For 25 years it’s been a crucial element of I’m A Celebrity – the public can vote to watch their least favourite contestant squirm as they endure gruelling Bushtucker Trials.
But in a major shake up to the ITV show’s format, the Mail can reveal bosses have implemented a new rule that if a celebrity has been voted for two trials in a row, they are exempt from the following lot.
A TV source told this newspaper: ‘It will be really good for the show. When celebrities get voted over and over again, it can be quite upsetting for them, the public gets bored or annoyed and the other contestants were becoming increasingly frustrated at missing out on air time.’
Another insider advised it was a ploy by ITV bosses to put a stop to the British public incessantly ‘toxically targeting’ celebrities who they took a dislike to which was ‘eroding’ the family friendly atmosphere of the beloved show.
Last year, the BBC radio host Dean McCullough, 33, was voted for seven consecutive Bushtucker Trials, such as lying in dark spaces with spiders, for his inability to get stars.
Dean McCullough was last year targeted by viewers and voted for seven trials in a row which prompted fans to call for a shake up in the show’s format and ITV bosses done so
Ant McPartlin weighed in and directly appealed to viewers to stop voting for Dean to take part in trials last year and admitted it was ‘unprofessional’
It comes after Ant admitted that he was ‘unprofessional’ last year, after seeing Dean win just four stars in his third trial, before quitting
But the volume of trials he endured divided viewers with many growing tired of seeing him attempt them and called for other celebrities to get screen time.
Sharing their thoughts on X after it was confirmed that he would take on his sixth trial, fans of the show said producers should implement a ‘trial limit.’
The wrote: ‘It’s not funny seeing Dean do another trial. Please #ImACeleb start introducing 3 trials strike and let someone else have a go’; ‘I love Im a Celeb, but it makes the show boring having the same person doing the trials! To much airtime. Give others a chance’; ‘It’s literally killing the show tbh.’
The show’s longtime host, Ant McPartlin, even weighed in on the situation that he ‘got quite annoyed at one point’ and said during a show: ‘If you can’t do it, you can’t do it, but just get on with it – just try it.’
He later apologised for the outburst, admitting it was ‘unprofessional’ and that he ‘let my annoyance come across on screen’.
Viewers complained that it meant celebrities such as the BBC One radio presenter Melvin Odoom and Coronation Street star Alan Halsall had a ‘criminal lack of airtime’.
Reform leader, Nigel Farage, notoriously revealed his game plan while on the show in 2023, admitting that he wanted to be voted for trials because it means ’25 percent airtime’.
An ITV spokesperson said: ‘Celebrities all want the opportunity to take on a Bushtucker Trial and bring home stars for camp
‘Viewers would much prefer to see different celebrities take on the iconic Bushtucker Trials as opposed to the same person every day.’
