Martin Roberts is convinced his stint in the ‘I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!’ jungle has cured his asthma.
The ‘Homes Under the Hammer’ presenter – who joined the recently-finished series as a late arrival with radio DJ Danny Baker – has battled with the long-term inflammatory disease, which affects the airways of the lungs, since he was a child but hasn’t had to use his prescribed inhaler since he left the camp last weekend and is adamant the simple diet of rice and beans and the active lifestyle he was forced to follow has helped beat his condition.
Speaking on ‘This Morning’ on Thursday (08.12.16), he said: "I’ve been asthmatic since I was a child, and exercise reduces asthma, so at the start (of the show) I was walking down the stairs, getting the wood and water and stuff like that but gradually, and I haven’t put my finger on why, could it be the simple foods? Or the fact that there was no process foods, it was all rice and beans, could it be the fact we was outside, could it be exercise?"
The 53-year-old TV star – who lost 14lbs in weight during his jungle stint – first noticed an improvement in his breathing when he was fetching water and logs for his camp mates and was so shocked that he pushed himself to race up and down the jungle steps four times to prove that he was no longer reliant on his asthma pump.
He explained: "Towards the end of it, I went down to get the water and I came up the stairs, having carried the water, and I thought I’m not wheezing, what’s all that about? So I went and did another lot, and came back again, I was a bit out of breath, but I wasn’t wheezing, I did it four times to prove to myself."
But it wasn’t just his breathing condition that was playing on his mind while he was in the jungle as Martin also locked horns with Larry Lamb on numerous occasions and was starting to think he was being bullied.
But, once he left the camp, Martin felt it was time to bury the hatchet and immediately hugged him.
Speaking about the camp reunion, he explained: "I thought I’ve just got to put this behind me, so I gave him a hug.
"Larry didn’t treat me as I think was fair to be treated, he was over the top, he saw me as some kind of threat and at times it was really difficult, I was really angry but my overall experience was so amazing."