Yahoo News How Jordan North narrowly avoided being caught up in Omagh bomb attack
Jordan North has opened up about the 'awful' day his family narrowly avoided being caught up in the Omagh bomb attack after a last-minute change of plans.
The Radio 1 DJ and 2020 I'm A Celebrity runner-up explained to Kate Thornton on White Wine Question Time how his dad's army career kept the family moving around and living in different parts of the UK.
He told Thornton about the day of the Omagh bombings in August 1998 when his family were due to go into the town and how the tragedy and its aftermath were the first time he "can remember feeling really sad and emotional."
WATCH: Radio 1's Jordan North recalls how he landed his dream job
He explained: "It was August, and we were going to go into the town centre that day. We were four boys. It was red hot, the height of the summer holidays.
"We were on the way into town and my mum said: 'These lot are playing up. We can't take them into town like this.' We were meant to go in to book a holiday.
"There was a local walking picnic area, so we went for a walk instead. And we heard the bomb go off.
"I just remember my dad putting us in the car — because he knew straight away it was a bomb — going back to the barracks, and I didn't see him for two or three days.
"We actually drove past the town centre. And it was like something out of a film. It was in slow motion and I remember my dad saying: 'Don't look out the window. Don't look out the window,' and my mum trying to distract us.
"Obviously being eight years old, you looked out the windows and just seeing this absolute devastation. And it was awful."
He told Thornton about the army families that moved around together to different postings, and that people from his dad's time in the army still recognise him from his childhood now and stop him in the street.
He said: "I was in Preston in the other week, and I was going to get the train and someone went: 'Ah, Graham North's son.' And he was in the army with me dad for years.
"So we were really close knit."
He also spoke about his early love for radio, and the practical way he used local radio when moving to a new area.
Read more: Jordan North reveals how 'I'm A Celeb' stars kept conversations private
North explained he learned a lot about the places his family moved to from the radio shows on local stations, even as a young kid, remembering stations he had listened to when the family moved to north Yorkshire, Northern Ireland and Blackpool.
He said: "You just used to listen to them on the way in school or in the morning. And you got a feel for what this area was about.
"And they used to give away prizes, do competitions and they always had callers on, really funny callers, and it just it was my first way of getting to know the area really."
WATCH: Jordan North on how being sick in the jungle led to his greatest career success
