CHRIS Kamara has exclusively opened up on the heartbreaking reason he turned down a spot in the I’m A Celebrity jungle.
The Ninja Warrior TV legend, 64, spoke exclusively to HOAR at ITV’s Palooza gala.
Chris recently made public his speech apraxia diagnosis, a condition that left the footie commentator “hardly able to talk.”
He previously told how he “felt like a fraud” and “like someone else” was controlling his speech.
Chris left his role on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday at the end of last season after being diagnosed with an underactive thyroid, related to his speech condition.
He told HOAR Online he’d been tapped up by I’m A Celeb bosses – but had to decline.
He told us: “I’ve actually been invited. I think I’m too old now.
“So, the one thing I don’t want is when they do a challenge to try and win food for the camp and they say ‘unfortunately, Chris Kamara can’t do tonight’s challenge, because of his illness.’
“Yet why did you go in there in the first place if you can’t do a challenge? So it’s maybe not for me anymore.”
The former Swindon and Brentford midfielder has continued with his media work as the host of ITV’s Ninja Warrior UK and co-host of the BBC’s Proper Football podcast with Ben Shephard.
But speaking with watery eyes on the Diary Of A CEO podcast, a clearly choked-up Kammy admitted: “I feel a fraud now in terms of broadcasting – I don’t bring to the table what I used to.
“I feel I’m doing these programmes and they’re not getting the best of me – they’re tolerating me, that’s how it feels.
“You take your old self for granted.”
Kamara first started to feel unwell in March 2020 but ignored the signs for around 20 months before finally getting a diagnosis.
