A FORMER Channel 4 Big Breakfast star has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder with chocolate after a colleague suffered an allergic reaction.
Jody Bunting, 45, claims he was apprehended in relation to an incident that took place at the Mickleover Court Hotel Leisure Club, Derby, on October 29, 2023.
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The well-known TV fitness guru, from Hatton, has worked as a group exercise instructor at the leisure club since 2017.
He said a member of staff was taken to the intensive care unit at the Royal Derby Hospital after an allergic reaction to chocolate.
Jody, who appeared on the Big Breakfast show between 2001 and 2002, alleges he is being accused of intentionally planting the chocolate – something he strongly denies.
He claims he was “paraded” around Luton Airport in handcuffs after being arrested as he returned from a holiday abroad.
Jody, who went from 31 stone to 13 stone, says he was in Morocco on holiday the day the incident happened.
Speaking about the moment he was arrested, Jody said: “I was in shock, being arrested in front of a friend and then being paraded around Luton Airport in cuffs, however, the members at the gym had warned me it may happen.
“I was shocked my local South Derbyshire Police officers had come all the way down to London for this issue.
“The custody sergeant did ask if I could still do my high kicks as he’d Googled me and realised who I was.”
Jody was bailed following his arrest, with conditions including not contacting specific staff members at Mickleover Court, as well as a condition prohibiting him from visiting the leisure club.
He added: “I am doing OK. I am working a lot less now as Mickleover Court was my main job, so I’m just focusing on the fitness classes I still have and the online weight loss coaching I do.
“It’s motivated me not to work for anyone else again, to focus on my own business.
“I am just focusing on the future and hoping I get the ‘no further action’ letter from the police any day now.
“The hardest thing is what to tell the members who have contacted me.
“It’s hard to just say ‘I got arrested for attempted murder’ and not explain the whys.
“When I tell people it’s over a piece of chocolate, they actually laugh out loud, which is even more amusing because of my slimming work and past.”
Jody says he has not heard from Derbyshire Police about any significant developments since his arrest on November 2, 2023.
Derbyshire Police and Mickleover Court Hotel Leisure Club have been approached by The Sun for comment.
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