Vogue Williams has disclosed that she suffered a panic attack while filming I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, which she pleaded with ITV producers to keep off air.
The Irish television presenter opened up about the previously unseen moment during Friday’s episode of her podcast My Therapist Ghosted Me, recorded alongside co-host Joanne McNally.
Ms Williams, who is married to Made In Chelsea star Spencer Matthews, departed the Australian jungle on Sunday, November 30, after receiving the fewest public votes, becoming the third celebrity eliminated from this year’s series.
Former footballer Alex Scott and comedian Eddie Kadi were the only contestants to leave before her.
Vogue Williams left ITV I’m A Celebrity on Sunday
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ITV
The 39-year-old had entered the competition as a late arrival alongside Celebs Go Dating’s Tom Read Wilson.
Speaking to Ms McNally about her mental health struggles in camp, Ms Williams explained that sleep deprivation triggered her anxiety episode.
“I didn’t sleep that night and then we went out and did the trial another night with the cockroaches and then I was like right I’m not going to sleep tonight,” she recalled.
“And I started having an absolute meltdown just lying there like ‘please sleep, please sleep, please sleep’.”
Vogue Williams explained she’d had a panic attack off-camera
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ITV
The presenter described how she made her way to the Bush Telegraph, where contestants record their video diary segments, and found herself unable to cope.
“I started having a panic attack,” she said. “I was like ‘please don’t show this because everyone will see how mental I am’. I just couldn’t control it and went into full panic mode.”
Ms Williams praised the show’s production team for their compassionate handling of the situation.
“They are actually so nice when that happens because they’re like ‘you’re okay, it’s fine don’t worry’ and they are trying to just talk you through it,” she explained.
Vogue Williams will entered camp as a late arrival and was the third to leave
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PAThe following day, the presenter requested a session with Sandra, the programme’s on-set psychologist, to address her spiralling anxiety.
“I was so panicked that night because my anxiety just hit ninety and I was like I just have to get rid of this,” Williams told her co-host.
The intervention proved highly effective, with the star crediting the mental health professional for transforming her outlook entirely.
“She just completely reset me and for that whole day I was like I’m totally fine now,” she added.
Vogue Williams stated she had ‘a meltdown’
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ITV
Ms Williams reflected on the challenges of entering the competition a week after the original ten celebrities had already begun bonding.
“Now when I watch some of the footage back I’m like ‘Oh, they were a bit annoyed that we’d come in’,” she admitted, though noted the timing was not her decision.
Despite acknowledging that arriving late “probably made it a little bit harder,” the presenter expressed no regrets about the arrangement, as it allowed her additional time with her children before departing for Australia.
Williams departed on day thirteen and maintained she harboured no bitterness about her elimination, firmly stating: “I am in no way a sore loser.”
When asked whether Irish viewers being unable to vote had affected her chances, she responded that she simply had no way of knowing the difference.