ITV’s I’m A Celebrity viewers were left disgusted and switched off the show over Nigel Farage’s presence.
Nigel Farage, who is reportedly being paid a whopping £1.5million fee to appear on the show, sparked outrage before the show even started. Minutes into airing, ‘#BoycottImACeleb’ began trending on X – formerly Twitter – as fans criticised the show bosses for giving him a platform.
As Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly returned to front the show, one viewer fumed: “I’ve watched #ImACeleb for 0.5 seconds and Farage’s stupid face and stupid voice already makes me want to turn it off and never watch it again.” Another added: “The sight of HIM is making me want to turn off already #imaceleb.”
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A third wrote: “@Imacelebrity you should be utterly ashamed of yourself for bringing in and paying an obscene amount of money to the disgusting and vile human being @Nigel_Farage Shame on you!” Another branded the signing “vile”.
(Image: ITV)
But Ant and Dec appeared to be ahead of the curve, with the pair hitting out at Farage with a dig as they said: “There’s the man who’s got everyone talking. Nigel Farage. Nigel now, not just known for his controversial political career, he’s also got his own show on GB News.
“Now of course, he won’t be presenting that show over the next three weeks. So we’d like to take this opportunity to apologise to all of GB News viewers,” Dec said.
(Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
While it sounds sincere to begin with, Ant then cheekily added: “Sorry Keith, sorry Linda.”
ITV have responded to the backlash in a statement: “I’m A Celebrity has always featured a diverse cast from all areas of public life and has a history of featuring political figures throughout its 20 years on screen. As with any camp mate, viewers are invited to form their own opinions when the show begins on Sunday.”
(Image: ITV)
It’s not the first time ITV have had a controversial signing, and just last year they pulled in Matt Hancock to appear in the jungle. Farage’s signing came after both Boris Johnson and Liz Truss were rumoured to join the line-up.
I’m A Celebrity airs every day at 9pm on ITV and ITVX
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
