I'm A Celeb winner accuses bosses of 'torturing' stars with show shake-up

I'm A Celebrity's first ever winner has said that Bushtucker trials are "like torture" in comparison to how they used to be years ago.

Radio DJ Tony Blackburn won the ITV show back in 2002 when stars "didn't know what to expect" or anticipate how popular the programme would become.

Referring to the challenges in his series appearing "sedate in comparison", he said that the show is "much more intimidating and tougher now".

"When I joined series one of the show back in 2002, it was an experiment in reality TV," he said.

"The show has developed massively over the decades, but some of the challenges remain the same," Tony told The Sun.

I'm A Celeb's first winner Tony Blackburn has said the trials used to be easier (Cameron Laird/REX/Shutterstock)

He said that the trials now are akin to torture (Cameron Laird/REX/Shutterstock)

"There will always be the hunger, sleep deprivation and boredom, and there’s very little privacy from the cameras. Our bushtucker trials were very sedate in comparison though. Now it's like torture.

"Watching celebrities put themselves through hell is one of the show's highlights, but they are far more intimidating and tougher now than they were – and it's all in the name of entertainment."

It comes after disgraced former Health Secretary Matt Hancock controversially made it to the final of the show last month.

Matt Hancock controversially made it to this year's final (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Following the stars' exit from the jungle, rumours of a feud have emerged after reports that one campmate has been left out of the WhatsApp group.

A Place In The Sun star Scarlette Douglas revealed that Mike Tindall is an admin of the group and appears to have not invited Matt Hancock into the group.

She said: "I’m not the admin of that WhatsApp group so if Mike wants to invite him he absolutely can, but it’s not me to put the invitation out so we’ll see what happens. He might be busy you never know, he’s doing a lot of stuff, he’s got a lot of press coming up so he might be too busy."

Hollyoaks' Owen Warner was a runner-up on the show (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Meanwhile Jill Scott also revealed that she hadn't heard from the former Health Secretary since they left Australia.

Appearing on Loose Women, the Lioness said: "“I haven’t had a message off him yet.”

She added: “My knowledge of politics isn’t actually that good so once we got into the jungle and everyone puts the jungle outfits on, we were one team.

"He was going to get the stars, he was feeding us, so I was happy with that.”