I’m A Celebrity 2021: Richard Madeley spent hours consoling Naughty Boy and urging him not to leave

Richard Madeley spoke out about Naughty Boy’s struggles (Picture: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

I’m A Celebrity 2021 star Richard Madeley has opened up about Naughty Boy’s struggles in the camp, revealing he spent a full night consoling him.

The music producer, 36, came close to leaving the camp within the first few days of the series returning to ITV.

Richard, who was forced to quit the show early, said Naughty Boy felt ‘paranoid’ after he was picked for a trial by their fellow campmates.

Describing him as ‘inconsolable’, the 65-year-old wrote for the Express: ’A dejected Naughty wasn’t delivered back to clink until the small hours, and we were up with him until close to dawn trying to comfort him and talk him out of walking off the show.

‘See what I mean about bonding? Why not just go to bed and let the stranger stew?

‘In the end I gave him a massive hug and told him that the small hours are the worst time to make any kind of decision other than whether you should get up for a pee, and he agreed to sleep on it.’

Naughty Boy – real name Shahid Khan – eventually decided to stay.

However, amid a rocky week for the ITV show, Richard was forced to leave early after he was taken to hospital as a precaution.

In an interview after his exit, he told hosts Ant and Dec: ‘I feel as fit as a fiddle and I am fit as a fiddle. And you know if it wasn’t for Covid I’d be back there eating rice and beans.

‘I had to leave… it’s a Covid situation. It’s still biting our bums isn’t it? What happened was, I had just a funny little turn quite sort of late in the morning.

Richard was forced to exit early (Picture: ITV/REX)

‘ITV are so good with duty of care. They were adamant. They said “No, we have to make sure that you’re OK.” I said, “But I am OK.” They said, “We have to make sure.” 

‘So I went to the local hospital – I was only in there for about an hour and a half – I was given really thorough checks and I was given a completely clean bill of health, I’m absolutely fine. No matter what you might have read, I’m absolutely fine.’

More: I’m A Celebrity

Meanwhile, there won’t be any live episodes of I’m A Celebrity this weekend due to Storm Arwen causing technical difficulties on set.

Instead, compilation episodes will be broadcast.

I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here continues tonight at 9pm on ITV.

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