I’m a Celebrity star Brian Conley – "I stopped taking my anti-depressants in the jungle"

Conley, 51, who had been using the medication for 15 years, said he had finally admitted to ITV producers that he had decided not to continue taking it on the show.

“I couldn’t lie to them, I'm an honest guy," said Conley. "I couldn’t go ‘Yes I’ve taken my tablets, course I have’ because they never examine you taking it. I could have then just gone in the dunny and just dropped it down it.

"I’ve taken this tablet for 15 years. I’ve even had people say 'Brian, I don’t think you need it now' and I have to say... ever since I’ve left [the show] I’ve not taken the tablets.”

Conley said being on I'm a Celebrity had been a struggle, telling Daybreak's Lorraine Kelly "It’s tough, I can tell you, it’s not fluffy out there. It’s the real world and it’s tough, it’s really tough."

He also revealed that immediately after being pulled out of the show by ITV bosses he had been hospitalised with malnutrition and exhaustion.

“Now this is under extreme circumstances and I started to feel really bad... I had an examination and they found out I had malnutrition and I was suffering from exhaustion. That’s what the doctors said.

“They then sedated me in hospital and gave me a tablet that would probably knock out a horse for two days.”

Despite his ordeal, Conley said he believed stopping his course of anti-depressants had been the right move: "I feel very proud that I got through it and it actually made me a much stronger man, and you’re looking at someone who doesn’t need anti-depressants and I realise that now.”