Danny Cipriani WITHDRAWS from I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! amid the breakdown of his marriage to his wife Victoria Rose

Danny Cipriani quit starring in I’m A Celebrity this year due to the ongoing breakdown of his two-year marriage.

MailOnline can reveal the ex-England fly-half was set to be paid a six-figure sum to appear in the Jungle, but just days before the show was due to air he announced his divorce from wife Victoria.

Sources at ITV confirmed in August that the rugby star would appear on the show and that bosses at the channel were pulling out all the stops to ensure he did.

His name even prompted other participants to participate.

So it came as a surprise when the 36-year-old wasn’t announced as part of the official line-up for this series.

Bad timing: MailOnline can reveal the ex-England fly-half was set to be paid a six-figure sum to appear in the Jungle, but just days before the show was due to air he announced his divorce from wife Victoria (pictured)

All was going well in the marriage until the summer, but in September relations began to crumble after Victoria, 42, had reservations about lurid content in his autobiography, friends of the couple told MailOnline.

The former England executive, 36, boasted of sleeping with three women a day ‘from porn stars to actresses to girls I meet in the coffee shop’ at a time when ‘threesomes became the norm’.

Since then the couple have had a series of ‘difficult’ rows over text messages on his phone, with Victoria ‘becoming increasingly unhappy in recent months’ and reportedly split four days ago, with divorce lawyers called in.

His relationship problems appear to have derailed the sportsman’s plans to enter the Jungle, which was once hailed by ITV insiders as ‘one of the most exciting additions to this series.’

In August a source said: ‘He will be the piece of the line-up and he is already being talked about and there are shower scenes among the staff working on the programme.

‘There is also huge expectation that he will reveal secrets of his showbiz lifestyle. He has been linked to many women over the years and his scandals are also well documented, so there will be a lot for him to share.

‘But he also has a sense of humor, which makes him popular with his campmates, as well as those watching at home.

“Danny may have settled down now, but he’s still wild at heart. The hope is high that he will reach the final.’

Split: All was well in the marriage until the summer, but in September relations began to crumble after Victoria, 42, had reservations about some of the lurid content in his autobiography, friends of the couple told MailOnline

Cipriani – who has been linked to the likes of the late Caroline Flack, Lindsay Lohan and television presenter Kirsty Gallacher – would receive at least double what This Morning’s Josie Gibson is paid for her appearance on I’m A Celebrity.

But it appears his ‘wild’ ways prevented this and resulted in the breakdown of his marriage to the mental health activist turned grandmother in 2020 – shortly before they got married.

A friend told MailOnline: ‘Victoria knew dating a high-profile sportsman would put an unwanted focus on their relationship.

‘However, some of the stories in Danny’s book, especially about his sex life with past lovers, were quite difficult to comprehend when written in black and white for all to see.’

The source added: ‘The marriage was never the same after that.’

Their marriage collapsed when she was forced to read sordid revelations about the rugby star’s sexual past in his autobiography, friends claim.

They took their relationship to task two weeks ago after a series of ‘difficult’ arguments over text messages on his phone, MailOnline exclusively revealed.

Victoria admitted she had reservations about some of the lurid content in Who Am I?, released in September, in which Danny bragged about sleeping with three women a day “from porn stars to actresses to girls I came across the coffee shop’. when ‘threesomes became the norm’.

On the day the book came out, she wondered, “Why didn’t he delete the chapters I asked him to write?”

Now, just two months after the book’s release, their two-and-a-half year marriage is over, with sources close to Victoria claiming his decision to reveal all about his sex life could have contributed to the shock split.

Victoria – who is usually an acutely private person – opened up to her 11,000 Instagram followers about her divorce earlier this week, telling them it was “one of the worst times of my life.”

Who am I? Their marriage collapsed when she was forced to read sordid revelations about the rugby star’s sexual past in his autobiography, friends claim.