Craig Charles returns to TV on ITV’s Don’t Rock The Boat six years after quitting I’m A Celeb amid brother’s shock death
CRAIG Charles is returning to reality TV with ITV's Don't Rock The Boat - six years after quitting I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! following his brother's shock death.
The 56-year-old actor was spotted filming the series in Cornwall by locals, joined by a host of other celebrities.
This is the Red Dwarf star's first venture into reality TV since 2014, when his jungle stint was rocked by tragedy.
Craig was a popular campmate during his brief time on the show, where he starred alongside Melanie Sykes, rapper Tinchy Stryder, and former MP Edwina Currie.
After just four days in camp, Craig left after he was told his brother Dean had died suddenly from a heart attack.
Devastated Craig later revealed he and Dean had suffered a falling out shortly before his death, and they weren't on speaking terms when he jetted to Oz.
Speaking on John Bishops’ chat show In Conversation With, the star explained at the time: "We’d fallen out, you know, we’d had a family disagreement and we’d fallen out. We’d not been speaking.
"He texted me a couple of times before I went in (I’m A Celebrity) saying ‘Craig, it’s Dean, just wanna chat, blah, blah, blah’.
"And I’ve kind of ignored him. I thought ‘I can’t really deal with this right now. What I’ll do is, I’ll go in the jungle, do that, come back out and we’ll all be together by Christmas’."
Breaking down in tears over an old photo of them together, Craig continued: "We used to share a bedroom together and we used to share our hopes and dreams and like plans for the future and our disappointments and everything.”
He added: "He was fit as a fiddle, cycle into work, got into the changing rooms, dropped dead. He had a blood clot which reached his heart, boof, dead."
Craig will be joined by Lucy Fallon, Fleur East, Kimberly Wyatt, Adam Thomas, and Denise Lewis for Don't Rock The Boat, as well as other celebrities.
The group were spotted at Mullion Cove, on the Lizard Peninsula, earlier this week - and the new series will see the 12 stars row from Cornwall to the Scottish Isles in two boats, with filming expected to last four weeks.
A rep for ITV explained: "Hosted by AJ Odudu and Freddie Flintoff, the show promises action and adventure as two teams compete against each other in the race of a lifetime."
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It was previously reported that the cast and crew of the show quarantined together ahead of filming and have been tested for coronavirus as a health and safety precaution.
The Sun Online revealed that Jack Fincham had joined the cast after Kem Cetinay quit during training.
Craig became a household name in 1988 when he landed the role of slob technician Dave Lister, the last known survivor of the human race, in the cult BBC sci-fi comedy series Red Dwarf, beating Hugh Laurie to the role.
In 2005, Craig joined the Coronation Street cast as taxi driver Lloyd Mullaney, quitting in May 2015 in order to concentrate on filming the new series of Red Dwarf.