A 'gutted' Richard Madeley reassured Ant and Dec he was 'fit as a fiddle' and has been given a 'clean bill of health' in his first interview after leaving the I'm A Celebrity camp during Friday night's episode.
In a pre-recorded chat the broadcaster, 65, told the Geordie duo that 'if it wasn't for Covid, he'd still be in the game' and that ITV were 'adamant' he was sent to hospital to be checked over.
In a major blow to the show as one of their top signings, Richard was taken ill on Thursday morning hours after participating in a gruelling trial and now can't return as he has broken the show's 'Covid bubble'.
Shock departure: A 'gutted' Richard Madeley reassured Ant and Dec he was 'fit as a fiddle' in his first interview after leaving the I'm A Celebrity camp during Friday night's episode
It comes as I'm A Celeb bosses were forced to pre-record Friday night's show amid safety concerns for contestants as Storm Arwen hit Gwrych castle.
Ant and Dec didn't present the episode live for the first time in the show's 19-year history and filmed their segments earlier on Friday afternoon ahead of the storm worsening.
On Friday's episode Richard joined Ant and Dec for an interview and joked as he mimed removing a thermometer: 'I'll just remove the thermometer… yes, still normal.'
Asked if he was feeling okay the star said: 'I feel as fit as a fiddle and I am fit as a fiddle. And you know if it wasn't for Covid I'd be back there sort of eating rice and beans.
Chatting: In a pre-recorded chat the broadcaster, 65, told the Geordie duo that 'if it wasn't for Covid, he'd still be in the game' and that ITV were 'adamant' he was sent to hospital to be checked over
'I had to leave… it's a Covid situation. It's still biting our bums isn't it? What happened was, I had just a funny little turn quite sort of late in the morning.'
He continued: 'ITV are so good with duty of care. They were adamant. They said 'No, we have to make sure that you're OK.' I said, 'But I am OK.' They said, 'We have to make sure.' So I went to the local hospital – I was only in there for about an hour and a half – I was given really thorough checks and I was given a completely clean bill of health, I'm absolutely fine. No matter what you might have read, I'm absolutely fine.'
Richard then added: 'But I did hang on after I was discharged for about 20 minutes because I went to the canteen, seriously, and had a bacon butty. That was my first port of call for a bacon butty. And a huge cup of tea, it was amazing.
Having his say: On Friday's episode Richard joined Ant and Dec for an interview and joked as he mimed removing a thermometer: 'I'll just remove the thermometer… yes, still normal'
Oh dear: In a major blow to the show as one of their top signings, Richard was taken ill on Thursday morning hours after participating in a gruelling trial and now can't return as he has broken the show's 'Covid bubble'
'I ate hospital food, exactly. I'm absolutely fine. As I say, if it wasn't for Covid, I'd still be in the game. I'm gutted. I'm gutted, I really am.'
At the start of the episode, the other campmates were informed that Richard wouldn't be coming back and were shown a video message.
In the clip Richard said: 'Hi guys, first thing to tell you straight away is I'm completely fine, it was what was known as a false alarm but I had to come out for a couple of hours of medical checks.
Gross: Richard participated in a horrid bush-tucker trial in which he crawled through fish guts and rotting fruit and vegetables which he complained were cold – before eating a squirrel for dinner
'I'm as fit as a fiddle in which case I could/should be back in with you right now. But it's our old friend Covid, I had to come out into the Covid world and I can't risk bringing the bug back in with me and ruining the experience for you guys, the programme and the viewers. So that's it, my adventure is over.'
He continued: 'I just want to say how much I love you, you know I mean that and how much I'm grateful to you for everything you've said and done for me over the past few days and I'm going to set up that WhatsApp group we spoke about for when you come out.
'We can all talk to each other again and hopefully meet up. Anyway, I'll be watching over the next few weeks and I wish you all the love and luck in the world, I can't wait to see who wins.'
Out and about: Richard appeared frail but in high spirits as he was pictured at his home on Friday
Emmerdale Danny Miller was the first to react, saying: 'Waking up this morning in camp and not seeing Richard's smiley face was hard.'
Former BBC Breakfast star Louise Minchin added: 'Every time we walked past his [Richard's] empty bed it was another wrench to all our hearts. Frankie and I are hoping he'll be back so we made his bed for him.
'We saw his face, we saw how he was, we saw Richard back to his cheery, brilliant, funny self.'
Frankie said: 'We're sad and we miss him. Of course he did the perfect video!'
Elsewhere in his interview with Ant and Dec, Richard also discussed whether the show was what he expected it would be.
'Gutted': In a statement on Thursday Richard, who was believed to be at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Rhyl, reassured fans he's 'fine' after his health scare
He responded: 'Yes and no. The structure of the show I was really familiar with. But one of the reasons I wanted to do it, and I said yes this year as opposed to no all the years before, I was developing a real curiosity about what it's like actually psychologically.
'I know what the games are like, I've done a few when I've been out on the ITV2 show in Australia. But I wanted to see what it was actually like, almost journalistically, in a nice way, from the inside. And that was a revelation. I learned that the psychological pressures on you…
'I mean the pressures you put us under when we went into The Clink, into the prison, I thought when you said you're going to spend your first night in The Clink, I thought yeah that's a funny gimmick for the cameras and for the audience… but no, we were properly in prison, we were locked in,
