I’m A Celeb star rushed to hospital with horrific head injuries after fall on set
FORMER supermodel Janice Dickinson was rushed to hospital with horrific head injuries after falling on the I’m a Celebrity set.
Crew feared the 68-year-old American had fractured her skull — and she was later forced to quit the show.
She is believed to have tripped over a cable in the dark at the jungle camp in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.
A source said: “Blood was gushing from her head.”
I’m a Celebrity campmates were woken by a sickening thud as Janice Dickinson slammed face-first to the ground in the dark.
The 68-year-old was found with blood gushing from a head wound having suffered concussion, a black eye, bruised cheeks, a split lip and fractures to her hands.
Read More on Janice Dickinson
The former supermodel was rushed by ambulance to hospital and had to pull out of the all-star show that was being filmed in the South African jungle.
Yet none of the drama has been mentioned in publicity for the pre-recorded show, which is screened on ITV from April 24.
And it was not known if any of it will be shown on the three-week series, which unites viewers’ favourites from previous seasons.
A source told The Sun on Sunday that New York-born Janice was thought to have been searching for one of the camp’s open-air toilets, behind a curtain around 100ft from where the nine contestants sleep.
Most read in News TV
She is thought to have become disoriented and tripped over something, believed to be a TV cable, before landing in the dirt.
The source added: “It was terrifying. Everyone was woken by a sickening thud.
“A few of the campmates ran towards the noise and found Janice face down. She seemed to be semi-conscious on the ground.
“Blood was gushing from her head and she was covered in dirt and dust.
“A crowd formed and one of the campmates had to ask everyone to stand back to give her space to breathe.
“The lights finally came on and one of the production crew took one look at Janice and immediately called for a medic.
“The injuries were severe enough that she had to be taken to hospital by ambulance.
“The on-set medics are very good but this needed her going to a fully equipped hospital.
“There were fears that she had suffered a cracked skull but she was later given the all-clear by doctors.”
The show, hosted by regulars Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly, was shot in Kruger National Park, 250 miles from Johannesburg.
Celebrities include Happy Mondays star Shaun Ryder, actress Helen Flanagan, cricket legend Phil Tufnell, former royal butler Paul Burrell, TV host Carol Vorderman, DJ Jordan Banjo, athletics star Fatima Whitbread and boxer Amir Khan.
A well-placed insider on the set said: “The really sad thing is that Janice was doing great.
“She was causing all the drama you would expect from a supermodel and she was also a really good laugh.
“She must have been one of the favourites to win, but she was left with no choice but to miss the rest of the competition.”
Filming was in secret, with the camp protected by armed guards and electrified fencing because of the risk of wildlife and local thieves.
The accident was understood to have taken place towards the final stages of filming last August and September.
Janice became famous as one of the leading catwalk stars of the 1980s and is sometimes described as the world’s first supermodel.
The mother of two was engaged to movie star Sylvester Stallone, but he stormed out in 1994 after he found out he was not the father of her daughter Savannah.
In her autobiography she recalled him saying: “She’s not mine, I just heard from the DNA lab. Savannah’s not mine.”
She added: “And then he turned and walked out.”
Janice hosted America’s Next Top Model in 2003. Four years later she starred in I’m A Celebrity — completing a record ten Bushtucker Trials in a row before finishing second behind actor Christopher Biggins.
She appeared in the US version in 2009 and the UK’s 16th season of Celebrity Big Brother in 2015, when she was evicted two days before the final.
She wed her fourth husband, Dr Robert “Rocky” Gerner, in 2016 — the same year she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
She made a full recovery.
The Sun on Sunday approached Janice and ITV for comment.
