FORMER EastEnders star Dean Gaffney got into a fight over Janice Dickinson at an I’m A Celebrity post-show meal.
He was confronted by the former supermodel’s psychiatrist husband, Robert “Rocky” Gerner, when he tried to give her a kiss.
The pair swore, pushed and shoved one another with Dean shouting “Get off me” before they were separated by the actor’s pal, former EastEnder Joe Swash.
The bust-up in front of other shocked stars was revealed to The Sun on Sunday by nutritionist Gillian McKeith.
In her first interview since she was seen leaving the ITV1 show on Friday night, the 63-year-old said the atmosphere in the restaurant in South Africa “could be cut with a knife”.
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Gillian said: “I was sitting there with my daughter Skylar and two-year-old grandson Landon and I became aware of a bit of a kerfuffle. I looked up and Dean and Robert were right there.
"I saw Janice’s husband Robert hold Dean’s arms — he held his forearms tight, pushed him back and there was a push and pull going on.
“Then Dean released his arms and said, ‘Get off me’, and tried to free his arms from his grip before he swore and shouted to get away from him.
“Dean was very upset and marched over to the other side of the room and that is when other people became aware of what was going on.
“It was very tense. You could cut the atmosphere with a knife.”
“Joe pacified the situation because Dean and Joe are very good friends.
“I was just astonished at what went on because I didn’t know he would react like that. I had never seen that.”
Janice was still nursing injuries to her face from a fall during filming — as exclusively revealed by The Sun on Sunday two weeks ago.
The fight took place shortly before the celebrities sat down for dinner — which included coconut lamb curry and rainbow trout — at the four-star Phelwana Game Lodge restaurant which was strictly reserved for the celebrities and ITV crew.
A second witness said: “It was more than just a shove.
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“Robert was manhandling Dean and was not letting him go. He shouted, ‘Don’t touch my f*****g wife’.
“Dean then started swearing and yelling at him while trying to wrestle himself away.
“At this point everyone at the table turned to see what was going on and luckily Joe stepped in to pacify the situation which had escalated completely out of control.
“Dean did come over again during the meal and appeared to warn Robert to keep away from him.
“Janice seemed really out of it following her fall and just sat there quietly before leaving with Robert as soon as they had finished eating.”
Speaking about the aftermath, Gillian said: “Robert later told me that he didn’t want anyone touching Janice’s face because she had open wounds.
“He was concerned that if someone came to kiss her it could contaminate her wounds.
“It was a misunderstanding because Dean is a lovely guy and he was just being friendly and the husband was maybe overreacting.”
Days before, Janice was taken by ambulance to hospital and had to pull out of the show, recorded in the Kruger National Park in September.
Ladies man Dean, 45, who used to play Robbie Jackson in EastEnders, will be seen joining the camp this week.
Janice, 68, tied the knot with her fourth husband Robert in Los Angeles in December 2016.
That year she was also diagnosed with breast cancer but was later given the all-clear after radiation therapy.
Meanwhile, it had been 13 years since Gillian, notorious for inspecting poo on Channel 4’s You Are What You Eat, first starred on I’m A Celebrity.
During her time on the 2010 series she had a tumultuous relationship with Happy Mondays singer Shaun Ryder. At the time, he told hosts Ant and Dec: “If Gillian was my wife, she would be in pieces in a plastic bag, deep in a hole in the back garden.”
She has now admitted she was on the verge of a panic attack at the thought of reuniting with Shaun for the new series — and would not have signed up if she knew he was taking part.
Speaking about his comment from 2010, Gillian said: “He never apologised and I didn’t push it because I didn’t know he had said that until recently.
“I thought, ‘That is just shockingly awful’. I felt disappointed and a lot of things were left unsaid that we ought to talk through like, ‘What would make you say something like that? Is it because you thought it was funny? Did you really feel it and how do you feel now?’.
This time round viewers saw them get on better and they left the show together on Friday night as friends.
On Shaun picking her to take part in the Bushtucker Trial which led to their exit, she said: “I wasn’t happy that he picked me because I didn’t want to go home that early and I wanted to be able to prove myself more — but nonetheless he was very warm and kind.
“He did show another side to me — he became likeable. He was very complimentary towards me. He couldn’t have given me more compliments if he tried.”
Despite spending just five days in camp, Gillian was up to her old tricks of sneaking in sachets of spices, which she sealed inside condoms and packed into pockets in her knickers and bra.
She added: “I feel the camp became quite divided. There were those who thought it was completely wrong and those who thought it was hilarious and didn’t mind at all.”
But Gillian also revealed she still had contraband in her pockets when she was booted out of the camp.
