Nine months ago, X Factor star George Shelley lost his sister Harriet in a tragic accident.
And appearing on Lorraine on Thursday morning, the former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! finalist spoke for the first time about the trying year he’s been through since losing his sibling, who was just 21 when she died.
The 24-year-old told Lorraine Kelly that he felt it was finally ‘time to talk’, and that he wanted to highlight to viewers the importance of speaking to loved ones when going through a crisis.
‘I pretended it didn’t happen!’ George Shelley reveals how close he was to a dangerous downward spiral after the tragic death of his sister… but says he is ‘finally seeing colour again’
‘It’s about having someone to talk to. It’s like having a punch bag,’ he said.
Clearly nervous about appearing on TV and speaking about the accident for the first time, George went on to explain how he came dangerously close to falling into a downward spiral in the months after it happened.
‘I have had every single opportunity to just mess this up massively,’ he said.
He went on: ‘It happened in May. But I pretended it didn’t happen. I don’t know how my brain worked but I went back to work and I just wasn’t well and I didn’t know what I was doing.
Lust for life: George’s family has described Harriet as having had a ‘huge lust for life’. The siblings are seen together when younger
‘I wasn’t eating. For so long, for months, I was in my bedroom, the lights were off, there were takeaway bags everywhere.
‘And then one morning I woke up and the sun was rising and it was shining on a picture of me and my dad and I thought okay let’s go and do something now.’
George revealed that prior to Harriet’s death his father had been in a bicycle accident and paralyzed one of his arms. During this time he was also replaced on Capital’s breakfast show, now hosted by Roman Kemp.
‘I had a rubbish year [in 2017] and have experienced things I thought I’d never have to experience. I just never thought it would go like this,’ he said. ‘I lost not just my sister, I lost my dad and my job.’
George was on the show to speak about mental health charity MIND. He explained that he hadn’t grasped how ‘real’ mental health was until Harriet died. He said: ‘I have to focus on putting the negative stuff into something. I didn’t understand mental health.’
Recounting how his sister’s accident played out, he told Lorraine: ‘It was so innocent. She was out at a concert. She needed a wee and she ran out between two tour buses. I think they were Stormzy’s buses.’
‘Her hreat beats on’: George Shelley has revealed that his late sister Harriet’s donated heart has saved a life, via a transplant – five months after she was killed in a road accident
‘She fell back and hit her head on one of the buses. She was then in ICU for a week. We thought “she is going to live, she is going to live”. But then we were told that even if she pulls through she’s gone.’
George has experienced a whirlwind since coming out of the I’m A Celeb! jungle as a runner-up in 2015. He went on to join Dave Berry and Lilah Parsons on the Capital FM breakfast slot, but when Dave decided to quit it meant the end of the road for George and Lilah too.
He has since released new music and guest-presented segments for The X Factor.
In his personal life, he also came out as having ‘dated both girls and guys’.
He revealed to Lorraine that this worried him when he was in the jungle, as he wasn’t ‘out’ back them. He also seemed to confirm that he is indeed gay, rather than Bisexual.
‘I went into the jungle knowing I was gay and having kissed boys,’ he said. ‘You panic while you’re in there. You’re in there smiling and having a good time, but I was panicking about what was going on in the outside world. I was thinking “has someone sold a story on me, am I being outed?”‘
Revelation: The Union J singer made the revelation on Friday night, when he shared a shot with of himself with his sister and brother on Instagram
George ended the interview on a more positive note – despite putting his head in his hands and seemingly composing himself at one stage.
‘I’m seeing colour again,’ he said, smiling. ‘I am now on my new planet. This is the beginning of something new for me.’I’m seeing colour and I love it.’
Pop star George’s sister was killed on April 28 after she suffered fatal head injuries outside the O2 Academy in Bristol shortly before midnight.
She died at Southmead Hospital in Bristol eight days later and the cause of death was given as ‘severe traumatic brain injury’.
Harriet, from Clevedon, North Somerset, had been due to graduate from Birmingham University with a first class degree in midwifery.
‘Our Harriet was a beautiful young woman with a huge lust for life and had great ambitions,’ her family said afterwards. ‘Throughout her time at Birmingham, she delivered countless babies into the world and touched many lives.
‘What happened on that night was an accident in all respects. We as a family do not blame anyone, or look to point the finger.’
Hundreds of people attended Harriet’s funeral and her elder brother George, who rose to fame after appearing on the X Factor in 2012, sang a song he had written as a tribute.
Careers: Harriet was a midwifery student, while her brother went on to become a pop singer
We are family: George, aged eight, with his family, brother Tom Harris, mother Toni, brother William and sister Harriet
Venue: The accident happened outside Bristol’s O2 Academy, where Stormzy was performing
Tribute: Hundreds of people attended Harriet’s funeral and her elder brother George, who rose to fame after appearing on the X Factor in 2012, sang a song he had written as a tribute
Rise to fame: George rose to fame with his Union J bandmates (l-r) JJ Hamblett, Josh Cuthbert and Jaymi Hensley