Harry Redknapp was almost not the King of The Jungle.
The 71-year-old nearly pulled out of the ITV show when he found out that his beloved wife Sandra was ill.
Sandra was in hospital days before he entered the jungle with a deadly case of sepsis.
He said that this was why he was so emotional when he met her in a surprise camp visit.
Harry said that he had wrongly believed his spouse of 51 years had been taken seriously ill.
He said, ''She’s been ill with the sepsis and it’s knocked her for six. It was only five weeks ago. Sandra was in and out of hospital but she wanted to come over to Australia.''
He continued, ''I was worried about her coming, I didn't know if it was going to be too much for her.”
Sepsis is an infection which can lead to multiple organ failure and death if not treated quickly.
Harry said, ''Sepsis is such a dangerous thing, we were quite lucky. The day before I came in, if she said she didn't feel well or weren't up for it - I wouldn't have come, I’d have scrubbed it.”
When he was called to the Bush Telegraph to be told Sandra was coming in, he thought that the producers were sending him out of the jungle to deal with a medical emergency.
So he was doubly surprised to be having a televised reunion with her instead.
He said, ''I thought something had happened, I really did - I thought something wasn't right and I was going to come out. When the girl called me in the Bush Telegraph office, I said, ‘Can I tell the others?’ and she says, ‘No you can’t’.''
He added, ''That’s why I got double choked when I saw her. I’ll be honest, the day I met her and when I started crying on the TV, I’m not usually one for that.”
We thought that we couldn't love them anymore, but we definitely do now.
