Harry Redknapp is back on our screens as he appears on the latest series of I'm A Celebrity: South Africa. The former football manager, 79, won the ITV competition back in 2018 and returned for the All Stars edition, which was filmed last year. There's no doubt he will thrive once again in the jungle as he stars alongside other show legends such as Sir Mo Farah, Scarlett Moffatt, Adam Thomas and Ashley Roberts.

It's another adventure for Redknapp, who knows just how fortunate he is to even be alive. More than 40 years ago, Redknapp was involved in a horror car crash which killed his close friend and colleague, Brian Tiler, who was 47. In 1990, Redknapp, who was the manager of Bournemouth, and Tiler, the club's managing director at the time, headed to Rome to watch a few games at the Italia 90 World Cup.

After watching Italy edge a narrow victory over the Republic of Ireland, they joined friends from Bournemouth and a group of Irish fans for a few drinks.

Later, they boarded their hired minibus and set off back to their hotel. In his 1998 autobiography, Redknapp gave a terrifying account of what happened moments later.

He said: "In the minibus on the way back to the hotel most of us were either asleep or dozing. That's as much as I can remember.

"Then, at around midnight, in a place called Latina, just south of Rome, I'm told a car hurtled towards us on the wrong side of the road.

"I'm told it was going 90 miles per hour. I'm told the smash was so horrific that it was a miracle anyone got out alive. Brian didn't. Nor did the occupants of the other car, three Italian lads who all died instantly.

"The force of the impact threw me out of the minibus and knocked me unconscious. I was then dragged away from the mangled wreckage, covered in petrol, by Michael Sinclair, who was petrified by the thought that it would all explode."

Redknapp revealed it was never established whether the driver of the other car had been drinking. Recalling the moment he woke up in hospital two days later, Redknapp said he had no idea about the extent of his injuries, or that his friend had been killed.

He continued: "The emergency services at the scene of the crash had apparently thought I was a goner and pulled a blanket over my head. Even my watch had gone, someone clearly believing I wouldn't be needing it. Everything of value had gone.

"The doctors, I'm told, also thought I was dead upon arrival at the hospital. But I was lucky. I had fractured my skull, broken several bones, and suffered a horrific gash to my leg, but I don't think the injuries, though serious, were ever life-threatening, despite those first impressions."

Redknapp spent three weeks in hospital before returning to England, continuing rehabilitation for several more months.

While many of his physical injuries healed, his devastation over losing Tiler has always stayed with him.

"I wasn't told of Brian's death until long after I regained consciousness. I couldn't believe it. My mate. We had gone through so much together and shared so many laughs. Gone. Just like that," he added.