Dean McCullough became the second star to be eliminated from I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here, but was not happy when he was compared to former contestant, Matt Hancock.
The Northern Irish presenter was voted out of the ITV reality show after journalist and Loose Women personality Jane Moore who, on Friday (29 November), became the first celebrity to be eliminated.
The BBC Radio One DJ was a divisive figure during his time in the camp, where he was called out for skipping chores and also sparked a friendly feud with host Ant McPartlin.
McCullough was the public’s go-to celebrity during his time on the show and was voted to take part in seven Bushtucker Trials, one more than former Tory MP, Hancock endured during his stint on the show in 2022.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain on 2 December, Susanna Reid broke the news to McCullough about succeeding Hancock in the number of trials he took part in.
“You were voted for seven trials. That is more than Matt Hancock,” said Reid.
“Oh god! Don’t make that comparison”, said an equally amused and disgusted McCullough.
When asked if he grew to “love” the trials, McCullough said that he grew used to them and the tension surrounding each event, especially after bowing out of ‘The Sinister Sarcophagus’ after just a few seconds.
“I wouldn’t say ‘love’ but you do actually get used to the tension. What you don’t see on telly is that it’s very quiet, it’s all taken very, very seriously and there are so many rules that you’ve got to remember and it’s tense,” he said.
“I was the first one to get out and repeat these trials so over the week I actually got used to it. Now the sand one, I could not have predicted that that was going to happen.
“All I was told was to stand in the box with my hands on the perspex and I might be joined by things in the tomb, so yeah, I wasn’t expecting that at all. But I would actually do it again, I would give it a go… Like anything you just keep doing it, you get used to it, but I don’t think I would say I loved the trials.”
Speaking to Ant and Dec after being eliminated, the presenter said that he “really, really enjoyed” his experience on the show, which was “nothing like he expected it to be”.
When responding to criticism from other campmates, such as Melvin Odoom and Danny Jones, who hit out at him for not pulling his weight, he said: “Don’t come back at me ‘like you’ve not done anything’”.
He added: “I don’t mind breaking the rules a little” when mucking in with the other camp chores.
