The popular actor and DJ jumped at the chance to take part in I’m A Celebrity South Africa after leaving the jungle in 2014 following his brother’s sudden death
I’M A CELEBRITY SOUTH AFRICA. Pictured : ACTOR AND DJ CRAIG CHARLES.
Craig Charles is back on I’m A Celebrity for a second shot at the hit ITV show.
The former Coronation Street star is part of the line-up of the new South African series, which started airing on Virgin Media One this week.
I’m A Celebrity South Africa sees former contestants return for another crack at jungle life, and Craig signed up for a very emotional reason.
The actor and DJ first appeared on the 2014 season of the hit ITV series, fronted by TV royalty Ant and Dec.
But his time in the jungle was cut short, as four days in Craig learned the devastating news that his brother Dean died of a heart attack.
Craig and Dean had not spoken that much for a few years before signing up to I’m A Celebrity.
“If I could have one last conversation with anyone it would be my brother Dean. He tried to get hold of me just before I went into the jungle,” Craig told The Big Issue in 2020.
“We’d not spoken for a few years, there was a family falling out. And I just thought, ‘You know what, I’ll leave it, go and do the jungle thing and I’ll come out and we’ll all be together for Christmas.'”
He continued: “And he died while I was over there… The doctor said: ‘I’ve got some terrible news to tell you, Craig. Your brother Dean has passed away.’
“So I had to get on a plane straight away. He was so far away. And it took so long to get back.
“I’d have loved to have had a conversation with him. I’d have loved to have made up.”
Craig didn’t get an opportunity to return to the jungle after his initial appearance.
He also admitted that he found it hard to watch I’m A Celebrity in the years that followed Dean’s death.
But when the opportunity to take part in the “legends” spin-off series was presented to him, Craig jumped at the chance.
Ahead of the show airing, Craig said: “At first, I’m A Celebrity felt bittersweet after I’d left. And in the first few years I couldn’t watch the show.
“It made me sad and it opened a world of loss.
“Every year it came around, I would feel a sense of loss and a feeling of what might have been – both for my brother and for me. He was only 52 and he would have been 63 now, which is no age.
“But that feeling has decreased over the years, and the last few years I have been able to watch it again without feeling the pain and the grief.
“And so, when this came round, it was at the right time. I feel strong and confident enough to face it again and have a laugh.”
Craig hopes to make Dean proud on the show.
He added: “I found out when I got back for the funeral that after the first episode, he turned to his wife and said: ‘he is going to win that’.
“But sadly, Dean never woke up and so hopefully I will make him proud.”
This series of I’m A Celebrity South Africa was filmed last year and Craig is joined in the jungle by several big names including Beverley Callard, Harry Redknapp, Ashley Roberts and Gemma Collins.
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