Janice Dickinson, 70, ‘feels betrayed over I’m A Celeb footage’

Janice Dickinson is at the centre of a new row with ITV after she watched footage from her stint in I’m A Celeb back in 2023.

The US model, 70, was forced to quit the South African series of the show after suffering head and facial injuries when she tripped in the dark at the jungle camp.

Last week, Janice filed a personal injury claim against ITV at the High Court, seeking damages. 

The TV personality revealed in an interview at the time that she tripped and fell flat on her face during filming for the pre recorded show in October 2022, while trying to find the toilet in the middle of the night.

Now, Janice is said to be ‘betrayed, humiliated and crushed’ after her former campmates likened her to a ‘witch’ hours after she was stretchered out in the show.

When Helen Flanagan read Janice’s farewell letter at the time of her exit, ex-England cricket captain Phil Tufnell sneered that she had signed it ‘with her broomstick’.

His remark prompted laughter from Joe Swash, Dean Gaffney and Myleene Klass. 

After watching the footage back for her legal case, a source close to Janice said: ‘Janice was really shocked to hear the comments Phil made, especially as she publicly praised for helping her when she was injured.

‘People think it was just a simple trip and fall. It wasn’t a scrape, these were deep wounds, bleeding from four different areas on her face and the blood pouring down, it was like something out of a horror film.

‘Phil saw she was frightened and severely injured and as someone older, would be aware of how a fall can dent a person’s confidence. No matter what you think of a person, there was no need for those comments. She was really taken aback seeing Joe and Myleene laughing at the comments, it’s not what you’d expect from them.

‘Janice was gobsmacked at how those comments even made it to air and how there was such a attitude to ageism and misogyny. You never see young women being referred to as witches.’

An ITV Studios Spokesperson said: ‘We will study Janice’s claims and the details when we receive them. I’m A Celebrity operates a high level of safety protocols and the health, safety and welfare of all of our contributors are our number one priority.

‘We don’t recognise this version of events. However, we looked after Janice at the time, paid her medical expenses, flew her home to LA, and the I’m A Celebrity team were in regular contact with Janice and her representatives on an ongoing basis after she returned home to America until after the programme aired seven months later.’

Daily Mail has contacted Janice’s representatives for comment. 

Janice blamed her own ‘stupidity’ and confirmed at the time of the fall that ITV paid her show fee and her medical bills but it’s now understood new information has come to light.

The star has accused ITV of negligence and claims she was not properly safeguarded during filming. 

Following her fall, Janice was forced to take a series of three injections against rabies, which ITV initially refused to cover, according to The Sun.

She also claimed they failed to contact her directly once she had returned home to Los Angeles.

Janice told the publication: ‘ITV need to take some responsibility… I was so f***ed up, my face was bloody, all cut up. Those motherf***s left me there bleeding in the dark for ten minutes. ITV had a duty of care and they let me down big time.’

It comes just days after Janice’s rep, Dermot McNamara confirmed to Daily Mail: ‘A claim has been issued at the High Court, in relation to her appearance on I’m a Celebrity: South Africa and she looks forward to giving her full account in due course.’

The model told The Sun’s TV Mag at the time of the accident: ‘I was feeling very insecure because the campfire had gone out and it was as dark as it could be. So I thought: Right, I’ll make it to the dunny from memory.’

‘I walked a couple of steps and tripped, flying flat on my face – hair all over my forehead, my nose was bloody and my whole chin was gashed open.

‘Blood was gushing from all these areas, and there was dirt and stones embedded in my face from the fall.’

She added: ‘All I could feel was an intense head pain – from one to ten it was about a nine – and I was just lying there, moaning. It was a freak accident that happened so quickly.’

Luckily, Janice was found by her campmates Fatima Whitbread and Phil Tuffnell, who quickly picked her up off the floor and helped her back to the campsite.

The US star, who was ‘moaning and crying’ with pain, was then helped to her bed before a medic came into camp to assess her.

Janice recalled that she was taken to the medical hut where she was cleaned up and given pain relief.

She was then transported via ambulance, in which she was given a compress for her head and chin, to a ‘tiny hospital in the middle of nowhere’,  while her husband Robert Gerner – who was already in South Africa – was called.

‘My husband’s face didn’t budge when he saw me – it was probably like waking up and seeing me every morning with this wrinkly old pruney face’But he held my hand really tight so I knew something must be up,’ she added to TV Mag.

‘It was an honest accident. But ITV were kind enough to pay for my doctors’ bills once I got back to LA. I had to go to a serious skin specialist, who put me under laser lighting five days a week for my wounds to heal quickly. That was costly, so ITV did pony up and pay my bills, thank you very much.

She added: ‘If you look really closely now, there’s still an indentation on my forehead, which I don’t think will ever fill out.

The star insisted she wanted to return to the camp but admitted production made the right call in keeping her out.

She added: ‘I was in shock even a day after. I think people in the campsite couldn’t have handled it.’