Scott Mills thought he had dengue fever on Celebrity Race Across The World

The BBC Radio 2 DJ was actually suffering from caffeine withdrawal after cutting back on coffee to save money.

Watch Scott Mills thought he had dengue fever on Celebrity Race Across The World

Scott Mills has opened up on the scary moment he thought he had contracted dengue fever on Celebrity Race Across The World - but then realised it was just caffeine withdrawal.

The Radio 2 DJ admitted to being "a hypochondriac" and told how he thought he had caught the viral disease from a mosquito bite while travelling through South America for the BBC show, but later worked out it was actually because he had been drinking less coffee to save on his budget with travel partner and husband Sam Vaughan.

Scott Mills spoke about filming Celebrity Race Across the World. (ITV screengrab)
Scott Mills spoke about filming Celebrity Race Across the World. (ITV screengrab)

On Tuesday's This Morning, the couple also shared which fellow contestant was a game player and how having their phones taken away for filming had changed their relationship.

Mills was terrified he had contracted dengue fever while filming Celebrity Race Across The World, but admitted the symptoms were actually caused by a lack of coffee.

The BBC Radio 2 DJ and his husband Sam Vaughan filmed the BBC One series, currently airing, a couple of months before their wedding and described it to This Morning as "a reverse honeymoon" as they shared how tough it had been.

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Scott Mills thought he had fallen ill - but was actually suffering from a lack of coffee. (BBC)

But one of Mills' scariest moments was when he thought he had fallen seriously ill with a headache that he could not get rid of.

He said: "I'm a bit of a hypochondriac. At the time in South America there was an outbreak of dengue fever which is similar to Covid symptoms - big headache, bit sniffly.

"I'm like, I've been bitten by a mosquito, I must have dengue because I'm always worst case scenario. Turned out it was just caffeine withdrawal for three days."

Vaughan had suggested Mills cut his coffee drinking down to every other day and Mills explained: "I started having coffees every day and he was like, we've got a budget, so I stopped having them. Then he said to me on the third day of the headache, when was the last time you had a coffee? I was like, oh yeah."

While Mills and Vaughan have admitted to finding budget travel tough, they told This Morning that one unexpected plus to the show was having their phones taken away for five weeks.

Mills said: "We are literally addicted to our phones. When it's taken away from you, the first day is weird. Quickly afterwards, you don't care. We will never have that time where we're so present with each other again."

Kelly Brook and Jeremy Parisi were the surprise winners of leg one. (BBC)
Kelly Brook was labelled a 'game player' by Scott Mills and Sam Vaughan. (BBC)

In fact, when they were offered the phones back at the end of filming, Mills said: "We said actually can we have them back tomorrow."

Talking about their fellow celebrity contestants, the pair shared that one of them had been a big game player.

Vaughan said: "Sometimes they lie on how much budget they've got left. Kelly Brook was like, 'Oh we only spent £20 on a taxi'. Watching her back, she spent £200."

Mills added: "Sometimes we'd be at the same bus station because it worked out that way and she'd try to throw you off the scent, she'd put her sleep mask on and say, oh I think I'm going to sleep here tonight. The game play comes in."

"You always presume they're having a great time, just sailing through the race," he said. "You always think you're last."

This Morning airs on ITV1 at 10am on weekdays.