Nicola McLean nearly pulled out of re-entering the ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ house at the last minute, reports have claimed.
The model was one of the former contestants who were unveiled as ‘All Star’ housemates during Tuesday (3 January) night’s launch show.
However, a source has told The Sun Nicola held “crisis talks” with her husband, footballer Tom Williams, prior to her appearance, wanting to back out of a second stint on the Channel 5 reality series.
“Nicola completely lost her confidence and almost backed out of ‘CBB’ at the last minute,” the insider told the paper.
Nicola addressed the problems in her marriage in her introductory VT, after it was revealed Tom had cheated on her in 2015, and it seemed his infidelity caused some of her ‘CBB’ doubts.
“Nicola has stepped out of the public eye for the last two years after a lot of difficult personal problems,” the source said.
The star previously claimed appearing on the 2012 series of ‘CBB’ was “the worst decision of my life”.
Asked why she’d decided to return by host Emma Willis during the live launch show, she made a jibe about former ‘CBB’ presenter, Brian Dowling.
“I’m here because you’re here,” she told Emma.
“Brian Dowling was so crap and horrible to me during my exit interview but I know you’ll be amazing.”
Nicola - who is now living with the likes of James Jordan, Speidi and Coleen Nolan - previously lasted 21 days in house, with her time remembered for explosive row with eventual winner Denise Welch.
‘Celebrity Big Brother’ continues on Wednesday at 9pm on Channel 5.