Harry Redknapp reveals the toughest I’m A Celeb moment viewers missed

I’m A Celeb’s Harry Redknapp shares biggest show struggle that no one spotted

Harry Redknapp has given fans an insight into what it was really like in the ITV camp (Image: ITV/Shutterstock)

He may have managed to keep his head while those around him were losing theirs, but there is more to Harry Redknapp’s resilience in this year’s I’m a Celebrity… South Africa than first meets the eye. Friday’s live final descended into chaos at ITV’s studio after Jimmy Bullard, 47, and David Haye, 45, clashed with campmates and hosts Ant and Dec, both 50, after Adam Thomas, 37, was crowned winner.

But Harry now reveals that his biggest challenge in camp was hearing what his fellow celebrities were saying to him after a bungling production crew left the 79-year-old without a charging point for his hearing aids.

“I couldn’t have my hearing aids with me because there was nowhere to charge them,” he says. “I wouldn’t have heard most of what the camp was saying or what was going on, because it was difficult. The challenges were okay. But just hearing in general was a strain. My hearing isn’t that bad, but it’s certainly a lot better when I’ve got my hearing aids in.”

Perhaps it was just as well Harry couldn’t hear all of the goings on after heated rows broke out in the camp, culminating in Friday’s explosive final. Former boxer David Haye’s alleged bullying of actor Adam Thomas prompted a raft of complaints to Ofcom. Harry says he struggled to hear much of the in-fighting on the show, filmed last September, as he was based on the other side of the camp.

“Dave’s got some strong opinions, but he’s a wind-up, I liked him,” he says. “I thought he added great value. He’s a real character and obviously very dedicated to his sport. To be a world champion at anything, you’ve got to be dedicated. I’d talk to him about football because his boy is an aspiring young footballer.

“When he and Adam had a bit of a barney, I don’t think he meant anything nasty with it. He was just winding him up, you know?” Arguments aside, Harry says he loved being back in the jungle environment, aside from the meagre rations of beans and rice.

“It was like going on a health retreat where you don’t eat and just go out in the open air and enjoy the sun shining,” he laughs.
“I didn’t eat any food. I lost about eight to 10 pounds again and came out feeling really good.”

The football ace admitted that he ‘liked’ David Haye despite his controversial opinions (Image: ITV)

Back home in Bournemouth, Harry’s devices are fully charged once more, meaning he’s back to enjoying life with his beloved wife Sandra, 78. It was actually Sandra who pushed Harry to get tested for hearing loss last year after the grandfather-of-five accused his wife of whispering and failing to engage in conversations. He also experienced “dangerous” red flags when he realised he couldn’t hear his car’s indicators clicking while driving.

Now the couple have teamed up with Specsavers to help break down the stigma of hearing loss and hearing devices for a new campaign by the eye specialists on how hearing devices can help improve relationships. It follows new research by Specsavers that reveals that British couples believe feeling listened to and truly hear is the most important way of staying connected.

Opening up about his diagnosis, Harry says: “Every year, I have to go to the Lead Managers Association, and we all get a full check-up for the ex-football managers.

“They felt that my hearing was down, so I decided it was time I did something about it, but I had the missus push me into it, really. I ended up going to Specsavers. I got my glasses from them, and they said they do hearing aids too.”

NHS England estimates up to 18 million people in the UK struggle with their hearing. Yet research shows that it takes people, on average, 10 years to seek help after first noticing symptoms.

But Harry and Sandra, parents to former England star Jamie and model Mark, have proven that hearing loss is just another hurdle they can overcome together. Almost 60 years after they tied the knot, they remain one of the strongest power couples both on and off the pitch.

“I spend most of my life sitting in a stadium with 60,000 people glaring at you, shouting at you,” says the former Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham manager. “But when I’m away from it, I like to just be with Sandra, I like the quiet,” he confesses. We just go away to places on holiday and go out for nice meals together.”

Their love story began back in 1963 when the teenagers locked eyes at a Sunday night disco at The Two Puddings pub in Stratford, east London. Harry was a 17-year-old aspiring young West Ham player while his childhood sweetheart worked as a hairdresser.

Harry insists it was love at first sight and that he knew Sandra was “the one” the second he saw her. He has previously confessed that on their first date, he was wrecked with nerves and turned to drink to settle the butterflies in his stomach. Their date quickly ended in disaster when he wound up so drunk that his friend had to drive her home.

Despite their rocky start, however, the couple walked down the aisle four years later in 1967 before welcoming their two sons. Next June, they will celebrate an incredible 60 years of marriage. So do they have any big plans to celebrate their diamond anniversary?

Harry and Sandra are set to celebrate their 60th anniversary next June (Image: Jonathan Buckmaster)

“We don’t really care about anniversaries, I’ll be honest,” says Harry. “We’re not big into celebrations; we just love every day together. We’ll probably go out for dinner, just the two of us.” He and Sandra are so close that Harry always travels straight back home after an event, even if it means hitting the road for several hours.

“I always come home whenever I go and do a show,” he smiles. “Sandra makes me a sandwich and a packet of crisps. I always like to wake up in my own bed in the morning. Even if it’s in Newcastle and takes six hours, I’ll still drive back.”

Yet their fairytale romance hasn’t been without its ups and downs. Harry’s “worst day ever” was in 2016 when he accidentally ran over his wife in a split-second collision while dropping her off in town. “It was a nightmare,” he recalls, his voice going quiet.

“Sandra was going into a shop, and I was on a one-way street near where we live in Westbourne. I pulled up, and she got out, but after parking, I thought, ‘Oh, I’d better move forward, I’m taking up two parking spaces here’.”

“She went around the back of my car, but I thought she’d crossed the road, and I wasn’t looking. She didn’t get across the road because she saw a car coming, she backed up against my door, and I didn’t look in my wing mirror.” It was at this point that he accidentally collided with his wife when his back wheel ran over her ankle.

“As I pulled away, my wheel went over and sliced her ankle in half. She fell into the road and a bus was coming,” he chokes up with emotion. “She was very close to the bus – it stopped about 10 yards away from her when she hit her head.

“I thought I’d taken her foot off; it was that bad. Her ankle was sliced right open. got out of the car, the lady said, ‘Don’t look at her foot, Harry. Don’t look at her foot’. I thought I’d taken her foot off, it was that bad, her ankle was sliced right open. It was pretty horrendous, but if you can get through that, you can get through anything.”

Although Sandra’s ankle needed surgery, she never blamed her devastated husband, simply telling him: “You thought I’d crossed the road, there’s no blame.” Yet horror struck again just two years later when Sandra suffered a life-threatening bout of sepsis just days before Harry was due to fly out to compete on I’m A Celebrity for the first time.

Sandra developed a serious case of sepsis in 2018 (Image: Getty)

At the time, Harry was in London. “She got an infection in her kidney and suddenly got sepsis. If my daughter hadn’t decided to get her to the hospital, it could have been too late. People don’t realise just how dangerous it is.

“Something as simple as a cut gets infected, and if you don’t treat it with the right antibiotics, you can end up losing your life.”
Thankfully, Sandra made a full recovery, and the couple continue to campaign for greater sepsis awareness.

Now the tables have turned, with Sandra looking after Harry by helping him with his hearing aid so he can hear everything she says. And at least, unlike the jungle, her words are unlikely to cause an argument.

“We very rarely argue, and if we ever do have an argument or disagreement, it doesn’t last more than 10 minutes,” Harry beams. It’s pretty quick, and then we get onwith it. We’re just really great friends when you get down to the crux of it.”