Gemma Collins isn’t being paid enough for I’m A Celebrity South Africa

Gemma Collins is already single-handedly making I’m A Celebrity… South Africa one of the standout television moments of 2026.

Whatever she’s being paid, it’s not nearly enough.

The TOWIE star famously walked out of her first appearance of the main series after just three days, back in 2014, breaking down because she was convinced she had malaria. She didn’t.

Since then, she’s firmly established herself, in my mind, as the greatest reality star that ever lived. 

There hasn’t been a single moment when she’s been anything other than a television miracle — from falling within seconds of hitting the rink on Dancing on Ice in 2019 to claiming she saw a ghost in the Celebrity Big Brother house back in 2016.

There is barely a reality TV show left for Gemma to conquer, but there is one where she and viewers have had unfinished business: I’m A Celebrity. We want to see more of her.

For more than a decade, I’ve had to wonder what gems we missed out on because of Gemma’s premature exit form the jungle – and now, finally, those gems have their chance to glisten.

According to Gemma, her diva persona ‘The GC’, has been left behind in the UK, with this stint in South Africa being billed as a chance for viewers to see the ‘real’ her.

And yet, two episodes in, it’s clear ‘The GC’ diva has actually made it into her suitcase – thankfully.

I attended the show’s launch this year, where Gemma waltzed onto the stage and boldly boasted to a room of reporters that she ‘shut it down,’ claiming she was the Lara Croft of the series – without a hint of irony.

So far, we’ve only seen her attempt one trial and pack it in. Though, in her defence, it was an eating one, where she gulped down eight crackers topped with a hideous array of insects. 

Still, she’s already been TV gold: revealing she’s planning four weddings with her fiancé because she can’t decide on a venue, casually bringing up David Haye’s throuple to baffled campmates, and even getting Ant and Dec to sing Bette Midler in a bid to calm her nerves.

Fellow contestant Seann Walsh summed her up perfectly when he said ‘Everything she says sounds like a meme; she speaks in memes.’

And that’s exactly why she’s priceless.

When contestants like Coleen Rooney and Nigel Farage have been paid over £1million to appear on I’m A Celebrity – with the latter even prompting some viewers to switch off – it feels strangely unjust that Gemma was reportedly offered a mere £100,000.

She is, in my eyes, the one name guaranteed to inject life into its spin-off, now that it’s quietly tucked away on ITV2.

But the fee discrepancy goes beyond this.

In 2018, Noel Edmonds entered I’m A Celebrity late and was the first to leave, adding so little to the jungle, yet still walked away with £600,000. He was the highest-paid campmate ever at the time – all for a nine-day stay.

Now that Gemma Collins’ redemption arc is finally here, it’s already obvious that she is worth a seven-figure payday.

If the viral moments keep coming and the show’s ratings climb to the numbers they deserve, they’ll have got there because of Gemma – and Gemma alone.

Not to say the rest of the cast aren’t already an excellent class of I’m A Celebrity giants. 

If viewers come to I’m A Celeb South Africa for the first time to watch Gemma, they’ll stay for Scarlett Moffatt’s one-liners, to witness the eccentric wonder that is Sinitta, and for the adorable charm of Adam Thomas, whose laugh should be bottled and sold as medication.

Big-money signings like Farage might generate headlines, but rarely, if ever, do they bring entertainment value like Gemma.

The Reform leader might have enticed some viewers to watch an episode for the first time just to see him eat a kangaroo testicle, but few will have stayed for the whole series. After one episode, viewing figures for his series fell by two million.

If anything, it felt like he tarnished I’m A Celebrity’s reputation, and many fans still haven’t forgiven the show for partly helping propel him back into Parliament.

Rooney was a great campmate – grounded, maternal, up for a laugh, and finishing second to Danny Jones – but I can’t remember a single standout moment from her time in camp.

TV viewing figures are increasingly losing their value to social media likes and shares. Success is barely measured by overnight ratings anymore, and Gemma is already making this series the most talked-about show on social media with less than an hour of screen time. 

I couldn’t recall a single standout moment from the series before in 2023 – only that it was won by Myleene Klass.

Gemma is both unpredictable and entirely predictable at the same time. Never has anyone been so reliably quotable and completely unfiltered; no one else has managed to work reality television quite like Gemma Collins.

She should be a lesson for the franchise – spend the biggest bucks on personality.

I’m A Celebrity… South Africa airs weeknights at 9pm on ITV2 and is available to stream on ITVX.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

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