Ant and Dec have reportedly said the Australian jungle should be a place to escape Westminster bickering and backed a year of I’m a Celebrity… without politicians.
Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage is currently starring on the ITV series after Matthew Hancock took unscheduled time out from his role as a Tory MP to take part last year.
The controversy surrounding their appearances and subsequent arguments among celebrity contestants has led to presenters Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly calling time.
“I think we do a year without any politicians,” Donnelly told the Mail Online on Sunday.
“Agreed, agreed, agreed,” added McPartlin.
Already in 2023, Jamie Lynn Spears has left on medical grounds, with Grace Dent succumbing to a similar fate.
It means Farage survives to argue another day but the far-right champion is far from the first spiky politician to have appeared on the series, which is now in its 23rd standard series.
How many politicians have starred on I'm a Celebrity?
Robert Kilroy-Silk - 2008
The Labour MP from the 1970s and 1980s later joined UKIP and promoted Euroscepticism in Britain. While he won votes at the ballot box, he was less successful on TV and exited at the first round in 2008.
Brian Paddick - 2008
The now Lord Paddick, as he is now known, was a top ranking police officer but joined the Liberal Democrats and later became a Lord. In 2023, he became non-executive advisor for the Metropolitan Police in 2023. He survived five eliminations before getting the boot on I’m a Celebrity… in 2008.
Lembit Öpik - 2010
The Lib Dem was an MP from 1997 to 2010 but possibly equally as famous for his relationship with Gabriela Irimia of The Cheeky Girls. He was the third to be voted out.
Nadine Dorries - 2012
Then known more as an author, Dorries had been a Tory MP since 2005 but only became a household name under Boris Johnson’s premiership. She was the first to be eliminated in 2012 but not before she had eaten an ostrich anus, a camel’s toe, and testicles.
Edwina Currie - 2014
The Conservative grandee had not been an MP since 1997 and was a figure under Thatcher’s years but there she was in 2014 alongside Gemma Collins and Tinchy Stryder.
She said: “Whenever anyone asks me [why I did it], I say there is only one answer: money. That is why you do it. But they did not pay me enough – I reckon I was worth twice as much.”
Kezia Dugdale - 2017
By 2017 politicians were becoming more commonly spotted in the jungle. Former Scottish Labour leader Dugdale took time out to compete but her party did not suspend her, perhaps because she ended up being the second to be voted out.
Stanley Johnson - 2017
Johnson Sr was an MEP from 1979-1984 but by 2017 was more famous for the careers of his sons Jo and Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson. He set a record of being, at 82, the oldest contestant but was the fifth to be eliminated - a few weeks after Dugdale.
Right back where we started pic.twitter.com/TMkodLGNN7
— Ava-Santina (@AvaSantina) November 27, 2022
Matthew Hancock - 2022
Having started 2021 as the Conservative Health Secretary, he finished 2022 suspended from the party when he went on I’m a Celebrity. A catalyst in his demise was Gina Coladangelo, his former aide, whom Hancock was seen breaching his own social distancing guidelines to kiss in 2021. Coladangelo was there at the end of the show in 2022.
Nigel Farage - 2023
Farage took a reported £1.5 million to appear on I’m a Celebrity this year despite protests from fans and arguments with contestants. He is, as of Monday, at 7/1 to win.
