jordan north im a celeb© Photo: ITV

Naughty Boy 'revealed' as mystery celebrity replaced by Jordan North on I'm A Celebrity

The BBC Radio One DJ shot to fame on the ITV show

Senior Features Writer
December 9, 2020

Jordan North proved incredibly popular thanks to his time on I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!. But it seems he very nearly didn't join the show. 

The BBC Radio One DJ was reportedly a last-minute addition to the line-up after renowned music producer Naughty Boy dropped out due to illness.

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The finalist was added to the line-up just 48 hours before starting I'm A Celebrity journey as Naughty Boy, whose real name is Shahid Khan, had an illness in the family and was unable to take part.

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According to reports, the music artist, who had worked with industry giants such as Sam Smith, Zayn Malik and Beyonce, was looking forward to joining the ITV show and shifting his behind-the-scenes profile to the forefront. 

Jordan spoke about his rush to join the show soon after leaving Gwrych Castle last week. The DJ went back to BBC Radio One to speak to friend and colleague Greg James explaining the situation: "I was last minute," he stated.

"I got a call to say, 'Maybe next year not this year', and then I got a call two weeks later saying, 'Do you wanna do it? Someone's dropped out.'"

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© Photo: Getty Images

Naughty Boy was reportedly due to take part in the show

Jordan continued: "Then I had 2 days to do everything: Medical, photos, psychiatrists etc. 48 hours. It very nearly never happened."

Although he was brought into the castle at the last minute, Jordan proved to be a massive hit on the show and came in runner-up to the first ever Queen of the Castle, Giovanna Fletcher.

The DJ was no doubt thrilled with his position in the final and was just as relieved when he was able to head home from the Welsh camp. However, it seems Jordan was a little disappointed when he arrived back at his London flat.

The radio star shared an image on social media showing his living room missing a vital component: a sofa. "Housemate: 'Welcome home'," he captioned it. "Me: 'Thanks pal'. Housemate: 'Oh yeah, and your mate wanted his sofa back'. Fantastic," he wrote in the caption.

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