ITV has a plan to deal with Ant and Dec’s ‘Kelly Brook problem’

As we get closer to watching famous campmates get to grips with jungle life in I’m A Celebrity, there’s one star who might have a trickier time than others.

But bosses are said to have a plan for tackling an anticipated frosty atmosphere.

Kelly Brook and hosts Ant and Dec are potentially set for an awkward reunion due to their alleged feud dating back decades.

In 2009, Kelly was a fourth judge on Britain’s Got Talent, but she left the show after just days behind the desk.

Simon Cowell put her exit down to the four-judge format not working at the time – but Kelly says she was told Ant and Dec had a hand in the matter.

Now, there is reportedly ‘apprehension’ on both sides about her appearance on I’m a Celeb 2025.

As a result, ITV wants to face what’s been deemed the ‘Kelly problem’ head-on, with sources saying the Geordie duo are considering making a joke of it, rather than ignoring it completely.

Although the Daily Mail’s insiders claim Kelly is ‘unlikely to see the funny side’.

It comes after further sources said Kelly is gearing up to make ‘great television’ with her reunion with the hosts, as she ‘doesn’t forget’ those who have wronged her.

‘Kelly might be all smiles, but underneath, she is a tough, tough woman who doesn’t take well to being crossed,’ a friend of the star said.

‘She thinks Ant and Dec sneered at her for being a Page 3 girl; they didn’t think she had any talent.’

They added that Kelly is ‘a down-to-earth working-class girl’ who ‘hates snobby behaviour’.

‘She’s already been telling journalists she can’t wait to see [Ant and Dec] again.’

According to The Sun, after losing her job on the talent show, Kelly said: ‘The people at ITV were telling me that I had upset Ant and Dec, and that was it.

‘I would love to have stayed on the show. I really felt it was working out. Ant and Dec had never been anything but pleasant to my face, but clearly, they didn’t want me on the show.

‘Their egos are such that they were saying to themselves, “How dare she think she can come on to our show?”, and since then they’ve been very vocal about their displeasure at me being there.’

And now she’s in the jungle, on a show hosted by the two men she reportedly has a difficult history with.

In his memoir, Ooh! What a Lovely Pair: Our Story, Dec addressed the reality of working with Kelly on BGT.

He said about her first day: ‘Kelly looked nervous, so I told her it was going to be great fun and to just relax and enjoy it.

‘She nodded, then looked at me and said, “And what do you do on the show?”

‘I looked at Simon, who was sitting next to me. He turned to Kelly and said, “Kelly, you have seen the show, haven’t you?” To which she replied, “Yeah… well, bits”.

‘I don’t want to sound like an egomaniac, but the last person who said, ‘And what do you do?’ was the Queen when I met her at the party for ITV’s fiftieth anniversary.’

In the book, the pair made it clear how they felt about Kelly being brought on board: ‘Obviously, as hosts of the show, we have to justify that kind of thing to the audience, and no one could give us a good reason why Kelly was on board.

‘The simple answer was that Simon, without talking to anyone, had decided it was a good idea. We didn’t agree.’

Ant and Dec said they ‘felt sorry’ for Kelly after the whole thing didn’t work out. 

But they revealed in their memoir that they were told, ‘it wasn’t anything personal with Kelly; it was just the four judges didn’t work.’ 

A source has told The Sun that how things ended with Kelly on the show was ‘very upsetting’. 

They said about her appearance on I’m A Celebrity: ‘It’s been a long time since they last worked together, so understandably there is apprehension on both sides.

‘Kelly is determined for I’m A Celebrity to be a massive success – in stark contrast to her last experience working with Ant and Dec. It’s nerve-wracking that after such a bitter fallout, they’ll now be working together in such close proximity.’

‘Their painful history won’t be referenced on air – it would be weird and honestly just plain awkward to do so’, the source added in contrast to the latest whispers.

Metro has reached out to ITV, Fremantle, and representatives for Kelly Brook and Ant and Dec.

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! starts on Sunday at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.

A version of this article was first published on November 11, 2025.

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