piers Morgan's Life Stories, he said: "She took pills. I remember sort of keeping her awake and not really understanding what had happened."

Boy George appeared to have decided to stay in camp (ITV)

Referencing the problems between his mother and father, George had said: "I used to tell my mum to leave my dad when I was like nine.

"I loved my father, don't get me wrong, I really loved him, but he wasn't a good dad and he wasn't a good husband."

Earlier today, friends of Boy George predicted he would soon be criticising Hancock to his face.

Radio DJ Fat Tony – real name Tony Marnach – appeared on Lorraine to respond to his close friend's strong reaction on the ITV reality show.

He said: "What we saw last night was George being George. Those tears are real. Knowing George the way I know George, I would give it two to three days before he has to express his feelings to Matt Hancock."

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