Love Island Brad’s family fire tragedy left him homeless and living with his nan

Love Island's heartthrob Brad McClelland was left homeless at the age of 11 after his younger brother accidentally started a fire which gutted the family home, Daily Star can reveal.

Luckily for Brad's family a hero postman spotted the blaze and saved them from certain death by banging on the door and alerting them to the perilous situation.

But the family lost everything and were forced to move into Brad's nan's house where the labourer has lived ever since.

And it's nanny Joyce's love and support in their time of need that is one of the reasons Brad is still taking care of her now to repay what she did for the 26-year-old when he was "young and vulnerable".

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Brad's mum Kimberley spoke to Chronicle Live about the devastating blaze back in 2006 which was started by Brad's two-year-old brother Mackenzie who was playing with his mum 's cigarette lighter.

The blazing fire ripped through the house in Amble, Northumberland, leaving the home completely gutted.

While Brad, 11 and Reece, eight, were both at school at the time, Mackenzie and mum Kimberley were inside and were only saved by the actions of a quick-thinking postie.

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Kimberley said: "The firemen said that if it hadn't been for the postman we would have been dead. We can't thank him enough.

"They said if I had inhaled any more fumes from the settee I would have been dead. There was only seconds in it.

"The postman spotted the fire from outside and started banging on the front door. The bairn started screaming at the same time."

Explaining how the fire started, Kimberley continued: "I was upstairs in the bathroom and the little one was downstairs. He climbed on the sofa and got my lighter from a shelf where I had hidden it.

"He set fire to the settee and it went whoosh. The postman was putting letters through the door and saw the flames.

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"I ran down the stairs and the bairn was shooting up the stairs. I couldn't see anything for all the smoke but I ran back and grabbed him. We went straight out of the house by the front door. We have lost everything, the telly, music centre, video, all the bairns' toys and our home."

After the accident, Kimberley who is asthmatic, received oxygen for half an hour by paramedics at the scene. She was later taken to Wansbeck General Hospital hospital where she received further treatment but was sent home the same day.

Mackenzie was also treated at the scene and taken to hospital for shock.

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Although family and friends tried to restore some of the family's possessions, sadly they lost everything.

Thankfully, grandmother Joyce was at hand and the family moved into her bungalow.

Joyce told Chronicle Live at the time: "She was crying that she had lost everything and I was telling her she could have died. Now we will just have to rally around and give her whatever we can to get started again."

Since Brad has been on the show a source has told Daily Star that Joyce is a big fan and loves hearing Iain Sterling mention her.

In fact, at one point Joyce even thought Iain was talking to her directly.

A source close to Brad's nan told Daily Star Online: "Brad's nan Joyce has been loved hearing Iain mention her on the show.

"At first she thought he was trying to actually call her on the phone, which was funny. We had to explain to her that he was doing the voiceover, but was basically saying hi to her from the show.

"Her friends think it's hilarious. I imagine they'd all love to invite Iain round for a cup of tea when Love Island is over!"

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