Olivia Attwood has broken her silence over her early exit from this year's I'm A Celebrity, which left viewers speculating the reason behind her shock departure. Less than 24 hours after entering the jungle, the former Love Island contestant was rushed to hospital by medics and ITV staff, the Mirror reports.
However, the reality star has since slammed one 'misogynistic' rumour that falsely claimed she was forced to leave camp because she was pregnant. Speaking to Mail Online, Olivia said she was taken to Aussie A&E following a routine blood test, which all campmates undergo randomly throughout the show.
Unfortunately, her test results showed that she was dangerously anaemic and also had low levels of sodium and potassium, which sadly meant it wasn't safe for her to continue on the series. The 31-year-old explained: "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."
She added: "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."
Despite the health scare, Olivia said she was feeling 'fine'. During her short stint on I'm A Celeb, she skydived alongside radio DJ Chris Moyles and took part in a jungle challenge alongside Loose Women's Charlene White.
Following her shock exit, rumours soon began to spiral on social media about the reason behind her quitting the show. One suggested Olivia's ADHD - which she was diagnosed with several years ago - meant she wouldn't have been able to cope with life in camp.
Another said that due to her hospital visit, she had broken a Covid bubble and wouldn't be able to reunite with her fellow contestants over fears she might have contracted the virus.
But the TV personality was most infuriated by 'misogynistic' rumours that she was actually pregnant and therefore too weak to continue with the gruelling show.
After undergoing further blood tests in hospital, Olivia's results came back fine and she was ready to return to the jungle. However, ITV bosses instead booked her into a hotel to get some rest, leaving her confused whilst producers decided what should happen next.
Unfortunately, she received a knock on her door the next morning and was told that the broadcaster didn't want to risk putting her back into camp in case her levels dropped again, which 'could be detrimental to her health and wellbeing'. Because ITV wasn't willing to authorise her return, she also couldn't be insured.
Devastated, Olivia flew back to the UK to reunite with her family and Blackburn Rovers footballer boyfriend Brad Dack. Before boarding her flight home, Olivia was handed back her phone and read what the speculation online about her I'm A Celeb departure - much of which she says was fuelled by 'misogyny'.
"I mean, I saw on Twitter that I was pregnant. I'm not. There is an underlying misogynistic feel to the rhetoric," she explained.
"They're saying, 'I bet she fainted' or 'I bet she was scared of sleeping outside' or that 'she didn't fancy it because it was raining'. The reason it was so frustrating is because I am the complete opposite of that – and to make it more irritating, people could see on the show that I was absolutely loving it.
"There was nothing I would have said no to in the jungle. I loved it from the first hour and I was embracing every moment of it. I'm a nature geek, so I loved seeing all the bugs, and I even saw a kangaroo."
