Brian Conley has opened up about why he was forced to quit the reality show I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.
Speaking to ITV’s Daybreak, in his first interview since leaving the camp, Conley explained the medical grounds behind his departure from the show, saying: “I started to feel really bad and very shortly after that I did have to leave. I had an examination and they found out that I had malnutrition and was suffering from exhaustion. That’s what the doctors said.
“They then sedated me in hospital, they gave me tablets that would probably knock out a horse for two days and I woke up with the saline drip in my arm thinking ‘What on Earth has happened here?’.
“All my kids said ‘You’ve got to go out there, you’ve got to win the stick’ because I always joke with them that that’s what you get if you win, and I’m now here lying in hospital being heavily sedated with a saline drip because I’m suffering from malnutrition and exhaustion all because of a lovely, fluffy show that Ant and Dec do. I can tell you, it’s not fluffy out there, it’s the real world and it’s tough, really tough.”
Conley continued to say that he was very forward about his decision to stop taking his anti-depressives though saying; “I couldn’t lie to them, I’m an honest guy. I couldn’t go “Yes, I’ve taken my tablets”. They never examine you taking it, so I could have just gone in the dunny and dropped it down there.
“I thought surely they must see the logic. I’ve taken this tablet for 15 years, I’ve even had people say ‘Brian, I don’t think you need it now’."
Despite the ordeal though, Brian went on to say that he doesn’t regret his decision, instead saying that he has a certain level of pride about his actions.
He said; “I feel very proud that I stuck to my guns. I feel very proud that I didn’t saunter out and walk straight into the Versace; I had to be sedated because of extreme exhaustion. I feel very proud that I got through it, and it’s actually made me a much stronger man and you’re looking at someone that doesn’t need anti-depressants and I realise that now.”
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