I’m a Celebrity’s Beverley Callard clears up ITV show confusion after cancer diagnosis

The former Coronation Street legend posted a message to I’m A Celebrity South Africa fans ahead of the launch show on ITV

Beverley Callard is in the new series of I’m A Celebrity South Africa(Image: ITV)

Beverley Callard has clarified any potential confusion surrounding her I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! comeback. The former Coronation Street star is due to return to TV screens on Monday, April 6 as one of 12 celebrities participating in the second series of the ITV reality programme’s spin-off, I’m A Celebrity South Africa.

However, this follows her January announcement of an early-stage breast cancer diagnosis, which came just before she filmed her debut scenes on Irish drama Fair City, where she currently portrays Lily Patterson.

Beverley, who originally featured on I’m A Celebrity in 2020 when the programme moved to Gwrych Castle in North Wales during the Covid pandemic, used Instagram late on Sunday (April 5) evening to remind followers that the series is pre-recorded rather than broadcast live like the main programme, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Beverley joined her co-stars in South Africa (Image: ITV)

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She stated: “Well, I’ve just got to, first of all, I’ve got to say Happy Easter – even though it’s a bit late – to everybody. Not a bad day today, but I didn’t eat chocolate because I just didn’t fancy it. And also, I want to remind everyone that tomorrow at 9pm, Easter Monday, I’m A Celebrity…South Africa begins.

“And I know everybody thinks I’m suddenly going away to South Africa. I’m not. We did film it a little while ago. So please watch it because it’s frightening, wonderful, horrifying, funny – it was terrifying, exhilarating, everything. But believe me, it’s great television, honestly, so I hope you enjoy it.”

At the weekend, Beverley also opened up about her struggles following a delay to her surgery results caused by a backlog. The actress, who has moved to Ireland with her husband Jon McEwan while appearing in the soap Fair City, shared a video on Instagram saying: “Well, I had to do a photoshoot yesterday and on the way there – it was for a magazine about Fair City – and on the way there, Jon was driving, and I was in the passenger seat.

Beverley has issued a message to her fans(Image: Beverley Callard Instagram)

She said: “My phone rang, and it said the caller ID. Usually, it’s the hospital or one of the consultants from the hospital and I thought ‘Okay, this is it, my results.’ It was one of the amazing cancer care nurses from Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, they are fantastic. She wanted to know how I was doing.

“I told her that I’ve got quite a lot of soreness, which I’ve not had for ages but it came on a few days ago. She said I could be overdoing things, hopefully I’m not, I’ve had a lazy day today. But then she said ‘No results yet because there is a backlog,’ so hopefully I will get them next week.”

Beverley continued: “You know when your heart is in your mouth? You think ‘This is it. It’s coming now, any minute,’ and then, no, nothing. Obviously, we were still moving in the car, and I just thought ‘I can’t do this now, I cannot paint a smile on my face again.’ Anyway, I did it. You just do, don’t you? Then we went out for some dinner and it was really nice.”

Beverley during her previous stint at Gwrych Castle(Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Despite her ongoing health concerns, Beverley was effusive in her praise for her husband Jon, to whom she has been married since 2010. She said: “The other thing I was thinking was that Jon’s painting the bedroom in our new home and doing all that so it will be lovely for me for radiotherapy, etc, if I am tired, and I just thought ‘Oh, I could not go through this by myself.’

“I really feel for anyone who is going through it by themselves, I really do. If you are, you’re much stronger than me, that is for sure, and I’m sending you so much love.”

Beverley recently disclosed her relief at not requiring a further operation, having already undergone the removal of two lymph nodes as a precautionary measure to prevent the cancer from spreading. She is currently awaiting test results that will determine whether she has been given the all-clear.

I’m A Celebrity South Africa is on ITV1 at 9pm and ITVX