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The heartbreaking truth behind why Jimmy Bullard suddenly pulled out of I'm a Celebrity All Stars after his explosive row with Adam Thomas. On Tuesday (April 21), the former footballer became the fourth celebrity to leave the South African spin-off show after becoming the first star to shout the show's infamous line. Now, it has been revealed that the 47-year-old sportsman had a secret family crisis behind the scenes.

In the dramatic scenes, the campmates were paired off and warned that the slowest pair would be eliminated from the competition and forced to leave the show. Despite knowing the stakes, Jimmy decided not to take part in the challenge and shouted 'I'm a Celebrity... get me out of here' minutes into the trial, taking the Emmerdale star down with him.

An insider told The Sun: "Jimmy was ready to go home. He was desperate to get back to the UK as he was facing a family crisis. Jimmy knew he'd done what he went in there to do and was happy to take the money and run.

"His dad was struggling with his health before he flew out, and when there was the chance to pack it in, he took it." This led Adam to kick off in a rage, sparking debate among fans online.

He fumed: "You f***ing taking the p***. Are you taking the p***" as Jimmy calmly replied: "Everyone's got their own story". IT isn't known whether Jimmy had previously opened up about his father's ill health to his campmates when the cameras weren't rolling.

Thankfully for Adam, ITV bosses allowed the campmates to decide whether Adam should leave the camp with Jimmy or stay another day on the show. It later emerged that the actor had saved his place in camp after many of his co-stars took pity on his difficult position.

Their explosive row first made headlines last year, and the pair is still not on speaking terms. This has threatened to derail the ITV live final, set to air this Friday (April 24), but despite execs' attempts to end their feud, Jimmy is not expected to attend.

The Sun revealed earlier this month that the football star faces losing 20% of his show fee should he boycott the live event. An insider told the outlet: "It's a very sad turn of events.

"Both men acted in a way they're not proud of. It's so bad, in fact, that Jimmy says there's no way he'll be turning up on Friday, which means he won't be paid his full show fee.

"Jimmy snubbed going to the All Stars press launch last month, so everyone knows he's serious. It doesn't look good for him going forward with other TV commitments because he'll be seen as a bit of a risk and unreliable."