I’m a Celeb contestant suffers loss in the family but won’t be told until show finishes

We have just one more week ofI’m a Celeband contestant AJ Pritchard will be emerging back into the real world to deal with some rather sad news: at the age of 93 his grandmother has passed away.

The news was revealed on social media by AJ’s younger brother andLove Islandstar Curtis Pritchard who posted on Instagram:

Life is beautiful, life is incredible, life is magical… But sadly it doesn’t last forever. RIP, I love you Nanna. Nanna words literally cannot describe how much I love you, and forever will love you and the memories of you. You really have been a massive part of my life and helped me to be the man I am today.

Pritchard revealed that his grandmother had been battling dementia for the past ten years and that due to current conditions, only two people were allowed in the hospital to see her.

The statement also revealed that AJ, who had joined the ranks of I’m a Celebrity, asked not to be told anything about his grandmother until he had left the reality tv show. Curtis wrote:

In her honour, he would complete his commitment to the show, with a view to doing her and the family proud. As Grandad and Nanna would have wished for, AJ will stay in the castle and continue making her proud wherever she is watching from… We know we have made the right decision for everyone involved.

One week left of I’m a Celeb

Last week I’m a Celeb producers confirmed that the show would wrap up on the 4th of December as the wicked Welsh countryside proved to be too cold and wet for filming.

Emotions were also running high in last night’s episode as contestants were expecting to open gifts from home. But, an error meant that Giovanna Fletcher, Jordan North and AJ Pritchardmissed out on messages from their loved ones. Fletcher was left in tears after the debacle stating:

Your heart aches and then you attach yourself to anything. How lovely would it be to hear from Tom and the boys, just a sentence? It’s a sentence and I’m going to pretend each sentence anyone gets is from the kids and I’m going to adopt them like they’re mine.

Two days after Hollie Arnold was eliminated from the camp, Ruthie Henshaw was also booted after receiving the least votes from the public. Speaking to presenters Ant and Dec afterwards she said:

That was brutal. You have absolutely no control in there. You don’t know what’s coming next. And the rollercoaster of emotions is ridiculous. You start thinking about things you haven’t thought about in years and you’re falling from emotion to emotion, but then of course, everybody in there is so delightful and wonderful that there was a real camaraderie in there. Nothing went unnoticed if you were up or down.