Sue Cleaver is set to start her I'm A Celebrity journey tonight.
The Coronation Street star is one of 10 campmates confirmed to compete on TV's toughest entertainment challenge. Ant and Dec will host as the popular ITV programme returns to Australia for the first time in two years.
Sue is approaching her 60th birthday and decided to take the challenge to "shake things up". She said: "Doing I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! is never really something I considered doing before.
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"But the pandemic happened and then this year, I have just turned 59 and so I decided for my 59th, I was going to shake things up a bit. I realised I needed something that would challenge me and I thought this show would be good – and so that’s why I am doing it.”
Sue is renowned for her role as Eileen Grimshaw on the Cobbles and she sought advice from co-stars, Simon Gregson and Jennie McAlpine, who have previously taken the I'm A Celeb challenge. She said: "They seemed to think I will have an absolute ball. They have told me I will love it and have a great time. It is very positive and I am going there feeling excited.”
Sue is a Corrie icon who has played Eileen through some of the show's most turbulent storylines. Although she has been written out of the show to compete on I'm A Celeb, she remains a key part of the cast and recently reignited her classic rivalry with Gail Platt.
Away from the screen, Sue has previously revealed a surprising second career as she was and she was training to become a psychotherapist. She told Soaplife: "I am qualified to take clients and have another 18 months to go before I can finish my four-year course in Analysis Psychotherapy at the Manchester Institute for Psychotherapy. It's hard work fitting it in with Corrie, but I love it."
However, Sue was forced to defer her final year in 2018 due to filming commitments. Sue tries to keep her personal life as private as possible and admitted the scariest thing about this experience is how I'm A Celeb is filmed 24/7.
She said: "I am a very private person and I am putting myself out there, which is what I am most nervous about. I do keep my life private and I am very happy with my home life. Viewers are going to see a different person to the person they think I am! I am very different. That can be worrying. They might decide they don’t like me as much as Eileen!”
Away from Weatherfield, Sue was married to James Quinn from 1993 -2003 and the two share a son named Elliott. The soap star is now in a relationship with Brian Owen, who is a member of the backstage crew on Coronation Street.
It was reported in 2019 that Sue overhauled her lifestyle and dropped three stone so she could enjoy a longer life with her partner and son. A source told Woman's Magazine: “Sue was always a self-confessed foodie, who admitted that over-indulgence was her Achilles Heel. Now everything’s changed. Sue’s in her mid 50s so it was a no brainer that cutting down on certain things was what she had to do. She’s in this for the long game and wants to live a long, happy and healthy life.”
Sue suffers with diabetes and dropped to a size 12 - 14 by following a low-sugar Mediterranean diet. Although she follows a healthier lifestyle, Sue was rocked in 2019 when she contracted sepsis.
She told This Morning how she was rushed to hospital as her temperature soared to 39.9°C. She said: "Like many, I suffer with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and I just thought I had had a flare up.
"I felt very tired and like I just needed to go home and go to bed. The next day, in July this year, was one of the hottest days of the year, but I felt freezing."
She added: "My side was sore, and I was on [the Coronation Street] set with a hot water bottle, shaking. My feet were blue and in pain. I was freezing on the hottest day of the year. I thought I had the flu."
It was later that night, as Sue tried to sleep, that her husband rang and found it hard to understand her because her teeth were chattering so much. He rang his daughter, a paramedic, and she advised him to take her straight to A&E. Sue said this saved her life.
Doctors and nurses rushed around the soap star and she was diagnosed with sepsis - a rare but potentially fatal condition, which can cause multiple organ failure. It had been brought on by a severe kidney infection which Sue had mistaken for IBS pains.
She said she was on bed rest for weeks and suffered from traumatic nightmares following her treatment and it has taken her a lot longer than expected to get better. But she wanted viewers to listen to her story and learn to listen to their body, and said: "We just put up and get on with things and make excuses. But you can't."
I'm A Celebrity airs tonight at 9pm on ITV and ITV Hub
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