I'm a Celeb casualty Brian Conley out of hospital
Brian Conley has been released from hospital and is 'recuperating' with his family after being taken ill during filming of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! The entertainer had to leave the show - filmed in the Australian jungle - earlier this week for what ITV said were 'medical reasons'. No further details about his illness have been issued, but he was later taken to hospital. His agent issued a statement which said: "We can confirm Brian Conley has been discharged from hospital and is delighted to be back with his family recuperating. "He would like to thank everyone for their kind wishes and concern." A spokesman for the 51-year-old star said his medical problems had now been 'resolved'. Brian entered the jungle more than a week ago along with contestants such as Tory MP Nadine Dorries and ex-Coronation Street actress Helen Flanagan. But after a series of bungled bushtucker trials, the audience for the show - which has numbered some 10 million people - has seen some of the contestants becoming increasingly hungry. Viewers had seen comic Brian break down in tears during the show, following a confrontation with boxer David Haye. His health issue during the show will raise questions about the 'duty of care' from broadcasters towards the participants on popular TV shows. Last year comedian Freddie Starr had to be removed from the I'm A Celebrity camp and withdrew from the show after just three days when he suffered what was thought to be an allergic reaction. Starr had taken part in the programme at the age of 68 and just a year after suffering a heart attack. His ill health followed his participation in one of the programme's notorious eating challenges, and he was taken to a cardiac unit to be monitored.
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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.
An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.