John Barrowman has left reality show Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins after just 32 minutes, telling an instructor he was “done”.
The Doctor Who star could be seen vomiting shortly after contestants finished the first challenge in Sunday’s opening episode of the Channel 4 show.
The celebrities had been set tasks based on SAS winter warfare training in the south islands of New Zealand.
Image: John Barrowman taking part in the show. Pic: Channel 4/PA
As they put on their uniforms and got ready to see their accommodation, Barrowman, who has also held a number of major roles in West End musicals, started being sick and told the group “I’m out”.
Asked by ex-SAS Sergeant Major Mark “Billy” Billingham if he would like to see a doctor, Barrowman, 57, replied: “No… I’m done,” before adding: “I just… it’s not for me, I know who I am and what I’m about, it’s not for me.”
The programme’s narrator said: “After only 32 minutes on base, number 13 John is the first recruit to leave the course.”
Barrowman was accused of flashing during production of both Doctor Who and its spin-off show, Torchwood, in which he appeared from 2005 to 2011, which he dismissed as “bawdy behaviour, silly behaviour.”
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His early departure leaves 14 celebrities chasing first place in the quasi-military training challenge series, won last year by singer Gareth Gates.
Among them are Rachel Johnson, sister of former prime minister Boris Johnson, reality star Pete Wicks, former Olympic gymnast Ellie Downie, comedian Tez Ilyas, professional basketball player and Love Island star Ovie Soko and world heavyweight champion boxer Lani Daniels.
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Image: John Barrowman has quit Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins 32 minutes after he arrived at base camp. Pic: Channel 4/PA
Reality TV Star Bianca Gascoigne, former England rugby captain Chris Robshaw, TV Presenter Cherry Healey, former professional boxer Anthony Ogogo, comedian Shazia Mirza, Love Island contestant Georgia Harrison, reality star Bobby Norris and former Geordie Shore star Marnie Simpson complete the line-up.
The opening instalment of the sixth series of the celebrity spin-off show also saw The Only Way Is Essex star, Norris, 38, discuss his desire to overcome his fears and phobias and detail the online abuse he has faced.
He said many people get online abuse “and trolls and stuff”, but called some of the videos made of him “disturbing” and “dark”.
His response, he said, was “filling my face with Botox, because really, it was like a mask. One day (it) just didn’t feel like it suited me anymore. I wanted to just be happy in my own skin being me.”
A man has been arrested on suspicion of assault and sexual assault – which reportedly took place on the set of EastEnders.
The alleged incident happened on the set of the BBC soap at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, according to The Sun newspaper.
Hertfordshire Police confirmed a man in his 50s was arrested after the report in Eldon Avenue, Borehamwood, on 7 May.
The man is accused of sexual assault and common assault in relation to two victims, the force said.
The suspect is on bail while inquiries continue, police added.
EastEnders said in a statement: “While we would never comment on individuals, EastEnders has on-site security and well-established procedures in place to safeguard the safety and welfare of everyone who works on the show.”
BST Hyde Park festival has cancelled its final night after Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra pulled out of the headline slot.
Lynne, 77, was due to play alongside his band on Sunday but has been forced to withdraw from the event following a “systemic infection”.
The London show was supposed to be a “final goodbye” from ELO following their farewell US tour.
Organisers said on Saturday that Lynne was “heartbroken” at being unable to perform.
A statement read: “Jeff has been battling a systemic infection and is currently in the care of a team of doctors who have advised him that performing is simply not possible at this time nor will he be able to reschedule.
“The legacy of the band and his longtime fans are foremost in Jeff’s mind today – and while he is so sorry that he cannot perform, he knows that he must focus on his health and rehabilitation at this time.”
They later confirmed the whole of Sunday’s event would be cancelled.
“Ticket holders will be refunded and contacted directly by their ticket agent with further details,” another statement said.
Stevie Wonder played the festival on Saturday – now its final event of 2025.
US rock band The Doobie Brothers and blues rock singer Steve Winwood were among those who had been due to perform to before ELO’s headline performance.
The cancellation comes after the band, best known for their hit Mr Blue Sky, pulled out of a performance due to take place at Manchester’s Co-Op Live Arena on Thursday.
ELO was formed in Birmingham in 1970 by Lynne, multi-instrumentalist Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan.
They first split in 1986, before frontman Lynne resurrected the band in 2014.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Image: Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”