It was perhaps one of the most heartbreaking moments of this year’s I’m A Celebrity.
Danny Jones, McFly singer and guitarist and newly crowned King of the Jungle, told his campmates about his brutal battle with anxiety, which he has struggled with since he was 19.
In an emotional display last month, the 38-year-old pop star admitted he is ‘constantly worried’ and revealed details of a panic attack he once suffered during a television appearance.
But Jones isn’t the only member of his four-piece music group who has had significant problems with his mental health.
From addictions to prescription painkillers, to eating disorders and bipolar disorders, the lovable hitmakers have overcome significant odds.
One band member who has long been open about his mental health struggles is singer and guitarist Tom Fletcher – husband of social media influencer and podcaster Giovanna Fletcher.
More than a decade ago, in 2012, Fletcher, 39, wrote in McFly’s autobiography about his “obsession” with being “the fat one in the band.”
‘I wanted to lose weight, but instead of going about it sensibly, I pretty much stopped eating. “I went to Starbucks and ordered a blueberry frappuccino muffin and that was it for the day,” he admitted in the book, titled Unsaid Things.
Danny Jones is the second McFly member to be crowned King of the Jungle, following in the footsteps of Dougie Poynter, who won the title in 2011.
The McFly star was overcome with emotion as he discussed his mental health with his campmates and admitted he has been in therapy since he was 19 years old
“Not only would I beat myself up internally if I consumed anything else, I’d also be in a bad mood if we worked somewhere that didn’t have Starbucks. It was an obsession – and a very unhealthy one.”
Fletcher also told readers about a life-changing mental health diagnosis.
In 2011 he was referred to private psychiatric clinic The Priory after struggling with depression for more than a year.
However, doctors there diagnosed him with bipolar disorder – a mental illness associated with extreme mood swings, such as dizzying highs and debilitating lows.
In a 2020 interview, Fletcher said he had always been “very emotional.”
‘One minute I was excited and the next minute the exact opposite. But I think everyone thought I was like that.
‘At the end of 2011 I watched a documentary by Stephen Fry called The Secret Life Of The Manic Depressive. He told his story of bipolar disorder and depression, and it sounded exactly like me. I just cried.”
He admitted that he was afraid to tell anyone about his emotional problems. ‘I still haven’t told anyone about it for a long time. I was later diagnosed with bipolar. When I told my friend Harry about it, he said, “Ahhh, that makes so much sense.”
The four-piece band have all struggled with various mental health issues, from drug addiction to eating disorders.
‘Since then, more and more people have spoken out about their mental health. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.’
Fletcher has previously said that becoming a father to Buzz, 10, Buddy, eight, and Max, six, has benefited his mental health immensely.
“Having children was the best thing that happened to me,” he said in the 2020 interview, part of a charity campaign with McDonald’s.
‘They have taught me more about myself than I thought possible. Parenting helps you be less selfish because you don’t care about anything as much as you care about them.
‘Since becoming a father, my mental health has been in the best shape ever. Being a children’s book author is another part of that. I love watching my kids get lost in a good book.”
Bassist Dougie Poynter has also had his fair share of psychiatric battles – and has bravely spoken about them publicly to offer support to others facing the same demons.
In 2012, months after the now 37-year-old was crowned King of the Jungle, Poynter appeared on Alan Carr’s Chatty Man and admitted to the presenter that he had tried to commit suicide the year before, after having problems with drug and alcohol addiction.
“It’s quite therapeutic to go back, quite scary and a bit of an eye-opener to how dark it can get when you take your foot off the accelerator and stop taking care of yourself,” Poynter said.
Dougie Poynter, pictured here in 2021, has had two stints in rehab. One in 2011 to help him kick drugs and alcohol after a suicide attempt, and another in 2018 to tackle his Valium addiction.
At the beginning of McFly, Tom’s weight became “an issue” and “all he really drank was coffee.” Tom recalled: ‘It was so unhealthy. ‘I would struggle with dark periods’ (band pictured in 2005)
Drummer Harry Judd then added: ‘Half the time you didn’t know what you were doing – we told you.’
“Yes, because I was so battered,” Poynter replied.
However, recovery has not been an easy journey for the Essex-born musician. Four years later he developed an addiction to the sedative painkiller Valium, which lasted for two years.
Poynter went to rehab after an intervention from his bandmates, and said he thinks he agreed to go to a treatment center without “a fuss,” although he can’t remember for sure.
In several interviews, the star confessed that the drug left him with “huge holes” in his memory.
Speaking about his experience with addiction last year on the On The Mend podcast, he said: ‘When I couldn’t connect to any sense of self, I didn’t know who I was anymore, that was terrifying, the connection to myself, friends, family, I just felt like I was a lonely world traveler who didn’t know anyone, like a damn alien king. That was fucking terrifying.”
Drummer Harry Judd said exercise is his therapy, having struggled with anxiety for most of his adult life. Pictured here after running the 2024 London Marathon.
Izzy and Harry Judd are proud parents of Lola, 7, Kit, 5, and Lockie, 3.
Poynter is now very public about his ongoing recovery, often sharing snippets with his 680,000 Instagram followers reviewing booze-free drinks and bars.
The band’s drummer, Harry Judd, now 38, is also no stranger to mental health.
In 2020, his wife, violinist Izzy Judd, 40, told the Daily Mail that he suffers from “acute episodes” of anxiety – symptoms that Izzy also experiences.
The following year, the Strictly Come Dancing champion admitted in a campaign for Mental Health Awareness Week that he has ‘suffered from anxiety my entire adult life’.
‘Fear can be so isolating and sometimes makes you lose yourself.
‘At those moments I was afraid to say how I felt.
The star, who is a father of three, added: ‘It’s easy to forget that our mental wellbeing is just as important as our physical health.
‘If you break a bone, you seek medical help, but many people are still hesitant to ask for help with their mental wellbeing.
“I completely understand the courage it takes to speak up, but reaching out for help was the best thing I ever did.”
According to his wife, Judd’s “therapy” consists of exercise. ‘He goes to the gym. If I see the signs that his anxiety is increasing, I will cook him a nutritious meal, get him to drink plenty of water, and encourage him to go running.”