Half way through, this series of I’m a Celeb… finds itself in a mini-crisis, as Jamie-Lynn Spears became the second campmate in three days to go home for medical reasons. She followed Grace Dent, who left on Monday (Nella was also made exempt for a trial).
Jamie-Lynn’s farewell was a shame, she had a real story arc: from constant wailing about her kids, to being one of the most chipper members of the group and claiming to have made real friends, except for some lower moments caused by the grimmer parts of the series.
Which begs the question: is the show too gruelling? The peril is what makes it more compelling than other reality shows, but reports earlier this week that wardens had to stop poisonous snakes from getting near sleeping campmates during the night sounded concerning. Later, one of the prizes for a tough challenge was ten stale crisps, and contestants passed around the scraps hungrily. It may have been that low which pushed a fatigued Jamie-Lynn over the edge.
Even Made in Chelsea star Sam Thompson, usually positive to the point of irritating, took a knock when he woke up to find a leech on his bottom after a night in the camp leader’s bus. “That’s dicey” he said to deputy leader, Marvin from JLS. “I felt so violated.” Fred Siriuex was unmoved, saying it was a flesh wound – “a tiny little speckle on his butt… come on mate”. But cheery Sam said he wanted to go home, so we could tell it was bad.
Later, Sam admitted the mood of the camp has got worse in the past two days, leading to downcast faces, and even bickering. Scout leader Nigel Farage and Fred Sirieux from First Dates got cross with some bad hygiene, including spilled suncream. “Camp has descended into total chaos”, Fred said.
The verbal sparring continued as Youtuber Nella Rose was unhappy with Nigel Farage over their cultural appropriation talk the day before. The paid had discussed if it is acceptable for the white men in the camp to sing “water” in a cod-Jamaican accent during a camp performance. That led to further argument over whether wearing Mexican costume was insensitive, with Nella saying it was.
Nigel seemed worried he might be getting criticism at home for joining in the song – campmates can’t read the news while they’re in the jungle – but Nella assured him that wasn’t a problem for her. Instead, she said it was the fact that he seemed to be relishing being a pariah in the culture wars, implying he gets treated differently: “We can say and do whatever we like and not get backlash, but when you do it, you get backlash.”
Nella went on to say they couldn't be friends any more: “We can agree to disagree, but let’s just not be the best of buds, because clearly we’re just from two different sides of the world and you’ll never understand my issues and struggles”. A baffled Nigel said “it’s an age thing as well”, and tried to explain that the idea of cultural appropriation hadn’t existed 30 years ago, before the pair went their separate ways.
Earlier, Nigel had got what he wanted: the chance to do a bushtucker trial, which he has calculated would get him 25% of the air time, and help win over viewers for his next political campaign, whatever that might be. Nige has not been on screen as much as expected in this series, leading some of his GB News die-hard fans to blame a conspiracy, and others to wonder if audiences just find him boring. Whichever it is, Ant and Dec have enjoyed hitting back at GB News’s low viewing figures.
But when it came to the crunch, Nige struggled with the trial. He admitted to feeling uncomfortable in the pool, saying he is “hopeless” with water (“He’s more of a golfer, he’s not a swimmer” said Jodie Gibson). It was left to Nick Pickard from Hollyoaks to successfully dive for stars in a tank, as both men were joined by eels, crocodiles, and a giant frisky python. Nigel tried to go under for his, but couldn't manage, and said “I’m a celebrity get me out of here”.
While it’s fun to have a pop at Farage, and many do – “he always goes with the leave option” said Ant and Dec – he tried hard, and seemed genuinely upset with himself, saying he “let the side down… I feel a complete failure”. At 59, he’s easily the oldest in the camp, and decades of smoking can’t have helped his lung capacity.
Tipped to win: The camp has some impressive sporting pedigree this series in jockey Frankie Dettori and former boxer Tony Bellew. Last night, it was Frankie’s turn to show how big of a deal he is, explaining how feats like winning seven different races in a single day at Ascot in 1996 got him two statues. Could stories like that help him take the crown?
I'm A Celebrity... airs on ITV and ITVX every night at 9pm
