Russell Watson was concerned about how he would cope on 'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!' because he has to take a "massive daily intake" of prescribed drugs to keep him alive.
Russell Watson
The tenor - who was voted off the reality show during last night's episode (01.12.20) - has previously survived two brain tumours, but he has to take a large amount of daily medication, and as a result he was concerned about how he would cope on the ITV programme.
Appearing on 'This Morning' after his eviction, he said: "That was predominantly one of the reasons why I felt, on the previous times that I've been asked [to do the show], that I wouldn't be able to deal with the camp life.
"I've got this massive daily intake of drugs. I don't produce hormones naturally anymore, so I have to inject growth hormone.
"I have to take hydrocortisone, which basically keeps me alive. If I didn't take that I'd be gone within a couple of days.
"So, all these different things I have to do and this balance of hormones that I have to get right on a daily basis, I thought that that would affect my ability to be able to do what's best for myself. But once I got in there and figured it all out, I was absolutely fine.
"In the mornings, where everybody is waking up and getting out of bed, it takes an hour for all my medication to kick in.
"So I was in bed like an hour extra than everyone else waiting for it to kick in. Sometimes that was a bit frustrating, but once I'd told everyone what I had to do they were all really understanding and just got on with their day."
The 54-year-old singer revealed he had been asked five times in the past to head to the jungle in Australia for 'I'm A Celebrity', and he finally decided to take the plunge this year at the sixth time of asking, before the series was moved to Gwrych Castle in Wales.
He added: "I've been asked - it was my sixth time of asking. I've always kinda thought, 'I'm not quite ready for this yet'.
"This year, I just felt like a challenge, I felt like doing something different.
"They asked me at the start of the year as well, so rather than do my usual Christmas tour which wouldn't have happened anyway, I thought I'd give it a shot."
Russell explained how he had to use hydrocortisone cream on his legs because he felt like he was being "eaten from the inside out" by bugs.
Reflecting on a trial, he said: "There's about 20,000 beetles and cockroaches. I honestly felt like my legs were alive for a moment with bites - I was bitten beyond belief.
"The next day, they all swelled up - literally, bites all the way up my leg. I had to put hydrocortisone cream on it - it was very painful! I felt like I was being eaten from the inside out!"
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