When Helen Flanagan read out Janice’s farewell letter following her exit, the ex-England cricket captain Phil Tufnell quipped that she had signed it “with her broomstick”. His remark prompted laughter from Joe Swash, Dean Gaffney, and Myleen Klass.
After watching the series back for her legal case, a source close to Janice told the Daily Mail: “Janice was really shocked to hear the comments Phil made, especially as she publicly praised her for helping her when she was injured.
“No matter what you think of a person, there was no need for those comments. She was really taken aback seeing Joe and Myleene laughing at the comments, it’s not what you’d expect from them.
“Janice was gobsmacked at how those comments even made it to air and how there was such an attitude to ageism and misogyny. You never see young women being referred to as witches.”
When approached for a comment, an ITV spokesperson told us: “We will study Janice’s claims and the details when we receive them. I’m A Celebrity operates a high level of safety protocols, and the health, safety, and welfare of all our contributors are our number one priority.
“We don’t recognise this version of events. However, we looked after Janice at the time, paid her medical expenses, flew her home to LA, and the I’m A Celebrity team were in regular contact with Janice and her representatives on an ongoing basis after she returned home to America until after the programme aired seven months later.”
Express.co.uk has reached out to a spokesperson for Janice’s representatives for a comment. At the time, Janice blamed her own “stupidity” and confirmed that ITV paid her show fee and her medical bills but it's now understood new information has come to light.
The model has accused ITV of negligence and claims she was not properly safeguarded during filming. After her fall, Janice was forced to take a series of three injections against rabies, which ITV initially refused to cover, according to The Sun.
She also claimed they failed to contact her directly once she had returned home to Los Angeles. She told the publication: "ITV need to take some responsibility... I was so f***ed up, my face was bloody, all cut up. Those motherf*****s left me there bleeding in the dark for ten minutes. ITV had a duty of care, and they let me down big time."
