I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! Sam Thompson’s opening out about his illness had viewers in stitches.
The 31-year-old Made in Chelsea reality star got frank with Marvin Humes and Josie Gibson.
He’s spoken openly about his ADHD previously, but the Celebs Go Dating star became extremely upfront about it in the jungle today – and viewers loved it, calling it one of the finest moments of the season so far.
‘You kind of feel like a bit of a jerk sometimes,’ Sam acknowledged, describing how, owing to the behavioural condition, he sometimes just zones out of listening to girlfriend Zara McDermott talk about her day.
Sam expressed his desire to be a father one day, and expressed concern that his erratic attitude to work – he skims lists and jumps into things – may jeopardise his ability to nurture children.
But Marvin had Sam’s back, and the entire chat ended on an emotional note, as the JLS singer, 38, promised Sam he’d be the most wonderful parent – adding in the private room to the cameras that he’d never met somebody like Sam, who fascinates him.
Meanwhile, Josie made a really beautiful point as she said: ‘We all carry a little bit of magic.’
Sitting at the creek, Marvin asked Sam about his ADHD diagnosis saying: ‘How old were you when you were diagnosed with it?’
‘Last year, mate,’ replied the reality star. ‘There’s loads of people who are actually like of a certain age who get diagnosed way later. When the low bits happen it goes low. But then the highs are really high. My girlfriend Zara is so steady and it’s so good for me. When she’s going steady I’m going like that [mimes wavy line].
He continued: ‘My time keeping is terrible. I get quite selfish, not just with her [my girlfriend], with everyone, my mates or whatever. My listening to Zara… I’m just finding myself staring off at something completely different. You sort of feel like you’re a bit of a k*** sometimes.’
Josie chimed in, and said, ‘But you would not be Sam without it,’ before Marvin added: ‘I would just always say you’ve got loads of energy. Your energy is crazy bro and it’s what makes you great.’
‘Weird no one spotted it beforehand at school, but if you look at all of my report cards, every single one says the same, it says: “Likeable enough guy, but lacks focus”‘ admitted Sam.
‘It’s staring at you in the face. If I’d known as a kid, not much would have changed, but how you feel about yourself probably changes. I remember crying into my textbook because I couldn’t understand the words going into my head. You want to do good. You don’t want to be mischievous or anything like that.’
Sam went on to confess: ‘I want to be a dad at some point. That’s another thing, we’ve got to get a handle on it. You’ve got to look after a child.’
‘You would be the most incredible dad,’ replied Marvin.
Later in the Bush Telegraph, Sam said: ‘I’m not ashamed of having ADHD in any way. But I know that I would have felt better about myself at school if I’d been diagnosed with it at a younger age. I really was just like, “I just suck at everything.”‘
Fans loved the exchange and commended Sam for opening himself, with several teary memes circulating on X, previously Twitter.
One posted a picture of Steve Carell as Michael Scott in The Office tearing up, and wrote: ‘Sam bringing ADHD awareness to the show #ImACeleb.’
‘It’s so nice to see these important conversations happening in camp and educating the public about how ADHD can affect an individual in their day to day lives,’ commented one, while another said: ‘THAT WHOLE CONVERSATION is by far my absolute favourite part of the series, in fact the whole entire show ever.’
‘Hearing Sam saying he has to get a handle on his ADHD cos he wants kids is sad. Love that Marvin told him you are fine how you are,’ said another viewer.
Others with ADHD really related to Sam, as one viewer said: ‘For someone that also has ADHD, I love how he’s so open about it, I 100% agree with him, I sucked at school, it wasn’t until I left school I was diagnosed with ADHD, the teachers never understood and I always feel I would have done better if diagnosed earlier too.’
Elsewhere on the show, Sam had his back suncreamed by none other than Tony Bellew, who didn’t seem too thrilled with the encounter.
This follows the departure of Britney Spears‘ younger sister Jamie Lynn Spears from the jungle on’medical reasons’ yesterday.
A spokesperson for the show said: ‘Jamie Lynn Spears has left I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! on medical grounds.
‘She’s been a fantastic campmate who has triumphed at trials and bonded well with her fellow celebrities.’
Jamie Lynn’s departure from the programme comes on the heels of restaurant critic and MasterChef judge Grace Dent’s medical withdrawal.
