Harry Redknapp nearly QUIT I’m A Celeb after wife Sandra fell seriously ill

We saw just how much he dotes on her during his time in the jungle

Harry and Sandra Redknapp

by Emma Dodds |
Updated on

Although we fell in love with every single celebrity who entered the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! jungle last November, Harry Redknapp was a stand-out from the very start. The former football manager, who was the oldest in the jungle at 71-years-old, unsurprisingly took the crown during the final after capturing the hearts of the nation.

But shockingly, we very nearly didn't see Harry in the jungle, as his wife of 51 years Sandra had fallen very ill just a few weeks before he was due to fly out to Australia.

Speaking to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on This Morning earlier today, the couple revealed that Harry very nearly missed out on his jungle experience as Sandra had contracted life-threatening illness sepsis.

Harry said, "It was only during the last week where Sandra had been a lot better [that he decided to go]. Sandra has been really bad. It’s such a dangerous illness, it was scary. I was in London and Sandra was suddenly taken ill and luckily she got an ambulance otherwise sitting in A&E and sitting there could have been very dangerous.

"But Sandra got better, and I certainly wasn’t going to go away if she weren’t going to be well, and I said to producers, ‘Look, if she’s not good, please, I’ve got to know straight away so I can come home'."

Redknapp
©Sandra and Harry have been married for 51 years © Getty Images

So in THAT episode where Harry and Sandra were reunited in the jungle, Harry was prepared for the worst, "I was just told you’ve got to go down and turn left. I thought they were going to tell me something’s not right, I thought Sandra wasn’t well or something’s happened, and there was Sandra sitting there! It was quite a shock."

Sandra also spoke out about how she thought Harry would do before the show - considering he'd never watched it. "I wasn’t sure how he was going to be and if he’d be able to cope with it all," she admitted. "We decided that maybe it was best to not watch any of the programme in the end, so that he didn’t know what was going on."

Bless them. ❤️

Now, remind yourselves of Harry Redknapp best and most hilarious moments from the I'm A Celeb jungle 😂

Gallery

I'm A Celebrity 2018 Harry Redknapp's best one-liners stacked

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His hilarious joke about being a football manager

Oh Harry, you joker!

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When he rapped with Fleur East and Malique Thompson-Dwyer

After a brief discussion about grinding, Harry, Fleur and Malique made up a rap after asking which car Harry drives - and the results were BRILLIANT.

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When he was SUPER blunt about Malique's departure

Obviously, he wasn't being mean about Malique - he just meant that they'd most likely be seeing each other in a matter of days!

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When he spoke about the time he ran Sandra over

Harry unfortunately wasn't being super observant two years ago, and told his campmates, "I used to think I was a good driver but I had a nightmare and ran over my wife one day. She got out the car and I thought she'd crossed the road and I pulled forward and she fell into the road and a bus stopped literally yards away and the most amazing part of the story probably, my grand-daughter is sitting on top of the bus and sees all of this. Unreal."

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When the campmates got split into teams

His competitive nature came out when they got split into teams, and he became one of the Roos.

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When Noel had to hold a yabby in his mouth

During the Fall of Emperor Noel Bushtucker trial, Harry and Noel had to take it in turns to hold creatures in their mouths - and when Noel held a yabby in his mouth, Harry couldn't control himself, and yelled, "YABBA DABBA DOOOO."

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When he had some words of comfort for Fleur East

Before Fleur took on the Gore Seasons Pizza Bushtucker trial, Harry had his very own unique way of comforting her.

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When he had some thoughts about Fleur's music

In the Jungle Arms, the campmates took part in a little karaoke, when Fleur's song 'Sax' came on and they all tried to learn her dance routine. Harry wasn't convinced.

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