A contestant from I’m a Celebrity South Africa has withdrawn from the live finale at the eleventh hour and is reportedly devastated.

This occurs just days after questions emerged regarding Jimmy Bullard’s participation, following a heated altercation during filming involving Adam Thomas.

Although Jimmy has now confirmed his appearance on tonight’s ITV broadcast, during which viewers will select the show’s ultimate legend, Beverley Callard will unfortunately be absent.

The Coronation Street regular, who received a breast cancer diagnosis in February, posted an update for her followers on her TikTok account on Tuesday.

In the caption accompanying a video message, she wrote that there had been a last-minute alteration to her plans and while she was completely devastated, she recognised it was the right decision. She explained that prioritising rest and recovery was more crucial at this time.

Beverley, who presently resides in Dublin, continued by stating that the previous day she should have travelled to England to prepare for the I’m a Celeb finale taking place the following day at 7.30pm.

She expressed how thrilled she had been and how much she was looking forward to it, but due to medical guidance she was unable to make the journey. She confessed she was absolutely gutted and had been longing to see everyone, adding that it would have been wonderful, yet she simply could not attend.

Medical experts informed Beverley that participating in the I’m a Celebrity South Africa finale would be too demanding a day as she continues to recover from her operation.

She went on to say that travelling there combined with a very late finish meant she would not be joining them.

Nevertheless, the soap actress will still feature in the live ITV finale this evening and reconnect with her former campmates through Zoom to speak with everyone.

She mentioned that she intended to make the most of a disappointing situation but was taking it easy and following medical advice, expressing gratitude to everyone for their support.

The performer was instructed by doctors to depart from the camp during the final week of the ITV reality programme.

Beverley informed the other celebrities that she was feeling unwell after experiencing what she described as a brief dizzy spell.

As she emotionally said her farewells, the 69-year-old expressed her devastation and how she had wanted to complete her time on the all-star series, hoping to demonstrate that women of her age were capable of taking part.

Since revealing her early-stage breast cancer diagnosis, Beverley has shared updates about her treatment on social media and recently underwent surgery to remove the cancerous tissue.

The four celebrities who have reached Friday night’s finale are Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah, former football manager Harry Redknapp, actor and DJ Craig Charles, and actor Adam Thomas.

Scarlett Moffatt narrowly missed out and expressed her disappointment at becoming the latest campmate to be eliminated during Thursday’s broadcast.

The Gogglebox personality discovered she would be leaving the ITV programme after finishing last in a challenge, informing presenters Ant and Dec that she felt she had been so near to continuing and had been the final woman remaining.

The challenge required the celebrities to count coloured balls as they descended through a tube before them while insects including maggots, cockroaches, crickets and mealworms were released upon them.

The five contestants were subsequently asked to estimate how many blue balls had appeared, with whoever’s guess deviated most significantly from the actual number being sent home.

Thursday’s episode also featured the celebrities participating in the Cyclone challenge, which involved navigating along a water slide to collect stars while being struck with large balls and blasted with powerful water jets.

The team succeeded in the task, earning them all messages from their family and friends at home.

They also treated themselves to a breakfast of ten eggs after successfully catching them from a mechanical chicken positioned in a tree above their camp.

The I’m a Celebrity South Africa finale will air from 7.30pm this evening on ITV1, STV, ITVX and STV Player.