Beverley Callard first cancer symptoms as I’m A Celeb marked start of diagnosis

I’m A Celebrity star Beverley Callard tearfully opened up about experiencing her first cancer symptoms while filming the show in South Africa

Beverley Callard has opened up about her cancer battle after viewers saw her tearfully withdrawing from I’m A Celebrity days before the final, over health reasons.

In February, the Coronation Street icon, 69, shared that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer, months after returning home from the South African jungle. After her heartbreaking exit aired last night, she reflected on experiencing her first symptoms while filming. The show was filmed in September 2025 with Bev saying it was emotional to watch back ‘knowing what she does now’.

In an emotional video shared on Instagram after her exit, she tearfully told fans: “Well, I’ve just watched my exit on I’m A Celeb and it made me cry all over again, because of course I didn’t know then that I had cancer but I just knew… It was the last couple of days there that I’d not felt very well.

“What happened was, I was called into the Bush telegraph and apparently I lost consciousness for a little while. I went yonderly, as they say, and I just wasn’t feeling myself. They took me to a medical hut, they were amazing, they really looked after me, and they said, “You can’t go back”.

“I said, “Don’t send me home, I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’ve jumped off a plane, I’ve hung off a cliff.” I did want to succeed and make it through to the end. But that was the start of everything, really. So it’s made me really emotional. But I will beat this. I will beat it.”

Alongside the clip, she wrote: “That was such an emotional watch… especially knowing what I know now. I wanted to prove that age is just a number and I feel so proud of what I achieved. Just got to get through this real life trial now #imaceleb.”

“You were brilliant, Bev. Such a pleasure to do it with you. Sending you my love,” Seann Walsh shared in the comments below, while Ashley Roberts agreed: “You did prove that Bev. Sending love and so proud of you.”

Fans also rallied around Bev, as one posted: “Amazing woman. Our bodies have a way of telling us when something is wrong. Yours did just that to get your diagnosis huni but just look at what you have achieved. We are all with you thru this next chapter xx [sic].”

“Bev you have been amazing on I’m a celeb , you are already a winner for achieving all what you have done and this battle now is the hardest but you will get through it,” a follower agreed.

The latest instalment of I’m A Celeb showed the tearful moment that Bev announced her exit to her co-stars, telling them: “I didn’t feel very well this morning… and the medics have advised I can’t return to camp. I’ve got to go home. I don’t want to go. I’m absolutely gutted. I wanted to finish.”

Explaining that she “had a funny turn”, she added: “They’ve said I can’t come back in and I’ve got to go out. I don’t want to go. I’m gutted I wanted to finish. I wanted to prove older women could do it.”

Beverley found a lump in her breast in January 2025 and was given the news it was cancer just 20 minutes before her first day on set of an Irish soap opera Fair City. The actress flew back to the UK for surgery and radiation

While her cancer was successfully removed, it spread to one of her lymph nodes.

Since sharing her early-stage diagnosis with fans, the Liz McDonald star revealed that doctors were able to “cut the cancer out”, but were waiting on further tests.