I’m A Celebrity star Maura Higgins suffered a tragic loss years ago, for which she blamed herself.
The Love Island star is a late entrant on the ITV show. She entered the jungle alongside Reverend Richard Coles last night (November 21).
So, what happened to Maura’s friend, and why does she blame herself for his death? Read on to know how the I’m A Celebrity star feels about her best friend’s sudden passing.
I’m A Celebrity star Maura Higgins lost her best friend
Maura lost her best friend Andrew Rowan in a bike accident in 2017. She had met him on the day of his passing but decided not to join him for dinner.
The Love Island star recently appeared on the We Need To Talk podcast when she opened up about her pal’s death. She was 25 at the time.
“For so long I blamed myself for it because when I look back at that day, the day was so crazy. I can’t work my head around that,” she said.
I think I just beat myself up over it because it would have been different.
She went on to narrate what happened on the day of his death. Andrew had finished work early and called Maura to ask if she would like to grab some food.
But Maura wasn’t in the mood to step out of her home. “I was like ‘I can’t be [bleep], I am still in my pyjamas I really can’t be [bleep],” she recollected.
However, when she looks back on the day, she feels her friend wouldn’t have been on a motorbike had she gone with him.
“I am not as bad as I was with it but I still think, ‘Why didn’t I just go with him?’ He wouldn’t have been on the motorbike, we would have been in his car, we would have got food and maybe the day would have been different,” a devastated Maura said.
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She blamed herself
I’m A Celeb star Maura struggled to hold her tears back as she talked about her late friend.
“I don’t want to cry, I am so not a crier as well,” Maura said. “I think I just beat myself up over it because it would have been different.”
She isn’t as bad as she was with it before. But Maura still feels the day would have been different if she had joined Andrew for dinner.
When the host asked her if she “blames herself to this day,” Maura reiterated: “I just know it would have been different if I just got [bleep]ing dressed and wasn’t so lazy.”
She revealed that she saw Andrew on the day of his passing. Maura can never forget him arriving on the bike, which made her think: “Why are you on the bike?”
Andrew wasn’t a biker, so she couldn’t understand why he chose to ride a bike on that unfortunate day instead of driving a car. But Andrew told her: “It’s a great day, it is a lovely day outside.”
“I will never forget when he left he said he was going to take a drive on the bike. I went into the toilet and I could hear his motorbike and I got these shivers,” she said.
Maura added: “I remember thinking to myself, ‘Maura stop thinking bad.’ Then a few hours later I get a phone call.”
Maura on confronting his passing
At first, she couldn’t believe Andrew had passed. She called Andrew “maybe 100 times” and it kept going to his voicemail. “I physically couldn’t stop,” she confessed.
She didn’t think what was happening was real and it was her ex-boyfriend who broke the tragic news to her.
Suddenly, her house was full of people and she didn’t remember seeing people coming in. But she remembers seeing her ex and she “knew immediately by his face it was true”.
I’m A Celebrity airs every night at 9pm on ITV1.
Read more: Maura Higgins named unlikely new contender for I’m A Celebrity crown as newcomers set to rock camp
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