Heidi Montag was rushed to the hospital in Costa Rica on Saturday after suffering from a rumored gastric ulcer brought on by stress while filming the NBC reality show “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.” Heidi and her new husband, Spencer Pratt, were sequestered in a dark room called the “lost chamber” as their punishment for quitting the show and then opting to return. They were either there for three days without food and water with large spiders being dropped on them from above, if Heidi’s sister-in-law is to be believed, or were there for 14 hours and were given food and water, if NBC is telling the truth.

Heidi’s sister-in-law, Stephanie Pratt, says the couple was tortured on the show and treated like terrorists. Producers claim that Heidi and Spencer were treated fairly, that they acted as if everything was ok when they were released, and were never in any danger. Meanwhile Spencer is said to be planning to sue NBC. Whatever happened to these two, Heidi’s medical condition seems to show that she was under an undue amount of stress. She was said to have been throwing up convulsively, which brought on the (rumored) ulcer:

Were Spencer and Heidi Pratt deprived of food and water for almost three days while being forced to live in blacked-out seclusion on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here?

That’s what their family is claiming. A show insider, on the other hand, says all reports that the pair were mistreated have been greatly exaggerated.

“They kept them locked up and through the roof they were dropping spiders the size of [Heidi’s] hands in on her in the black,” Spencer’s sister, Stephanie, just told me at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation’s A Time for Heroes Celebrity Carnival in L.A.

“They treated them like they were criminals or terrorists,” she added.

Stephanie said Heidi, who was reportedly rushed to a local Costa Rica hospital yesterday, was transferred to another medical facility today. She said she wasn’t sure what the final diagnosis was. But it sure doesn’t sound pretty…

“She was throwing up 30 times with nothing in her stomach,” Stephanie said. “She was really sick. She thought she was dying….I know they pulled such shitty antics,” she said. “But being treated like criminals or terrorists? It’s insane!”

The newlyweds will likely return home sometime this week, according to Stephanie.

A rep for NBC declined to comment, but ITV Studios, producers of I’m a Celebrity, deny any wrongdoing.
My show insider insists the newlyweds were not only fed, but they were only in the lost chamber for about 14 hours. “They slept most of the time,” said the insider, who asked not to be identified. “And when they weren’t sleeping, they were laying side by side praying.”

As for the spiders, the insider said, “There were no bugs added to the chamber. Maybe there was a small one that Spencer tried to kill.”

The insider also said Heidi was not vomiting: “They were in happy spirits when they came out of the chamber.”

We’ll get to see everything tomorrow night when the latest I’m a Celebrity airs. “Everything is documented because there are cameras on them all the time,” the insider said. “There are interviews, too.”

[From E! Online]

Producers have released an official statement denying any wrongdoing:

“ITV Studios, producers of the series, state that press reports at this time are untrue. ITV has been producing this format around the world for many years and the health of the celeb participants are of the utmost importance. A medic and a doctor are present at the location at all times for all participants. All allegations of the celebrities being deprived of food and water are completely untrue.”

[From OK! Magazine]

Radar Online had unreleased footage last week of Heidi trying to throw up for some reason, probably because she ate something unpalatable. She claimed “I don’t know how to throw up.”

Heidi might have just been unable to handle it all and to have been more affected than someone else would have been in that situation. Reality shows are a tough business and while they’re cheaper to produce than “scripted” shows they also bring up all sorts of ethical issues, even in seemingly benign shows like “Jon & Kate Plus 8”

Heidi’s sister, Holly Montag, is set to replace her on “I’m a Celebrity.”