Sam Thompson candidly opens up about his ADHD diagnosis on I'm ...
Sam discussed his diagnosis
Author: Charlotte RoszkoPublished 10 hours ago
Hits Radio presenter Sam Thompson opened up about his ADHD diagnosis on Thursday's (30th November) episode of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!
After JLS star Marvin Humes asked Sam how old he was when he was diagnosed with ADHD, Sam proceeded to open up about his diagnosis, including how it impacts his relationship with his girlfriend, Zara McDermott.
Sam said: "There’s loads of people who are actually like of a certain age who get diagnosed way later. When the low bits happen it goes low. But then the highs are really high. My girlfriend Zara is so steady and it’s so good for me. When she’s going steady I’m going like that (mimes wavy line).
“My time keeping is terrible. I get quite selfish, not just with her (my girlfriend), with everyone, my mates or whatever. My listening to Zara… I’m just finding myself staring off at something completely different. You sort of feel like you’re a bit of a k*** sometimes.”
Sam added: “Weird no one spotted it beforehand at school, but if you look at all of my report cards, every single one says the same, it says: ‘Likeable enough guy, but lacks focus’. It’s staring at you in the face. If I’d known as a kid, not much would have changed, but how you feel about yourself probably changes.
"I remember crying into my textbook because I couldn’t understand the words going into my head. You want to do good. You don’t want to be mischievous or anything like that.”
Speaking in the Bush Telegraph, Sam explained that he wished he'd been diagnosed with ADHD sooner. He said: “I’m not ashamed of having ADHD in any way. But I know that I would have felt better about myself at school if I’d been diagnosed with it at a younger age. I really was just like, ‘I just suck at everything.’”
Sam also told Marvin and Josie Gibson that he would like to become a dad 'at some point', to which Marvin said: “You would be the most incredible dad.”
Marvin then added: “Trust me, all my kids care about is giving them attention, being with them in the moment, loving them, cuddling them, they just want to have all of you and to be as fun as possible and feel loved.”
When is Sam Thompson on Hits Radio?You can normally listen to Sam Thompson on Hits UK on Hits Radio. Every Monday to Thursday from 7pm, Sam catches up with some of the biggest names around. While he’s in the jungle Owen Warner will be looking after Sam’s show.
Take a look at Sam Thompson's I'm A Celeb best bits:After weeks of rumours, Sam was officially confirmed as a contestant on the 2023 series on Monday 13th November!
Taking to social media after the news was made public, Sam said: '✨The rumours were true ✨ I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be joining the adventure of a lifetime on #ImACeleb ????????️Tune into @itv every night from Sunday 19th November to see how I get on… wish me luck! ????'.
After Sam supported his girlfriend Zara throughout her time on Strictly Come Dancing, the former Love Island star is now repaying the favour!
When Sam headed over to Australia ahead of the start date, Zara shared this cute photo of the pair, writing: 'HES GONE DOWN UNDER !!! ???????????????? the rumours were true, I am so proud of you and so excited for you and for this adventure. I cannot wait to watch you every single night and be supporting you every step of the way. ❤️ p.s. can we all please vote for Sam to do one of the eating challenges?? I think it would make great entertainment considering how squeamish he is ????????'. (sic)
The minute Sam landed in Australia, he immediately kept up his reputation of being the best hugger of all time! Joining former EastEnders star Danielle Harold, First Dates' Fred Siriex and food critic Grace Dent, Sam went straight in for the hug - and it was definitely what they all needed before taking on their challenge... Viewers loved how excitable Sam was and flooded comments sections on social media with support for him.
Along with Grace, Danielle and Fred, Sam was whizzed round on an incredible helicopter ride... Before being plopped on top of a 32-storey building on Australia's Gold Coast. They were then instructed to climb down to a terrifyingly small platform, shimmy themselves down a pole and undo carabiners while pushing a star to the end of the pole - all in under three minutes! Thankfully, they were gracefully lifted to safety and not forced to jump off the end.
After the campmates noticed that Jamie Lynn Spears was looking particularly down, she broke down to the group and they immediately rallied round her to try and lift her spirits. As the audience has dubbed Sam a "golden retriever in human form", he was a perfect candidate to be involved in the cheer-up team! He excitedly encouraged her to have a bath, going on to suggest they sing a song to her.
As JLS singer Marvin Humes walked past, Sam roped him in to join the serenading party - before admitting in the Bush Telegraph that he was actually a HUGE fan of JLS. So viewers laughed along as an incredibly odd scene played out - Sam and Marvin singing 'Everybody In Love' as First Date's Fred Siriex played the drums on a bucket. What a scene! Marvin taught Sam the choreography to the hit song as well as 'She Makes Me Wanna' - something they performed for the group later in the episode. Wholesome fun!
Fans of the show could see Jamie Lynn really suffering on Day 3, missing her kids - Maddie and Ivey - and her spirits weren't able to be lifted after four of the campmates unsuccessfully attempted to win her luxury item... A picture of her daughters!
We all know that Sam is a ray of sunshine, and took it upon himself to try and make her feel better... By comparing Jamie Lynn missing her kids to him missing his cats at home! He said: "I get it man, I've got two cats at home - Albus and Cedric - little fluffy men. Know what I mean? So I get it. Not kids, but I get it." Not QUITE the same Sam, but good try!
In a chilled conversation with fellow telly stars Josie Gibson and Fred Siriex, Sam was enthralled by Josie's tale of how she got her job on This Morning. He told the Bush Telegraph: "Everyone's got a story and it's never as easy as it looks. Really awesome for someone like me to hear, if you believe you can do whatever you put your mind to. I really liked it."
He then opened up about his own start to fame - revealing the hilarious reason why he wanted to be on the show: "When I started doing Made In Chelsea, I genuinely thought, I was like, the only reason I'm doing it is to get into nightclubs for free and to hopefully go on a date! So I was like this could be great, I'll do that for like two years then just get like a real job." When Josie asked him if he got all the dates he wanted, he quipped: "No, I kept on getting in relationships!"
After the campmates took part in a group trial at the Scarena, Sam finished in the top five to join the Home camp, as they compete for the breakfast of dreams. Coached by new campmate Frankie Dettori, the camp is also made up of Jamie Lynn Spears, Danielle Harold, Fred Siriex and Nella Rose.
As part of the Home team, Sam won the Breakfast of Champions after taking part in the Head to Head games at the Scarena. They all thoroughly enjoyed their incredible brekkie made up of scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, fruit, toast, orange juice and plenty more besides. During the huge eating session, Sam couldn't help himself and went in for a hug with Fred, who kindly participated for a few seconds before asking Sam to let him eat. Bless 'em!
Sam was voted by the public to take part in the Fishy Business trial along with Nella. Nella's role was to stand in an enclosed space with spiders and crocs, reading out questions, and Sam's role was to find which sea creatures' box corresponded to the answer. He then had to remove a star with his tongue before even finding out if the answer was correct! The pair won a massive 10 out of 12 stars between them, conducting the trial in only 12 minutes.
In true Sam style, he told Ant and Dec how much of an honour it was to be stood before them taking part in a task: "It's a pleasure, it's an honour. I've always wanted to be stood here looking at you guys like this, so this is just really, really cool." Hilariously, Sam was confronted by a load of toads in one box, just like the initiation we put him through here at Hits Radio before he headed out to Australia!
Once the Away team rejoined the Home lot in Main Camp, Sam was wholly excited to meet boxing legend Tony Bellew. He immediately asked if he could hug him, which Tony was thankfully happy to oblige, later telling the Bush Telegraph: "I've watched a tonne of his fights. He's bigger in real life, he's a unit." Fred even commented on it in his own Bush Telegraph interview: "Sam is so excited that Tony Bellew has arrived in the jungle. He can't believe his eyes and he can't believe his ears!" He later compared hand sizes with Tony, excitedly telling Marvin: "This hand is just a hand, but this hand has knocked out so many people!"
In the first leadership vote, Sam was crowned Camp Leader - and immediately celebrated in true Sam style by jumping up and down and doing a few laps of the camp! He was then tasked with choosing a deputy leader which - of course - went to Marvin, before the pair of them went off to choose the rest of the camp roles.
We knew Sam would be great for camp morale before he even entered the jungle - his enthusiasm for everything is infectious! In the episode on Tues 28th Nov, Jamie Lynn was once again seen struggling with camp conditions and expressed a desire to leave the jungle. After Sam tried to rally the camp by asking if everyone had a nice day, she asked Sam almost as a throwaway comment whether he ever had bad days - to which he sincerely replied that he did. She said: "That's nice to know," as he genuinely explained: "But I was up there by the shower, there are frogs everywhere - it was really, really pretty! I stood there and went, 'I'm never gonna be in a place where I can see that beautiful waterfall with loads of wild frogs just while you're showering. It's just so cool." Jamie Lynn agreed: "We're never going to do this again," as Sam jokingly encouraged her to think of the frogs if she ever wants to leave the camp. Cute!
Sam woke up from his first night in the caravan as Camp Leader with his Deputy Marvin to find blood in his sleeping bag and instantly panicked - like we imagine the majority of people would. On closer inspection, there was a fair amount of blood in there... And he spotted the culprit! A leech had made its way into Sam's sleeping bag and had a field on day - where else? - his bum. Sam later told the Bush Telegraph that he felt "violated" and Marvin added in his own interview: "He certainly woke up on the wrong side of the leech."
After winning a Dingo Dollar challenge together - during which viewers could see Tony very slowly but surely losing his patience - he and Sam headed over to Kiosk Kev, who rang the campmates to ask them the all important question and win some choccie biccies. As Sam was telling Tony the answer, he immediately slapped Tony in the forehead to kill a mosquito - yes, he slapped a former professional BOXER in the face. At least he was doing him a favour! Viewers were left in stitches as Tony took a very long exhale to calm himself, while Sam chatted away to himself about how Tony might have decked him. Sam's girlfriend Zara commented on the moment on Instagram, writing: 'I have never laughed so hard in my entire life... This is the most Sam thing ever,' with a whole host of laughing emojis.
Viewers have noticed how close Sam and JLS star Marvin Humes have become throughout the show, and in the episode on 30th Nov, heartstrings were pulled as Sam candidly spoke out about his ADHD diagnosis. While Marvin gently asked questions, Sam was happy to answer in a chat with Josie, revealing that he was only diagnosed last year: "There's loads of people who are actually like of a certain age who get diagnosed way later. When the low bits happen it goes low. But then the highs are really high."
He credited girlfriend Zara McDermott with keeping him on track: "My girlfriend Zara is so steady and it's so good for me. When she's going steady I'm going like that mimes wavy line," adding that he felt guilty for being "selfish" sometimes. He even spoke about his childhood: "Weird no one spotted it beforehand at school, but if you look at all of my report cards, every single one says the same, it says: 'Likeable enough guy, but lacks focus'. It's staring at you in the face. If I'd known as a kid, not much would have changed, but how you feel about yourself probably changes. I remember crying into my textbook because I couldn't understand the words going into my head. You want to do good. You don't want to be mischievous or anything like that." He then confessed that he'd love to be a dad, with Marvin reassuring him: "You would be the most incredible dad. Trust me, all my kids care about is giving them attention, being with them in the moment, loving them, cuddling them, they just want to have all of you and to be as fun as possible and feel loved."
Who's chopping onions?!
Sam was diagnosed with ADHD last year, with the E4 documentary Sam Thompson: Is This ADHD? airing in May 2023. Discussing his experience in an appearance on Lorraine earlier this year, Sam said: "It's one of those things that I've been told from a very young age to then sort of my early twenties. Everyone kept coming up to me like: 'You've got ADHD, I'm convinced you've got ADHD.'
"At the time, because I was so young, I was just like: 'I don't care.' Then as I got older, especially as I hit 30, I just started really caring about finding out more about myself and seeing if my life could be any better. I want to be the adult that I see everyone else being."
I'm A Celeb airs every night on ITV/STV at 9pm.
Now read:Everything you need to know about I'm A Celeb 2023
Everything you need to know about our radio presenter Sam Thompson
I'm A Celeb: Sam Thompson's best bits and funny moments so far
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