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Made in Chelsea star Sam Vanderpump has revealed he mistook two common symptoms for the flu before being told he may have just years to live.

On the latest episode ofMade in Chelsea, Sam, 28, revealed that he had been diagnosed with irreversible end-stage liver disease. The nephew of the Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Vanderpump explained that doctors had warned that his life expectancy could be less than five years without an organ transplant.

Confiding in friends Ollie Locke and Tabitha Willett on the Channel 4 show, Sam explained: "There is no hope of my liver getting better, and he said I wouldn't be having this call with you if I thought you could make it through the next four or five years. They're sending me for liver transplant assessment, so yeah."

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In a positive outlook, the reality TV star added: "The way I look at it is I'm healthy now, hopefully I will remain healthy all the way up until I'll get a call and go in for surgery, and then I wake up and I'll be healthier".

At the moment, Sam, who is expecting his first child with fiancée Alice Yaxley, is unsure when the transplant might happen, as he said other patients will be "higher up on the list". His devastating end-stage liver disease diagnosis comes after he went through a harrowing fight with sepsis in December last year, where he nearly lost his life when his liver and kidneys shut down.

Opening up about the scary ordeal, Sam admitted he thought he just had the flu at first, as he suffered from severe back pain and dehydration. However, his partner, Alice, soon called 999 after her boyfriend became 'delirious', having spent days in bed.

He was rushed to hospital and told by doctors that if he had been admitted 24 hours later, it would have been too late. Sam learnt that his liver and kidneys were already starting to shut down, and he needed urgent medical attention.

Sam explained that a hereditary disorder had triggered an infection that quickly developed into sepsis. "I got an infection due to a genetic disease I've got, which led to sepsis and it ended up quite bad. I was in hospital and it was a close call; I could have died," he toldOK!

Reflecting back, he added: "There were signs which can so easily be mistaken for common flu symptoms. So now, every time I get a pain or feel a little lethargic, I think, 'Oh God, am I getting sepsis?' rather than, 'Do I have something completely minor?'"

Speaking to the Mail, Sam also shared: "I thought I was going to die. I didn't think my body could cope and that was the scariest thing. It was terrifying.

"I remember the doctor saying to me that I was going into liver and kidney failure. I burst into tears. My mum didn't react badly, you would expect her to be in complete meltdown, but she didn't want to scare me.

"And you can feel all this pain and uncomfortableness, I was really, really fighting to keep myself alive. I didn't think I was going to survive or see the outside of the hospital again.

"You never think the flu will lead to you being in a hospital bed and nearly dying. They told my mum that if I had got to hospital 24-48 hours later, I wouldn't have made it. By calling the ambulance, my girlfriend literally saved my life."