SEANN Walsh was down to his last £20,000 before agreeing to appear on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!
SE can exclusively reveal that the comic saw his earnings plummet after a cheating scandal tarred his appearance on Strictly Come Dancing four years ago.
Seann Walsh saw his earnings plummet after a cheating scandal tarred his appearance
The pandemic also took a heavy toll on Seann’s income
Sources close to the comedian, 36, blame his snog with former Strictly partner Katya Jones for leaving his finances in tatters.
Seann and Katya were both in long term relationships at the time and the public turned against him, making it hard to get further work.
The pandemic also took a heavy toll on his income as he was forced to go on furlough.
The friend said: “Seann’s had a really tough time of it since his last appearance on reality TV.
“He made one silly mistake and he’s been absolutely ripped to shreds for it.
“He was public enemy number one and people would shout at him and make horrible comments.
“His mental health took a battering and the pandemic didn’t help at all as he couldn’t book a gig.
“We’re hoping that I’m A Celebrity will let people see Sean’s softer and funnier side and they will fall in love with him again.”
The pal spoke out after we revealed how this year’s crop of I’m A Celeb talent is richer than ever before.
The stars are said to boast combined wealth of £76million with singer Boy George topping the rich list with £43.8m in the bank.
Seann’s net wealth was previously estimated at £350,000.
But Companies House figures show how he has haemorrhaged money since 2018, when he had £179,219 in the bank after appearing on Strictly.
By September last year he was down to £52,757, according to accounts for Seann Walsh Ltd.
He then put himself on furlough as lockdown rules banned stand-up gigs for months.
HMRC documents show he was on the list of the 740,000 businesses and individuals who made a claim to the Job Retention Scheme in December 2020.
By last year, with £18,000 owed to creditors, he was down to his last £20,209, according to his accounts. It is not clear how much he will be paid for appearing on I’m A Celeb.
Seann has previously apologised for snogging Katya, 33, who was married to Strictly pro Neil Jones, 40, at the time while he was in a relationship with actress Rebecca Humphries, 35.
He also revealed that he gave up alcohol as booze would get him so down he feared he would end up committing suicide.
He said: “I had to stop drinking because anyone under that pressure would probably kill themselves if they were hungover.
“I don’t think I would have got through that if I wasn’t sober. It was unreal. So I decided, I have got to exercise and not drink because this isn’t going to be sorted in a few months, this is for the long haul.”
Speaking on Simon Gibson’s Success Won’t Come Calling podcast, he added: “It was a very difficult thing.
“Obviously no one meant to put anyone through that but, because of a kiss, you’ve then put all of these people under an incredible amount of stress.
“Certainly my mum – and I’ve never spoken to her about it to be honest – but what did that do to my mum? It must have been horrific.
“So it came with an incredible amount of guilt.
“But also, the stress it put on my agent who must have thought, ‘I’m going to get some money by putting him on these shows.’
“This wasn’t in his job description and to put him and his family through that – a lot of guilt came with that.
“It was such an incredibly lonely, isolating thing to go through so everyone had to look out for me, but I know it was stressful for everyone else as well.”
The stand up revealed that he gave up alcohol as booze would get him so down he feared he would end up committing suicide
Seann Walsh is heading into the I’m A Celebrity jungle as one of the late arrivals
