OVER the years John Barrowman has become a well-known face on the box and has appeared on many popular shows.
However in September 2024, the TV star shocked fans when he quit Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins after just 32 minutes.
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Born on March 11, 1967, in Glasgow, John Barrowman is a popular TV star known for his presenting and acting work.
Despite being Scottish, he is famous for his American accent which he adopted when his family moved to the United States when he was eight.
John’s love of performing came from the encouragement and coaching he received from his music and English teachers while at high school, and he was moved into a Gifted Programme to further develop his talents.
He holds British and American citizenship and studied performing arts at the United States International University in San Diego before starting his career in London.
Becoming a TV star
John launched on to TV when he hosted kids TV show Live & Kicking from 1993 to 95.
In 2006, he landed his own Doctor Who spin-off show, Torchwood.
That same year he came seventh in the very first series of Dancing On Ice.
John is well known across the pond and in 2010 played evil Patrick Logan in Desperate Housewives.
The actor then starred in CW’s DC Comics series Arrow as supervillain Malcolm Merlyn – but he was devastated in 2017 when his character got the axe.
In 2018, John won over a new army of fans on I’m A Celebrity.
John Barrowman’s heartfelt journey: Overcoming struggles and embracing a new beginning
He came third on the show, losing out to winner Harry Redknapp.
John also enjoyed a brief stint as a judge on Dancing On Ice.
He replaced Jason Gardiner on the panel in 2019, before leaving the show in 2021.
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Quitting Celebrity SAS
In September 2024, John shocked fans when he quit Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, just 32 minutes after arriving at base camp.
Shortly before, he had told viewers he joined the show in order to “prove himself”.
However, after trying just one of the tasks, he voluntarily withdrew (VW) from the series less than an hour after arriving at base camp.
The star had only just been given his armband to mark the start of his journey, being marked as ‘Number 13’ after failing to impress in the first challenge.
I thought, ‘I’m not going to make myself ill or hurt myself in order to try to prove something that I don’t need to prove’.
John on quitting Celeb SAS
But as the cast lined up to enter their bunks, John started to retch, and then immediately tore his armband off.
His fellow recruits and the DS staff were left in shock at the move, with staff Jason Fox asking him: “Hang on, hang on, you’ve not called out. Are you VWing?”
“Yeah I’m VW. I’m out!” John yelled back, before vomiting in a corner.
Walking off the show, he said: “I just… it’s not for me.
“I know who I am. I know what I’m about, and it’s not for me.”
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John has since spoken to The Sun, to explain his shock exit, where he blamed it on eating vegan sandwiches.
He said it had been the only food offered before the first task in New Zealand.
John told The Sun: “I’m not a vegan or a vegetarian, but they made everybody eat vile tofu.
“I would never eat tofu in my life, but you’re so hungry, you just eat it.”
John, who has motion sickness, said he then endured a two-hour car journey to the site of the task.
He said “Then it was projectile vomit everywhere and the tofu came up.
“I thought, ‘I’m not going to make myself ill or hurt myself in order to try to prove something that I don’t need to prove’.
“And it was seriously me going: ‘I am completely comfortable with who I am’.”
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Wedded bliss
John met his husband, Scott Gill, during a production at the Chichester Film Festival in 1993 where Scott was in the audience.
The couple entered a civil partnership in 2006 and legally married in California in 2013.
John received an MBE in 2014 and was accompanied by Scott to the investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
They have homes in London, Cardiff, and Palm Springs.
Scott is an architect and designed their Welsh home.
