Big Brother alum and TV personality Henry Southan was rushed to hospital with a mystery illness this week, a development that forced him to miss the star-studded premiere of Slow Horses. The 27-year-old shared an Instagram post on Wednesday showing him in a hospital gown in bed, telling followers he had been kept in for 24 hours. "Hasn't been the most ideal 24 hours! Getting much-needed rest," he wrote, later adding: "Gutted to be missing the Slow Horses premiere tonight, but rest comes first." The Daily Mail said Southan’s representative had been contacted for comment.
Southan has built a following as a television figure and food influencer, publishing reviews in outlets such as the Evening Standard and GQ and maintaining a sizable social media presence. His hospitalization comes after a year marked by public, if lighthearted, running commentary on food and venues, including a widely viewed TikTok post that criticized Jeremy Clarkson’s The Farmer’s Dog pub near Burford in Oxfordshire. In that clip, Southan recounted starting Father’s Day with his father at the pub and described a string of perceived missteps, from a dry beef roast to an overflow car park that seemed far from the restaurant. He quipped about the queue and the difficulty of locating a table, and he filmed himself reacting to the food with a critical eye before finishing with a remark about the pub’s piano playing the EastEnders theme tune.
The prior online tussle with Clarkson’s business has followed Southan for months. Clarkson, a fixture of British media and television, opened The Farmer’s Dog pub last year, emphasizing sourcing from Great Britain and supporting local farmers. That approach has drawn both praise for its stated mission and criticism for its higher costs and for the practical challenges of running a regionally focused operation. Clarkson has not publicly revisited the topic in a broad interview since the pub’s opening; when pressed on broader business challenges on Good Morning Britain, he replied with a brief, noncommittal response, a moment that spurred further online discussion among fans and followers of both men.
Southan’s hospitalization keeps him out of the Slow Horses premiere circuit that evening, a project that has drawn international attention for its high-profile cast and the BBC espionage drama’s increasing popularity. In the wake of his illness, fans and fellow creators have wished him well on social platforms, with many noting that health must come first even for public figures who routinely share personal moments with their audiences. The premiere itself proceeds with its usual star-studded entourage and media attention, underscoring the attention on Southan’s health while highlighting his ongoing influence in entertainment and culture circles. No new medical updates have been released publicly, and Daily Mail representatives said they were awaiting further information from Southan’s team.
Images from the reporting period provide a window into the moment: a photo captured midweek shows Southan in a hospital setting, a reminder of the human side behind the public persona.