As Danny Jones broke down in tears over the crippling anxiety that has dogged him throughout his two decade career, his McFly bandmates could remain confident that he had his demons under control.
Drummer Harry Judd shared an emotional phone call with the band’s bassist, before he agreed to fly out to Brisbane, Australia at relatively short notice, as he confided that he was feeling apprehensive about taking on the challenges of starring on I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here.
Within days, Danny, 38, was sharing those same fears with his campmates, weeping as he poured out his heart about being in therapy from the age of 19, and detailing the pain of coping with a panic attack “whiteout” during an interview live on This Morning. He spoke candidly about how his heartrate increases rapidly, which can leave him struggling to breath.
Bandmate Harry was always sure he would be so open. “He wears his heart on his sleeve emotionally,” he says.
And Harry is assured that Danny has plenty of coping methods at his disposal to handle any anxiety in the jungle, despite his reservations about “exposing” his vulnerabilities on the reality series.
Harry recalls of his concerns: “I think that is just the overwhelming of putting yourself in this position of being on this big TV show where you know you’re going to be judged, that’s more the anxiety.
“But he’s definitely got coping mechanisms. I think he wasn’t so much nervous about the tasks and the challenges and things. I think he was more nervous about being filmed constantly without his home comforts, feeling a bit thrown in and just wanting to get out of there.
“I don’t think it really had anything to do with the snakes and the spiders. It’s more just exposing yourself.
“I’ve always said he would be amazing on this show. He’s just he’s so likeable. He’s got such great energy. You can’t not like Danny. He’s got this magic smile - he’s got that quality that is quite a unique thing.”
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Getty Images for Pizza Express)Danny first experienced debilitating anxiety attacks at 18, around the time his parents’ marriage ended. It resurfaced when he turned 20, a year after he joined the boy band.
He has previously described experiencing “dark thoughts I couldn’t control”, detailing: “I experienced claustrophobia, coming out in cold sweats, feeling a band tightening around my chest and worrying I was having a heart attack. It’s so scary and I’ve felt like I was dying on occasions. You can’t believe your body can do that to you.”
Yet Danny the ultimate incentive to push through his fears: bandmate Dougie Poynter won the show in 2011, and made him promise not to ever shout the show’s famous title to back out of a challenge.
“He’ll feel the pressure from Dougie,” laughs Harry. “Dougie will be very disappointed if he if he fails on that one. But I think it’s the right attitude to have. I think you’ve got to really push yourself in these situations. It would something very extreme for him to say that.”
Indeed, in the first episode, Danny emerged from the Mausoleum of Museum - where a bull python tangled itself into his shorts - admitting he had “never felt so vulnerable” than being trapped in the coffin-style box surrounded by snakes.
He added that he “had the shakes” like his first days performing on stage with the group, back in 2003.
It is especially impressive to his staggered bandmates that he has taken on the challenges so well - as when the group dare each other in laddish eating, drinking and workout competitions, Harry laughs Danny is usually the firt to buckle, describing him affectionately as “the biggest wimp in McFly”.
“He’s proving me wrong - at the moment,” he laughs. “I thought the thing he would find the hardest is eating challenges - I couldn’t believe on the first episode when he drank that drink because he is awful at things like that normally.”
Danny is certainly no stranger to putting himself through his paces - viewers were impressed with his six pack, as he entered the jungle’s famous freezing cold shower, while letting out primal screams of pain.
“He’s always in pretty good shape,” says Harry. “He goes to the gym and stays fit - I’m sure he turned the screws slightly on his exercise regime, but who wouldn’t?”
Danny’s main objective with going into the jungle has been to make his six-year-old son Cooper proud - and he already has, as his wife of 10 years Georgia, a former Miss England, has laughed Cooper has been boasting of how famous his daddy is going to be when he leaves the jungle.
Though having won The Voice with his bandmate Tom Fletcher just a few weeks ago, after selling 10 million records with the BRIT Award-winning McFly, he was clearly already pretty famous.
The group are currently celebrating 21 years together - unheard of for a pop group, having lasted around four times the usual lifecycle of a boyband. Harry credits their friendships, and the support they offer one another with helping them last so long.
“It’s the best thing that anyone can experience,” says Harry. “That’s the main reason we’ve lasted, because we just have so much fun together.
“My number one goal still in life is to try and make them laugh. And I will spend 95% of my time in McFly pissing about, basically trying to make them laugh. And then 5% of the time being serious and getting the work done. That’s the secret, really.”
Danny has already palled up with boxing legend Barry McGuigan, comparing the pair to the Karate Kid duo, but Harry says he would also have an ally in Coleen Rooney, as he has enjoyed secret karaoke sessions with her husband, former England star Wayne, who has seen the group perform live before.
“Danny has also hung out with Wayne doing Soccer Aid a few times,” continues Harry. “One evening after the game, they were having a drink and Danny had an acoustic guitar and was singing songs. I think Wayne Rooney got up and sung a song, so I hoped that he would have that sort of connection with Coleen.”
Harry has partnered with Lily’s Kitchen for the ‘Welcome to LapLand’ portrait gallery. To view the Lily’s Kitchen Christmas recipes and gifts for pets visit Lily's Kitchen's website here.
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