John Barrowman shares real reason he left Celebrity SAS after 32 minutes

Watch: John Barrowman explains why he left Celebrity SAS after just 32 minutes

What did you miss?

John Barrowman has revealed the real reason that he dropped out of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins after just 32 minutes,. explaining: “I know who John Barrowman is”.

The Doctor Who and Torchwood star, who was hit by allegations of exposing himself to co-workers on the set of both dramas before signing up to Celebrity SAS, told Lorraine on Monday that he didn’t feel he needed to be built back up on the gruelling show because he was already confident in himself.

Viewers of the interview remarked again upon the actor, who moved to the US as a child, speaking in a Scottish accent throughout his chat with Lorraine Kelly.

What, how, and why?

Celebrity SAS viewers saw John Barrowman drop out of the gruelling Channel 4 challenge show in record time last night, quitting after just 32 minutes and not even spending one night in camp.

The star had travelled all the way to New Zealand, but was shown vomiting during an early task alongside his fellow recruits and promptly left the series.

Despite having spoken about leaving because of illness, in an interview on Monday’s Lorraine, Barrowman called in from Sydney, Australia and shared that his real reason for quitting was because he didn’t feel he was in need of the personal growth many Celebrity SAS recruits go through.

In 2021, accusations that Barrowman had exposed himself on the set of Doctor Who and Torchwood resurfaced, but while the actor apologised, he labelled it “tomfoolery” rather than sexual misconduct. He also called the incidents “bawdy behaviour” rather than sexual harassment in an interview with Lorraine at the time.

Read more: Celebrity SAS

On Monday, Lorraine Kelly asked him about Celebrity SAS: “Now look, John, you weren’t in a good place when you signed up to do this. You were effectively cancelled after allegations of inappropriate behaviour. Why did you sign up, what was the idea behind it?”

Barrowman explained: “The idea behind it was that I thought it would give you a chance to tell the story and also the show itself helps people come to terms with things that they’re struggling with and have gone through. That’s why I did it, I thought give it a whirl, see what happens and also I do like a challenge.”

He added: “I looked at myself even when I was doing the interview bits and I saw still that angry person, the person who was still upset, the person who was still in a bad place.

“But as I kept going through that first day and they were saying things like ‘you don’t know who you are, you’ve got to discover who you are, you’ve got to find out who the real person is’. All the stuff they say to build you back up. I kept saying to myself, ‘I know who I am, I know who John Barrowman is. I’ve made a mistake here,’ and that was in the bit where we were having the walk through. Then when that lightbulb went off, then I started getting sick. I realised I’m in a situation here, I know who John Barrowman is, I’m starting to get sick, I need to make a conscious decision if I’m going to continue here.

“Then that was it, I just said I’m out, because I didn’t think I could do it if I was sick.”

However, Barrowman added that he had no regrets, saying: “I feel really good about it, and the show did exactly what it was meant to do, it made me realise who I was. The thing is, John Barrowman’s always helped other people come to terms with who they are – helping them come out, dealing with their whole sexuality or dealing with their bisexuality, or being transgender – so I’ve always helped people in the past to deal with that.

“So for me to make that decision and now thinking about it, it was the best decision I ever made and the best decision to do the show, because the show did exactly what it was meant to do for me but just in a short period of time. I don’t regret doing what I did, I don’t regret going to the show.”

He revealed that show bosses had tried to get him to stay: “They tried to talk me out of it, they tried to keep me in and I understand why, but in my head I’d made the decision and I knew I’d made the right decision. I know who John Barrowman is, I know that no matter what the trolls say, I know that my mum loves me, my dad loves me, my family loves me, my friends love me and that’s the most important thing.”

Why was John Barrowman talking in a Scottish accent?

Anyone familiar with Barrowman’s work on TV and in theatres will be used to hearing his US accent – so some Lorraine viewers were a little confused to hear him matching host Kelly’s Scottish accent on Monday.

One person wrote: “John Barrowman talking about himself in the third person in a scottish accent wasnt on my Monday bingo card.”

Someone else added: “So John barrowman is Scottish today ok,” as another viewer asked: “@JohnBarrowman. Why are you talking with a Scottish accent all of a sudden??”

However, this isn’t the first time the actor has shifted into a Scottish accent while appearing on the ITV show.

Barrowman was actually born in Glasgow, but his family moved to Illinois when he was nine and although he was brought up in the US, he returned to the UK for work in 1989.

Lorraine viewers questioned his voice change back in 2020, when Barrowman’s Scottish roots were explained. He has said that he cultivated an American accent as a child to fit in at school.

Kelly said in 2020: “I love that his Scottish accent comes back when he talks to me.”

Lorraine airs on ITV1 at 9am on weekdays.