Celebs Go Dating’s Jon Lee says mum thought he was dead when he disappeared

What did you miss?

Celebs Go Dating star Jon Lee has revealed his mum thought he was dead because he didn’t speak to her for two years.

In the deep dive, the S Club 7 bandmate was vulnerable in his discussion with dating experts Dr. Tara Suwinyattichaiporn and Anna Williamson.

Breaking down in tears, Lee said he was heartbroken after his “brilliant” dad died following a diagnosis with motor neurone disease (MND causes muscle weakness that gets worse over months or years, the NHS said).

It sparked the S Club 7 singer to go out taking “loads of drugs” but it dawned on him he needed to make a drastic change. In moving scenes, Lee revealed he vanished and didn’t speak to his mum for two years leading to her believing he was dead.

What, how and why?

Jon Lee sat at his consulation in Ibiza.

Speaking about his dad, Lee said: “Within the first year, he lost the ability to move, he couldn’t speak, he had to be fed through a tube. I couldn’t talk to him, he couldn’t talk to me. To go out like that, it just seemed, I lost the plot. I was like: what the f*** is the point? It broke my heart.”

Devastated by his dad’s death, the musician shared how he cut his mum off for two years. Lee fled the country on a spur of a moment to turn his life around and he didn’t come back to the UK for four years.

Wide shot of Jon Lee sat talking to Anna Williamson and Dr Tara during his consultation in Ibiza.

He said: “I went out, I just went out, was taking loads of drugs. I went completely off the rails. That got to a point… Where I had to make a decision: you either sort yourself out or it’s not going to end well. I packed a bag there and then.

“Got my passport and got my credit card, locked my front door and I never went back. I wrote to my mum. I sent her my front door key just with a note saying: ‘I don’t know where I’m going. I don’t know where I’m doing but I can’t be here, I need to sort myself out.’

She said every time the phone rang she thought it was going to be the police and they’ve found Jon and he’s dead

Jon Lee

“I left the country and didn’t come back for four years. I didn’t speak to my mum for two years. She didn’t know where I was.

“She said every time the phone rang she thought it was going to be the police and they’ve found Jon and he’s dead. That’s my biggest regret. That I caused her.”

Jon Lee joined the Celebs Go Dating agency with Mark ‘The Beast’ Labbett, Olivia Hawkins, Louis Russell, Kerry Katona, Donna Preston, Sam Prince and Christine McGuinness. (Channel 4)

Lee said he “fell apart” after his dad’s diagnosis. It come at an “emotional” time for him as he had just found out his partner at the time had been cheating on him.

“That really hurt,” he said. “That’s when my dad was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. So I just had this had this emotional slap with this relationship. I hadn’t recovered and that’s when I fell apart.”

Jon Lee was celibate for six and a half years

Pictured: Jon Lee

Celebs Go Dating has already been a huge process for Lee. In the first episode, he shared that he was celibate for six and a half years.

Talking to Yahoo UK, Dr. Suwinyattichaiporn noted that he goes on the biggest journey out of the celebrities on the Channel 4 show.

“He has been celibate for six years! Celibate, OK?” She told Yahoo UK. “I’m a sex expert. When you say you’ve been celibate for six years, my heart hurts.”

She added, “When he told us that in our deep dive in. My heart was hurting because I was like, ‘Oh my God’, because sex is not just about sex, is it? Sex is also about feeling intimate and close with someone, and the ability to feel empowered within yourself.

“So for me, the fact that he was celibate for six years and now just jumping into dating a bunch of different people! [That] is a big journey. And at the end, you will see his ending is incredible. I can’t wait for people to see it.”

Celebs Go Dating airs at 9pm on Monday to Thursday on E4.

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