Russell Watson spoke about his battle with two brain tumours during his 2020 appearance on I’m A Celebrity, leaving viewers in tears.
The singer became emotional as he said all he could think about during an MRI scan was his children.
Russell – on The Chase Celebrity Special this weekend (July 21) – said the first brain tumour “wasn’t life threatening”. But he almost lost his vision.
‘I didn’t wake up because of a haemorrhage’
Russell told his campmates: “The second one was holy [bleep], I went home, went to bed and didn’t wake up because of a haemorrhage.
“My assistant found me, called the paramedics and I knew I was in trouble because the paramedic kept saying ‘stay with us, stay with us’.”
He continued: “We got to the hospital and they operated.
“One of the most emotional things after I came out of intensive care and this bloke came up to me and said ‘nice to see you’re doing well Mr Watson’ and I realised it was ‘stay with us, stay with us.'”
Vernon Kay asked Russell if he’d seen “the light” and Russell admitted “big time”.
He added: “I was in the MRI scanner and I see this long strip of light, like when you’re a kid and you used to keep your bedroom door open.
Russell Watson says he saw ‘a light strip’
“It was a light strip and I was thinking if I go to that door I’m out of here and the pain stops and I’m away.
“And all I could think about was my children and slowly slowly whilst thinking about my children the clatter clatter of the MRI came back.
“I thought I’m going to beat this.”
Vernon then gave Russell a hug as the star admitted: “I find it really difficult to talk about.”
Fan reactions
Viewers expressed their emotions after listening to Russell.
One said: “Russell Watson had me in tears tonight, gave me actual chills as well, easy to forget what he has been through, what a fighter.”
Another wrote: “Actual tears listening to Russell Watson talking about his brain hemorrhage.”
A third added: “Not going to lie had tears listening to Russell’s story.”
Russell Watson had me in tears tonight, gave me actual chills as well, easy to forget what he has been through, what a fighter 💪🏻 #ImACeleb
— 🎗 Kerry 🎗 (@AlouderKiwi91) November 20, 2020
Actual tears listening to Russell Watson talking about his brain hemorrhage 💔 what a brave guy#ImACeleb
— Laura Wright (@lau_w87) November 20, 2020
Not going to lie had tears listening to Russell’s story 😢😢 #ImACeleb
— Libby McClelland (@LibbyMc1988) November 20, 2020
Russell in on The Chase Celebrity Special tonight (July 21) at 7pm.
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