Dean McCullough has been criticised by his fellow I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! contestants for never doing any chores in camp.
The Radio 1 presenter, 32, had been tasked with collecting water each day alongside Melvin Odoom, but routinely vanishes every time the task needs completing.
Odoom, 44, told his campmates on Wednesday’s episode (27 November) that water duties had been a “lone man situation” for him as McCullough is “very good at disappearing” whenever there’s work to do.
When McCullough was eventually located and tasked with carrying one pot of water back to camp, he let his fellow stars know just how much he despised the chore.
“I hate doing the water guys. I’ve said it. I’m just gonna have to hold my hands up,” he complained. “It’s an awful job and I hate it and I don’t want to do it anymore... Guys I can’t. It’s not for me.”
McFly singer Danny Jones, who is currently camp leader alongside former boxer Barry McgGuigan, had little sympathy for McCullough.
“Just get on with it mate,” he replied sternly.
After Odoom encouraged McCullough to continue fetching water and the camp advised him to adopt a positive attitude, he replied: “Look, no beef, no drama, I just hate my job.”
Keeping the conversation friendly, Odoom joked back: “Listen, your new name is Houdini because you like to disappear.”
It is not the first time that McCullough’s efforts during the series have been called into question.
McCullough has been voted to do six Bush Tucker trials by the public so far. However, host Ant McPartlin has been notably unimpressed with the Radio 1 presenter’s performances.
McPartlin told McCullough ahead of one trial: “Dean, I want to have a word with you. What happened yesterday? No stars. What happened the day before? You said ‘I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here.’ You can only change the narrative by sticking with it and getting on with it.”
Unfortunately, the advice didn’t work, with McCullough quitting his next trial early after being covered in fish guts. The radio presenter significantly improved on Monday (25 November), earning 10 stars for the camp.
Reflecting on the way he had spoken to McCullough, McPartlin said: “My annoyance came across on screen and I was quite unprofessional. You get to the point where you’re like, ‘What are you doing?’”
The presenter said he “got quite annoyed at one point”, admitting that he thought to himself: “If you can’t do it, you can’t do it, but just get on with it – just try it.”
“If it is physically impossible or you find it physically hard, that’s fine – but at least try,” McPartlin continued, adding: “There was a lot of not trying for quite a few minutes until they started to try and then they ran out of time.”
New episodes of I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! air on ITV1 and ITVX every night at 9pm.
