I’m A Celeb star Josie Gibson’s tragic upbringing – dad stabbed to death by ‘love rival’ uncle to cocaine-peddling gran

SHE’S been battling snakes and critters in the jungle and was overcome with fear when faced with spiders in the Bushtucker Trials.

But I’m a Celebrity star Josie Gibson is a born fighter after a tough upbringing and series of tragedies which rocked her family.

9

9

The This Morning host, 38, was the oldest of seven and lost her dad at age of 10, reportedly to a knife fight with a jealous uncle. 

Her close knit family, from Bristol, have also pulled together through some difficult times, including a violent abuser in the home.

Her gran was also convicted for drug dealing, which saw her go on the run for 12 years.

Here we look at how the single mum’s rollercoaster life has shaped the budding jungle queen she has become.

Violent home

Josie claimed she witnessed domestic abuse in her childhood.

After she was attacked by a man in a taxi, while defending a friend who rejected his sexual advances, she said: “I grew up in a violent household and I forgot how disgusting it was to see a man batter a woman like that.”

She told Closer magazine: “My brother’s father was extremely violent towards my mum for years. 

“I have so many horrible memories of the violence I saw in my own home. He’d beat my mum regularly and I’d even have to call ambulances for her when it was particularly bad.”

9

Josie, who has three sisters and three brothers, grew up in a house in Bristol.

Mum Mandy, a horse trainer, previously revealed the family held on to their traveller roots with frequent caravan trips, decamping for entire summers where they’d have no electricity, gas or running water for months.

“We’d be gone for eight weeks at a time, we are old-fashioned people, that’s how we live,” Mandy told Mail Online. 

“When you live in the van then you don’t waste water, electricity or your time. We’ve always had horses, traps and carriages, we are simple people and we live a simple way of life.”

She added: “It’s very different to the life [Josie] leads now but I’m glad that she had the opportunity to live life in the caravan when she was a child.”

Dad killed over ‘love triangle’

When Josie was 10 her father was killed in a fight with her uncle, believed to be the result of a ‘love triangle’.

The presenter, who rarely talks about her family, told Now magazine her dad was stabbed in the leg after having an affair with Josie’s uncle’s partner, which left him with fatal injuries.

Her uncle was convicted of manslaughter after her dad, who hasn’t been publicly named, reportedly bled to death.

Last year Josie revealed her son Reggie, five, began talking to her dad’s spirit after she visited The Ram Inn, one of the UK’s most haunted homes, as part of a Halloween segment for This Morning.

“He said, ‘Mummy, he’s behind you now. He’s so nice because he’s your dad,’ she said. “My dad died when I was really young but I’ve never had a conversation about my dad with my son. 

“Reg said, ‘He told me to tell you he loves you very much’.”

9

Gran on the run 

When Josie was 13, in 1998, her grandmother Diane Gibson was arrested at a motorway service station with 2.9kg of cocaine – with a street value of £240,000 – in the boot of her car.

Convicted at Bristol Crown Court of possessing cocaine with intent to supply, in 2000 she absconded before sentencing and went on the run for 12 years, living in caravans in the north of England.

In the interim Josie became a famous name, having won the eleventh series of Big Brother in 2010.

Read Related Also: Jack Fincham wishes on-off girlfriend Chloe Brockett happy birthday with VERY intimate topless bed snap

Diane – who always protested her innocence – was arrested in April 2013 and jailed for four years, with her defending council saying she regretted missing out on family life.

“She has been living as an outlaw,” he told the judge. “She has a wide family in this area but there was a great-grandson born. She found out about this and she came in from the cold after all these years.

“I do suggest she has had a pretty hard time of it. She has missed out on a large amount of her family life.”

Josie has always defended her grandmother, once tweeting: “A few articles about my Nan just to clear up, people don’t know the truth.

“I lived with her and my aunty and she is heavily against drugs!”

9

Protective big sister

Encouraged by her mum, Josie  grew up around animals and at 14, she left home to live on her aunt’s farm, moving into a ‘wooden cabin’ where she had her own horse and cart. 

Talking about her background, she said: “I’m a buffer, really, because I grew up in a house not a caravan. But we were always surrounded by caravans and horses and carts. Life was never dull!”

Josie is incredibly close to and fiercely protective of her brother Harry, two years her junior, who is deaf.

In lockdown she voiced her anger after being turned away from three restaurants with Harry, his wife and their children for refusing to wear face masks.

She told Loose Women the couple felt “cut off” from society when masks were introduced because they depended on lip reading and facial expressions to understand what was being said.  

In 2014 Harry – who Josie affectionately calls Mook – was left with a fractured nose and other facial injuries after being punched at a nightclub in Bristol, while celebrating her birthday.

Although she rarely talks about her siblings, Josie posted a glam picture with all three sisters in April for youngest Ria’s 21st birthday.

Posing with Ria, Ruby and Anna, she wrote: “I can’t believe my baby Ria is 21 today! Thank you for everything you do for me and Reggie. I would not be where I am today without your help.”

9

9

9

‘Homeless’ after split

Josie has had a string of high profile romances, including with fellow Big Brother housemate James Parton.

And yesterday we told how she had an on-off relationship with plumber Luke Sanwo, who told The Sun she once brandished a machete during a fight.

Her romance with Reggie’s dad, Terry Bond, was equally tempestuous and, in 2018, four months after Reggie’s birth, she spent New Year’s Eve homeless after splitting in a row over untidy shoes.

“He’s got OCD and just after Christmas, he went mad about too many of my shoes being in the hallway. So I kicked off and said, ‘Well, we’ll go then!’ And he went, ‘Alright’, and bagged up our stuff,” she explained. 

“So Reggie and I headed to a hotel. [It was] Two days before New Year’s Eve.  

“We watched the fireworks out of the window while we unpacked. It was the worst New Year’s Eve ever.”

The pair rekindled the romance briefly in lockdown but split after a few months and they’re now co-parenting. 

Mum Mandy told Radio Bristol her daughter’s strength is in her strong personality.

Asked what people will learn about Josie on I’m a Celebrity, Mandy said: “She’s down to earth, she’s kind. She’s a good team player. She’ll look after people out there.”

9