Danny Jones is the epitome of a ‘very nice guy’, he’s simply not a worthy I’m A Celebrity winner (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
For the first time in years, I have been glued to this year’s I’m A Celebrity… Get me Out of Here!.
Just when I felt the series was reaching its expiry date, ITV has gone and pulled an absolute blinder.
True, the format hasn’t changed – Ant and Dec are back for a 23rd year (albeit a little bit moodier which has been refreshing) and the Bushtucker trials are pretty much the same level of horror they’ve always been – but the cast of 2024 is by far the most exciting there’s ever been.
And that’s exactly why I’m worried.
Because while the man many are tipping for King of the Jungle, Danny Jones, is an absolute gem, a gent, the epitome of a ‘very nice guy’, he’s simply not a worthy I’m A Celebrity winner.
Surely we don’t want to have another repeat of Celebrity Big Brother 2016?
That series was a marvel and is still regarded as the greatest reality TV series of all time thanks to its astounding cast – which included some of the greatest personalities of all time in Gemma Collins, Tiffany Pollard and the late David Gest – and so many stand-out moments immortalised in memes.
Viewers booted out Dean McCullough, the camp mate who brought the most drama in the second eviction (Picture: James Gourley/ITV/Shutterstock)
Who can forget Gemma telling Gillian McKeith to ‘f*k off’ or Megan McKenna going ballistic in the Diary Room? And, of course, television’s greatest miracle, ‘David’s dead.’
Everything about that series was perfect, except for its winner: Geordie Shore’s Scotty T.
You’d be forgiven for forgetting he even appeared on Celebrity Big Brother at all, let alone its best series.
Now, I fear for all devoted fans of reality TV that this series of I’m A Celebrity will fall into the same trap and crown the lovable but forgettable Danny Jones its King of The Jungle when he is among the last campmate anyone will remember this series for.
Love him or loathe him, viewers booted out Dean McCullough, the camp mate who brought the most drama in the second eviction, which is almost unheard of on I’m A Celebrity.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
And sure, Danny is a good egg, a great egg in fact, but he’s been backed for victory because he is one fourth of McFly, who have a weirdly high success rate when it comes to reality television.
His bandmate Dougie Poynter won I’m A Celebrity back in 2011, Harry Judd won Strictly Come Dancing the same year, while Danny’s already won The Masked Singer and The Voice UK alongside Tom Fletcher this year.
Granted, Danny hasn’t won a public vote yet but of everyone still left in the jungle, he’s the one with a massive fanbase.
But quite literally every single camp mate left (with the exception of Barry McGuigan and Alan Halsall) deserves the crown more and none more so than Dame Maura Higgins.
With the exception of Olivia Attwood – who was forced to pull out after 48 hours for medical reasons in the 2022 series – Maura is the first Love Island contestant to qualify for the jungle and she is everything I’m A Celebrity has been missing.
It is a cast so full of worthy winners that it would be criminal if Danny was to take the crown (Picture: James Gourley/ITV/Shutterstock)
She is a volcano constantly on the brink of erupting with fabulously foul-language, ready to take on everyone and everything but still manages to be vulnerable with a heart of gold.
She’s ignited a fire into I’m A Celebrity which hasn’t been seen since the show was at its peak, the days of Gillian McKeith conveniently fainting at the mention of Bushtucker trial, or Peter Andre performing his jungle-penned car crash single Insania to actual punk legend Johnny Rotten.
Many I’m A Celebrity viewers won’t have been familiar with Maura until now but anyone lucky enough to have watched her series of Love Island in real time back in 2019 will know she’s not to be messed with and gobbles up weak men for breakfast.
Just ask Tom Walker who questioned if she was ‘all mouth’ and unwittingly created one of the best reality TV queens of all time when she showed him the door.
Speaking to her campmates, Maura revealed the extent she’d go to for revenge recalling the moment she scrubbed a toilet with her cheating ex’s toothbrush.
She is the epitome of girl power, a walking and talking lesson to all women not to take any disrespect. She is everything I wish I had the confidence to be and more.
As much as I’d love Maura to take the crown though, it feels unlikely. Danny is still, according to bookmakers, neck and neck with the show’s most expensive signing ever, Coleen Rooney.
After Maura, Coleen would be my next pick to be Queen of the Jungle. She might not be the loudest campmate but she’s shown class and determination few would have expected from the woman most people know as ‘the wife of Wayne Rooney’ when she’s proven she is so much more.
She’s got so stuck in with zero complaints and given the camp so much warmth even when the rain has drowned out their only fire. She has exceeded all my expectations to be worth every penny of her reported £5,000,000 fee.
And then there’s Reverend Richard Coles and GK Barry who really at this point should be clubbed together after being inseparable for two weeks.
Reverend Richard Coles and GK Barry’s chemistry has been the greatest joy of I’m A Celebrity (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
Their chemistry has been the greatest joy of I’m A Celebrity, and watching a beautiful queer cross-generational friendship blossoming on primetime television every night is more important than they’ve been given credit for.
Let’s not also forget about Oti Mabuse, who was always the best part of Strictly Come Dancing until she quit in 2022. Her laugh and smile are so inexplicably infectious, I can’t think of anyone else who makes people so happy by just having fun.
It is a cast so full of worthy winners that it would be criminal if Danny was to take the crown. I’d even prefer a ‘villain’ claiming victory than the one who played it safe – although this year there really hasn’t been a villain at all.
Danny has been everything he was expected to be – absolutely fine. Maura, Coleen, Oti, GK Barry and Reverend Richard Coles have won so many new fans, and have brought so much more to this series that every single one of them deserves to win.
In years to come, if we remember this series for one camp mate, I can guarantee that camp mate won’t be Danny Jones. Please, pick up the phone and vote for anyone else.
I’m A Celebrity continues tonight at 9pm on ITV.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk.
Share your views in the comments below.