‘There’s a reason ITV has been so anti Jimmy…’: KATIE HIND’S snitches reveal what REALLY happened off camera at explosive I’m A Celeb showdown – as whispers about Adam Thomas refuse to die down
For the nearly three million I’m A Celebrity fans who tuned into the live All Stars finale on Friday night, it was certainly an entertaining – if explosive – watch.
Plunging the evening into more chaos than a snake-infested Bushtucker Trial, former footballer Jimmy Bullard used the opportunity of live TV to call out the show’s winner, Waterloo Road actor Adam Thomas, for his ‘intimidating behaviour’ on set and his repeated use of the ‘c-word’ – scenes which, Bullard raged, had been cut from ITV’s edit of the pre-recorded series.
Things only escalated when Ant McPartlin, hosting the hotly anticipated final alongside Declan Donnelly, attempted to defuse the situation and, to Bullard’s fury, defend champion Thomas. Worst of all for ITV, into the fracas waded boxer David Haye, also a contestant on the show, who accused producers of deliberately manipulating their edit of certain scenes to make Thomas look like a ‘victim’ so the public would support him and ultimately vote him King of the Jungle.
It was all rather unseemly, leaving a taste more bitter than any kangaroo’s testicle. But that, I’m now told, wasn’t even the half of it.
Behind the scenes, sources in the audience at the Versa Studios in Acton, west London, say Ant summed up the evening as ‘a s***show’ – and say the most scurrilous of the action took place during the ad breaks.
While TV audiences saw Ant going head-to-head with a furious Bullard, it was Dec who had what is described to me as ‘a full-on argument’ with the footballer when the cameras weren’t rolling.
‘They were arguing, and that’s when the security guards came in,’ says my snitch. ‘Dec was rowing and Ant stormed off to have a vape, saying what a mess it had all turned into. Those in the audience couldn’t believe it.’
And the arguments weren’t restricted to Bullard and Dec. David Haye was seen tapping Adam on the shoulder, as if he wanted to provoke a row, while the audience chanted ‘bully’ repeatedly at the boxer.
Left to right, Gemma Collins, Jimmy Bullard, Scarlett Moffatt, Ashley Roberts, Adam Thomas, David Haye and Harry Redknapp on I’m a Celebrity… Get me out of here! South Africa
Ant and Dec were forced to play mediators as things got feisty between the contestants
‘David was tapping at Adam’s shoulders apparently to try and get a rise out of him,’ says the source. ‘Ant and Dec were stunned, the whole thing was chaos like you wouldn’t believe.’
Not to be outdone by the men, 80s singer Sinitta and reality star Gemma Collins, who were both appearing in the jungle, also had an argument and fled the stage.
Despite winning the show, Adam left with his wife Caroline and older brother Ryan when the cameras stopped rolling – and did not appear on the spin-off show.
That the finale has proved so controversial will not have come as a surprise to fans or, indeed, its producers. Only on Thursday, Dec had joked during ITV’s showcase event at the British Design Museum, that he planned to bring a ‘red card, a yellow card, and a whistle’, to the final.
Their time in the camp was recorded in autumn last year and it has emerged since that Bullard and Thomas had a furious row during filming, and that it was unclear whether they would even agree to appear together.
In scenes broadcast last Tuesday, the pair clashed after Bullard failed a Bushtucker Trial, launching Adam into a rage. But the fact that ITV failed to broadcast much of it had clearly irked Bullard further.
On Friday’s show, he told his fellow jungle celebs: ‘Adam and all of you can be upset with me. And I absolutely threw him under the bus, I get it, I’ll wear that, but what I don’t stand for is someone being abusive, aggressive and intimidating. You didn’t show none of the C-bombs, that’s a liberty!’
Ant explained that the foul language had been ‘unbroadcastable’, and said he did not believe Adam had acted in an intimidating way.
Gemma Collins also fled the stage after getting into an argument with Eighties singer Sinitta
Adam Thomas was crowned the winner of the second series of the South African version of the show
Sources close to Bullard say he is ‘furious’ that ITV have appeared to come down on Adam’s side
Sources close to Bullard say he is ‘furious’ that ITV have appeared to come down on Adam’s side. Footage after the live broadcast appeared to show him attempting to take Ant to task again once filming had ended, prompting security to intervene. But viewers, too, have been left bemused by Ant’s determination to stand up for Adam, despite what was clearly a foul-mouthed incident.
And for that, some people may think there is a rather thorny explanation that lays bare the connections between agents and the powerful people who head television networks. In Adam’s case, his agent is Madison Lygo – daughter of ITV’s managing director of media and entertainment Kevin Lygo, who oversees all content commissioning across genres at the broadcaster.
That connection has caused Bullard and his supporters additional fury, and while they appreciate the understandable reasons for not broadcasting the full row, even with the more offensive words bleeped out, they believe the link between Lygo and Adam was behind ITV’s decision not to air his expletive-strewn rant.
ITV has denied any favouritism took place. A friend of the ex-Fulham star said: ‘It was so blatant, the moves to protect Adam have been so obvious. Surely the last thing Mr Lygo would want is to damage the reputation of his daughter’s star client, so of course they cut out his aggressive behaviour.’
Friday night’s show is the first time the spin-off series – that sees previous I’m A Celeb contestants return to compete for an ‘ultimate champion’ crown – has involved a live show. ITV bosses were so nervous about it, I can reveal, that they refused to disclose the location where the show was to be held.
I also hear there are mixed feelings over whether the series was a success. Some at ITV are thrilled it has prompted so many column inches, but others are ‘deeply fearful’ that things became ‘dark’. Fans, of course, will be hoping it can return to being the light entertainment show they know and love.
An ITV spokesperson said: ‘Dec did not argue with Jimmy in the break. As is standard for a live broadcast, we had specific security measures in place, including security guards.
‘It is incorrect to say that Gemma and Sinitta had a fallout. As viewers will have seen from the ITV2 show, Gemma and Sinitta had an open and honest conversation, and were soon hugging it out on the sofa next to each other. Ant did not say, “What a s***show”.’
