Craig Charles has disclosed that he narrowly avoided death after experiencing a heart attack strikingly similar to the one that claimed his brother Dean's life. The 61-year-old actor made this revelation during Wednesday's episode of I'm A Celebrity... South Africa, marking his return to the show after departing the 2014 series early due to his brother's passing.
A Genetic Health Crisis
While conversing with fellow campmates, Craig explained that he now takes "so much medication" daily that he cannot recall all the names. "I'm on about eight tablets a day. I've got four stents in my heart," he shared. "The arteries from my heart were narrow. It's the same thing that killed my brother when I was here last time. They told me this is genetic, you need to go get that looked at."
The Emergency Unfolds
Charles recounted the critical moment when symptoms emerged while his wife, Jackie, was visiting their parents in Galway. "I gave her a ring, something like that 'I don't feel great, man. My jaws are tingling'," he said. Despite advice from his sister-in-law, a nurse, to call an ambulance immediately, Craig hesitated, not wanting to summon emergency services alone. Jackie returned home the next morning, took one look at him, and promptly called for help.
"The woman said, 'We think he's having a heart attack, and stay with me'," Craig continued. "She asked 'what colour is he?' And she [wife] said 'he's brown'. So by now I am having a heart attack and laughing my socks off."
Life-Saving Medical Intervention
The actor described the urgent procedure that saved his life: "They put a wire in, which is attached to a balloon, and then they blow the balloon up, then they stick a stent in, and it goes all the way up there into your heart, so it widens the artery. Because apparently I was existing only 35 per cent blood to my heart, and when they put the stents in and it's on 100 per cent. So they saved me."
He reflected on the tragic parallel with his brother: "My brother had the same thing, but he passed out, he was working at a school as a teacher."
Emotional Backstory and Campmate Support
Scarlett Moffatt praised Craig's resilience in the Bush Telegraph, stating: "I think Craig is really, really brave coming back somewhere where you found out the most devastating news must be really hard."
Craig previously spoke about his anguish over failing to reply to his brother's text messages before Dean's unexpected death. The actor told the Daily Star On Sunday that his brother had texted him twice before he entered the jungle, but work commitments prevented a response.
"Dean had left me a couple of messages, before I came in saying 'Craig, how are you? Can we meet up?' and I'd kinda blanked him because I had too much going on," Craig admitted. "I thought, 'You know what, I'll leave it until I come out then I'll get in contact with him.'"
Craig learned of his older sibling's death just days into his jungle experience, after a blood clot traveled to Dean's heart. "I was shocked. I really broke down. He was only 52. I'm 50. We were very, very close when we were growing up. We shared a bedroom and stuff like that," he emotionally recalled.
