Craig Charles

Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly have had their say on the I’m A Celebrity live final, which descended into chaos when Adam Thomas was crowned champion

Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly have waded in on the I’m A Celebrity pay row after Jimmy Bullard raged about losing his fee for wanting to quit the show.

Ex footballer Jimmy had said he wanted full pay and that was why he decided to call out ‘I’m a celebrity get me out of here’ during a trial rather than in camp sparking a huge row with Adam Thomas. Jimmy said for his own reasons – thought to be his father’s health – he wanted to go home, but because of his contract, he would have to lose a trial rather than ask to leave early.

During an extraordinary moment in the final, Jimmy said: “Listen, Adam and all of you can be upset with me and I absolutely threw him under the bus, I get it and I’ll wear that.

“But what I don’t stand on, is someone being abusive, aggressive and intimidating, I don’t stand on that.” He then called on Ant and Dec to have their say on what happened.

Speaking for the first time in their podcast about the live fallout, Ant and Dec appeared to side with Adam as they suggested he was used as ‘collateral damage’ in Jimmy’s plan.

“Jimmy used Adam as collateral damage,” said Ant. “We tried to be professional and keep it on track. It was a real shame – we were supposed to hear from every person.

“The whole thing was weird to me,” he added. “Which is why I said quite firmly on the night said I disagree.”

Asked on the night why he quit, Jimmy said: “There were a lot of heavy reasons, which I don’t want to go into now. Also, [I told Ollie], can you talk me through my contract? Because my contract’s pro-rata. Let me give you an example, if I go home and call Adam back with me, I get full pay. That money’s big for me and my family.

“If I go home, stay in, and go back and pull the plug, I get a small percentage of that. I made my mind up in that lightbulb moment – I have to go home. Then all hell breaks loose. You can all be upset. I threw him under the bus. I absolutely get it. I’ll wear that. But what I don’t stand on is someone being abusive, aggressive or intimidating. I don’t stand on it. You didn’t show none of that. None of the C-words. You didn’t.”

The pair also clarified what happened between them and David and Jimmy in the car park, which was snapped by paparazzi.

Speaking on their podcast ‘Hanging Out with Ant & Dec’, Dec explained: “I went up to David Haye and he went ‘How brilliant was that? Wasn’t that great?’ I went well…

“It was certainly talk about TV, I wouldn’t call it great but anyway we had a laugh and we were cool and then I’ve walked off and seen Jimmy Bullard and I just shook his hand and I was like ‘look after yourself’ and he was like ‘yeah, yeah cheers, cheers, cheers’. So there was no confrontation. I wasn’t flanked by two security guards as it said in the paper.”

Setting the record straight Ant insisted there was no argument in the car park, with Dec adding: “I saw David Haye and he said ‘what about that then, hope you get some good ratings for that one.'”

Ant also added: “I just felt it was a shame the crowning moment of I’m A Celebrity South Africa couldn’t have been more celebratory. If anything, remember it for Craig Charles having a bath in the washing up bowl – that’s how I would remember it.”

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Adam Thomas is the I’m A Celebrity South Africa winner 2026 despite ‘unbroadcastable’ row

Adam Thomas defeated the bullies and the other finalists to be crowned the winner of I’m A Celebrity All Stars in South Africa.

In a live final back in London, the actor beat runner up Mo Farah, third placed Harry Redknapp, and Craig Charles in fourth to be named an I’m A Celebrity ‘legend’.

Looking surprised and a bit shaken after a night of controversy, Adam said: “Thank you guys, thank you so much. I love ya.”

Earlier in the live show there had been chaos as he came face to face with David Haye and Jimmy Bullard and the verbal clash led to two other campmates – Gemma Collins and Sinitta – storming off stage.

The 37-year-old actor had faced abuse in camp from boxer Haye, had a row with quitter Jimmy Bullard and also got emotional at times on the ITV show. But he put it all behind him to come out on top.

Before he did his final trial in South Africa, Adam admitted there had been “a lot of drama” in camp. And there was a lot of drama in the final too as hosts Ant and Dec struggled to stay on top of things as it got chaotic with the crowd booing comments and celebs speaking out of turn.

Just minutes before Adam was crowned champ there were awkward scenes in the studio as Jimmy Bullard said Adam was “aggressive, abusive and intimidating” when Jimmy quit and Adam feared his own jungle adventure was also over. Thankfully the other campmates let him stay in the camp.

Adam reflected on it and said he had apologised to Jimmy several times. Looking serious he said: “Listen I take full responsibility for my actions. Yes emotions were definitely running high in that moment. But, you know, I have got nothing but love for Jimmy.”

When David Haye tried to interrupt him Adam also said “will you just let the finalists speak”. Adam then said: “I take everything he said into account. That is not how I want to show myself off and I have never showed myself off in that light before that or after that. And I am sorry Jimmy.”

Adam was given a final eating trial in South Africa called Swallow the Odds, and looking ahead to the prospect of winning said: “I am gonna be a legend baby” He then proceeded to smash the trial, eating five courses with the likes of five pig teats, two century fermented eggs, tarantula and fermented tofu.

He even cheered himself on, saying “come on Adam, ” in between mouthfuls. After watching Gemma said: “You done so well, you amazing.”

But he also had to cope with a backlash from other contestants, as David Haye interrupted the show at this point and said: “Do you think you deserve to win it after calling Jimmy the C-word a couple of times?”

Adam replied: “After that trial I deserve it yeah.”

Trying to restore order, host Dec said: “We are going to come to this a bit later.”But David continued: “Don’t you think you should ask Jimmy…a lot of that stuff was cut out.”Ant said: “There was a lot of stuff which was unbroadcastable which is why, look we will get into this later in the show.”Dec added: “I knew it was going to smoothly.”

Actor Adam first appeared on the show in 2016 making the final.

Asked about the South African version he said: “It was completely different but at the same time, so much better because of the people there. Everything was stepped up a lot, especially the trials and challenges. It was like going back to being a kid again. In my eyes there’s no comparison, this was definitely for the legends and it felt legendary.”

He had paired up with Jimmy Bullard for a trial where the bottom two left the show, but when Jimmy refused to take part and said “get me out of here” Adam had been due to leave too and verbally attacked Jimmy. He was so furious the scenes were edited down, something Jimmy is unhappy about. During the final he urged ITV to show the full contents of Adam’s rants.

Commenting on his clash with Jimmy Bullard when the ex-footballer quit, Adam had said on Thursday: “It was just really random and unexpected to be honest. I didn’t see it coming.

“Safe to say, I don’t think I was too happy about it. The fact I felt like I was leaving because of someone else just really broke my heart more than anything as I wanted to do my kids proud. Emotions can get the better of you in there and in hindsight, I probably would never have reacted the way I did but I was just really upset.”

On social media this week he had claimed even getting to the final he had felt a winner. But he had also said in a podcast chat with his brother this week he was still getting therapy for the way he had been treated in camp by David Haye.

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Corrie star Craig Charles took on the Retching Ball challenge with fellow campmate David Haye in a bid to earn food for camp in the latest bushtucker trial

The latest bushtucker trial left I’m A Celeb star Craig Charles throwing up a mouthful of maggots.

The 61-year-old Corrie star took on the Retching Ball challenge with fellow campmate David Haye in a bid to earn food for camp. The duo were strapped into a revolving ball while having to answer questions directed at them by Ant and Dec.

But of course in true I’m A Celeb style they were not alone in the ball cage, as creepy crawlies were dumped on them to add to their distress. Following a dumping of maggots on the duo, David Haye cried out ‘I’ve got maggots in my mouth’ and it wasn’t long before co-star Craig began throwing up.

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David and Craig carried on for another round but the momentum seemed to catch up with Craig. As he threw up Ant quipped “Oh I think we’ve had a vomit. Now Craig you’ve just worked out why it’s called the wretching ball,” he added.

Despite his sickness, he kept going but he ended up being sick again in the final round where they were asked to name Adele songs. Craig looked delighted when time was up and he and David were removed from the retching ball to learn they had secured seven out of a possible 11 stars in total.

In a sneak peek at tomorrow evening’s episode Gemma Collins appears to quit again. She told the cameras: “I’m A Celebrity get me out of here. I am done.”

She looked to be in tears again as a stunned Scarlett watched on. It left fans pondering if she had actually walked again, or if it was another low moment for the reality TV star.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, one user said: “Hope Gemma doesn’t go from that clip! I need misery guts David gone before anyone else in camp!”

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David Haye is set to target the Rhino’s dinner in tonight’s edition of I’m A Celebrity…South Africa amid what is already a controversial time in the jungle for the boxer

David Haye is set to target the Rhino’s dinner in tonight’s edition of I’m A Celebrity…South Africa. The boxer, 45, is currently taking part in the all-stars edition of Ant and Dec’s ITV reality survival show and is a member of the Lion’s team alongside Harry Redknapp and Ashley Roberts.

Rumours that stealing food in camp, which has been divided by a fence, have been rife and in Wednesday’s episode, the sports star looks set to pocket the rival team’s dinner.

As the food is lowered into camp, David says confidently : “I can’t wait for the food to get here. It’s not going to be easy getting up there but where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

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Immediately taken aback by his plan, Olympian Sir Mo Farah tells his teammate: “Damn, brother. No, I think we should just let them have it… technically they did win it.”

But David remains undeterred as he says: “This is the Lions’ lair, anything coming in here is getting eaten,” However, their conversation is overhear by Coronation Street star Craig Charles from the other side of the fence.

He says: “You’re not really going to steal the bag, are you? You can’t steal the bag off our girls who just won the challenge!” Whether he is successful in his ploy remains to be seen, but David wastes no time as he sets about King Harry’s throne to propel himself nearer to the food bag.

The boxing star has had quite the controversial time in camp already – having already made offensive comments about women and seemingly directed a joke about weight at Gemma Collins. After suffering a defeat in a trial, David admitted that he did not like losing and it would “eat him up for a while,” and it was then that Gemma went to comfort him over the loss, which left fans confused, especially after he made insulting comments to her earlier in the week.

He said: “It’s gonna eat me up for a while. They tried to get under my skin, and they have; that’s what they should do, and I expect nothing less. I don’t like losing any rounds.” It was at that point that Gemma, who, as a member of the team on the other side of the fence, made the forbidden move to speak to him, and he began by saying: “Hello sweetheart” when he saw her.

She said: “You’re not a loser, David. Don’t be hard on yourself, tomorrow is another day, dust it off, you’re always a champ, you know that. Love ya. Come on, it’s not the end of the world.” Gemma then hugged her co-star before heading off.

Then, in the Bush Telegraph, Gemma said: “Obviously, there’s been a bit of banter between us. I’ve seen a different side to David.” But fans were left taken aback as to why the TOWIE legend had been so kind and understanding towards him, especially as he made comments last night which seemingly referred to her weight.

David’s controversy all started innocently enough when it was suggested the group of celebs should meet up for a party when they left the show, and David said his girlfriend Sian was a great cook and could possibly provide food for the event.

He then added: “She’s like tall, blue eyes. She’s lovely. She’s got the personality of a proper ugly bird.” Scarlett Moffatt replied: “You can’t say that.”

But David brushed off the response and added: “She has. Most ugly girls realise they don’t they’re not pretty enough to….they gotta have a personality to banter and to tell jokes and s**t, so people overlook the fact that they’re not aesthetically amazing, straight away.

“Which is what’s called Ugly Duckling syndrome, where girls are ugly, when they start off, and then they and then they kind of they, they get pretty as they get older. But they still got the personality of when they’re ugly. Does that make sense?”

As Scarlett and others made shocked noises, David continued to express his opinions. Haye added: “You get a girl who’s pretty from day one, you get a girl who’s different day one. Everyone goes ‘You’re so beautiful. You’re amazing’. She grows up thinking, I’m amazing. Everyone loves me. I can open any door. I can go anywhere I want.” Later on, Gemma was talking about how “thick” her hair is, and David quipped: “It certainly ain’t thin.”

I’m A Celebrity…South Africa airs weeknights 9PM on ITV1, ITVX, STV AND STV PLAYER

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