Adam Thomas reportedly risks being blacklisted by ITV after accusing the broadcaster of “exploiting” him during the I’m A Celebrity... South Africa final.
The actor, 37, was crowned the winner in the chaotic final last week, during which he was accused of being “abusive, aggressive and intimidating” by David Haye and Jimmy Bullard.
Towards the end of the live show, he appeared visibly distressed and reportedly threw his crown and sceptre on the ground.
He later broke down in tears as he claimed producers took advantage of his fallout with Haye and Bullard.
“It's hard, the whole experience. That live show, I just felt like I'd just been exploited, and I think you can see it, at the end of it. I felt like I was in the midst of it all, and it wasn't even about me,” he told brothers Scott and Ryan on their Thomas Bros podcast.
Despite winning with 51 per cent of the public vote, he added: “I feel like I sold my soul and you couldn’t pay me £10 million to do that experience again. Nothing is worth what I went through in there.”
At another point in the podcast, he said: “I used to sit down with my kids and watch this show, and now I won’t be able to do that. It will remind me of the experience I went through.”
Scott placed the blame on ITV, insisting: “All those campmates were pissed off at ITV. It wasn’t your issue. It is ITV’s issue.
“In those shows, you get eaten alive, because it is so toxic. This is what is cut-throat about these shows: they are so high-risk. It wasn’t your fault, it was the way ITV played it.”
An insider told the Daily Mail: “It was a clear message. Adam is furious and he doesn’t want to tell his story anywhere near ITV.”
The Emmerdale actor failed to appear on several ITV shows since the final, including Good Morning Britain and Loose Women, unlike his campmates Sinitta and Scarlett Moffatt.
He was also absent from the the I’m A Celebrity spin-off, Unpacked, where stars typically appear to discuss their time on the show.
An ITV spokesperson denied the claims, telling The Standard: "Claims suggesting that Adam is ‘blacklisted’ or ‘on the rocks with ITV’ are entirely untrue. This narrative is completely false."
They added to the Mail: “The edit gives a fair and accurate representation of life in camp.
“The duty of care for our contestants is of the utmost importance to us. We have measures in place to ensure celebrities are supported at every stage of the process.
“The production team monitors everyone in camp and if at any time we felt someone overstepped the line of acceptable behaviour, then we would intervene.”
Earlier this week, it was revealed there are no current plans for a third series of I’m A Celebrity: All Stars.
Thomas hit the headlines for his feud with Haye and Bullard in the jungle.
He claimed Haye “broke” him and pushed him to his limits, while boxer Haye, 45, accused him of being a “professional victim”.
Things escalated in the final, with Bullard claiming Thomas dropped “c-bombs” during their argument in the jungle which were not aired, and asking Ant McPartlin and co-host Declan Donnelly for their opinion as they had “front row seats”.
McPartlin disagreed that the exchange was aggressive and said: “No it wasn’t, I was there.”
Thomas responded by saying he took “full responsibility” for his actions and has “nothing but love for Jimmy”, but Haye interrupted the exchange to say: “You’ve got a funny way of showing it.”
He then claimed a lot of footage surrounding Thomas’ behaviour was cut, stating: “We all had banter back and forth, and a lot of it was cut out from their side.”
Haye and Bullard asked their fellow campmates to agree that Thomas had been “abusive, intimidating and aggressive” in his argument with Bullard.
Collins defended Thomas and eventually walked off set alongside Sinitta, with the TOWIE star branding Haye “disgusting”.
Haye is now reportedly planning to sue ITV for millions for causing “irreparable damage” to his brand.
