Yahoo News 8 really disappointing reality TV exits
The Jump pulled off quite the coup in hiring Olympic hero and all-round great guy Sir Bradley Wiggins this year. So what does he go and do? Injure himself. Decades of cycling and he gets wrecked after a couple of weeks on the slopes.
And thus we were robbed of some potentially amazing television, as Bradders was one of the more interesting and funny characters out in Austria. But that's not the first time we were truly saddened when someone had to leave a reality TV show for some reason or other…
1. Spencer Matthews (I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!)
The Made in Chelsea man was certain to be a loveable lothario rogue when he arrived in the 2015 jungle along with fellow reality favourites Ferne McCann and Vicky Pattison.
Sadly, he was removed after just a couple of days after bosses discovered he had been dabbling in steroids.
He said at the time: "Shortly after I arrived in Australia I told the production team that I was taking a steroid-based medication that had begun some weeks ago.
"When I started taking this programme of pills it was in preparation for a charity boxing match which, ironically, never took place. Vanity, I suppose, had been the reason for wanting to bulk up a bit for the fight. I had intended to come off the pills gradually, but there was no time to do this before I reached the jungle."
We're still hoping Spenny can return to the jungle for all the awkward camp flirting that we missed out on the first time round.
2. Rik Waller (Pop Idol)
Conspiracy!
Ahem, but we still can't help but wonder whether Rik's "cold" was a made-up illness to avoid the embarrassment of a guy with non-traditional popstar looks winning the inaugural talent series. It seemed to come out of nowhere. Ah, it's probably just our tinfoil hats getting in the way of our judgement there.
Judge Pete Waterman had made it clear that he wasn't too fond of Rik's presence in the show, describing him as the "chubby fella" in the semi-finals which saw Rik storm to victory in the public vote.
But alas, Rik had to withdraw after losing his voice just before the finals. After receiving a pass for the first round, he was replaced by Darius (as he came third in their semi-final). So, we may have lost Rik, but if he didn't sacrifice himself we would never have had the downright amazing tunes which were 'Colourblind', 'Rushes' and 'Incredible'.
3. John Sergeant (Strictly Come Dancing)
We may have had Ed Balls going pretty damn far in the competition in 2015, but Ed wasn't actually that bad a dancer. Compared to John Sergeant, anyway.
Back in 2008, John managed to make it all the way to week 10 despite finishing dead bottom each week, at one point being scored just 12 out of 40.
But due to the miserable judges and (some) viewers complaining of his place in the show, John decided the right thing to do was to quit gracefully. We wholeheartedly disagreed. Considering he was in his mid-60s at the time, he was probably just knackered.
"The trouble is, there is now a real danger that I might win the competition. Even for me that would be a joke too far," he said.
4. John Lydon (I'm a Celebrity)
In the third series of IAC, Johnny Rotten himself, of all people, ended up in the jungle. It wasn't long before he became the absolute best thing about it.
He effed and jeffed his way through Bushtucker Trials involving biting ostriches, and famously shouted, "Oh, you f**king c**ts" on live telly after Ant & Dec told him the viewers had kept him in another night.
Sadly, he couldn't hack being in there any longer with Katie Price, Peter Andre and Kerry Katona, probably wondering how the hell he went from punk pioneer to reality TV fodder.
And so John quit the jungle just four days before the final. We can't tell if that's anarchic in itself or not.
5. Leo Sayer (Celebrity Big Brother)
'70s crooner Leo was accidental comedy gold in his few days in the 2007 CBB house. As soon as he was told he had to wash his underpants by hand, he decided he'd had enough and followed Donny Tourette and Ken Russell out the door.
Except he didn't leave through the door – he smashed a window and took on some security guards. If only there was a TV loophole in which he HAD to stay in there against his will. It would have been carnage.
Especially considering what else ended up happening that year, we wonder what might have been if Leo stuck it out. He would have either attacked someone or become a national hero. Probably too much of a risk.
6. Various Made in Chelsea folk
Unlike other reality shows, the structured-reality show has a difficult issue when it comes to stars leaving.
As most of them will depart in between series rather than during it, hardly any of them get any sort of send-off whatsoever. They just sort of... disappear. Without any fanfare at all.
Caggie Dunlop, Hugo Taylor, Millie Mackintosh, even Spencer Matthews. The biggest MIC names just leave without so much of a house "pardy". Because of this, it smarts even more when we lose such giants of the genre, but thankfully there's been form in people returning after quitting (Ollie Locke, Francis Boulle), so there's always hope.
7. Amy Childs (TOWIE)
Much like her MIC counterparts, Amy found out the golden rule that (usually) applies if you want to stay in a structured-reality show. You can't go on other reality shows, as your life isn't "real" anymore. We think. It's confusing. (Though it's fine if you do it on another reality show on the same channel – just ask anyone from MIC who's done The Jump).
When Amy signed up for CBB in 2011, ITV bosses apparently told her she would not be returning to TOWIE after just two series. "Apparently, they said that my life wasn't real anymore, because I was doing Celebrity Big Brother. That's their rules and I have to accept that," she said.
Considering that was six years ago and the world of reality TV has vastly changed since then, surely it's about time she made a comeback?
8. Craig Charles (I'm a Celebrity)
The most heartbreaking exit in this list was when Red Dwarf and Corrie star Craig Charles left the show after four days, after discovering that his brother had died.
Craig didn't even get to live much of the IAC experience whatsoever, as he was stuck in the "poor" half of the camp awaiting his place in the main camp. And that whole time he was stuck there with Gemma "Moanatron" Collins, who quit the show a day before him because she couldn't stick it out.
While Gemma's departure was a huge relief for people who wanted to watch the show without smashing their TVs in, Craig's exit was not only heartbreaking for obvious reasons but genuinely sad for viewers who wanted to see the cheeky chappy in the jungle. We're still hoping he might re-enter one day.
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