Red Dwarf and Coronation Street star Craig Charles is heading to Marlow next month for the popular Pub in the Park Festival, fresh from making headlines over emotional comments about a controversial on-screen row involving fellow reality TV stars.
The 61-year-old actor and broadcaster, who appeared on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here in 2014 and again in the programme’s recent all-star series set in South Africa, spoke out about the fallout from clashes between Adam Thomas and football pundit Jimmy Bullard during the show.
Charles became visibly emotional while defending his fellow finalists, Olympian Sir Mo Farah and former football manager Harry Redknapp, saying they had suffered “reputational damage” following online abuse in the wake of the series.
Speaking ahead of Friday’s live finale, Charles appeared on ITV’s This Morning alongside Sir Mo and Redknapp, where he claimed the villa had been largely unaware of the extent of Thomas’s struggles at the time.
He said: “ITV have got a duty of care.
“They’ve got like 24/7 people on high-definition close-ups picking it all out. They didn’t think he was getting bullied enough to step in. They would have stepped in if they thought he was being bullied, right?
“We didn’t see it until that final morning, when I thought David got a bit nasty, and I thought, ‘this is turning into bullying this now’.”
Charles also addressed the infamous confrontation between Thomas and former England footballer Bullard, claiming viewers did not see how intense the incident truly was.
He said: “And that brings us to the Jimmy Bullard incident. They watered down the Jimmy Bullard incident, they watered it down. It was un-broadcastable as it was. It was deeply traumatic and it was really upsetting.
“Adam was so wound up. He was so aggressive. It looked like he was going to attack Jimmy. He was dropping F bombs and C bombs.”
Thomas later revealed he sought therapy after the show, saying a “tough time with one of the campmates” pushed him to breaking point.
Charles added: “The thing about it is, these guys, Mo by association, have suffered reputational damage with this social media campaign where they’ve given this 80-year-old man dog’s abuse on social media, just because he said, ‘I don’t like the way that Adam reacted’.”
Despite the controversy, Charles said his overall experience was hugely positive.
“I had such an incredible experience. I met some lovely people, but the social media thing has spoiled it,” he said. “It was one of the best times in my life until all this happened.”
Fans will have the chance to see Charles in a very different setting next month when he heads to Higginson Park in Marlow as part of the Pub in the Park Festival, which combines live music, top chefs and celebrity appearances.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source uk.yahoo.com ’
