- Ant and Dec reunited with Kelly Brook on I’m A Celebrity after a 16-year feud
- Kelly faced tough challenges and trials from the off, but it seems all is rosy between her and the hosts for now
- The feud stemmed from Kelly’s brief stint as a Britain’s Got Talent judge in 2009
Following a feud that dates back 16 years, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have finally reunited with Kelly Brook, with the world watching.
Tonight saw the presenter and model enter the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! jungle with an interesting lineup of fellow campmates, including Ruby Wax, Martin Kemp, Aitch, Lisa Riley, Jack Osbourne, and more.
Kelly, 45, had no choice but to face her fears from the off, debuting on the reality show in style by skydiving before wading through offal and slime to win seats in a getaway car.
Alas, Kelly was unsuccessful in her challenge, meaning she, Martin, and EastEnders actress Shona McGarty were transported to camp via the dreaded Cockie Van, driven by returning character Kiosk Kev.
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But before she could go anywhere, Kelly had to reunite with hosts Ant and Dec, with whom she had a real war of words in the late 2000s, leaving viewers to predict a frosty atmosphere during I’m A Celeb filming.
Despite ITV sources previously claiming Ant and Dec were keen to address the so-called elephant in the room, and that it might not go down well with Kelly, no such jibes were made tonight.
If anything, the dynamic between them was rather wholesome, as the Geordie duo were on hand with some words of support during Kelly’s ordeal.
As her transportation approached (with a giant cockroach on top), a horrified Kelly squealed: ‘I don’t wanna get in a cock van!’
Ant and Dec were quick to reassure her: ‘It’s a Cockie van, Cockie van.’
Over on X, after the interaction aired, viewers still appeared unconvinced that Kelly and Ant and Dec were suddenly pals.
‘Just realised. Doesn’t Kelly Brook not like Ant and Dec after what happened at Britain’s Got Talent?’, wrote @DanielDm27.
‘Kelly Brook, and Ant & Dec on the same show… Again! What could possibly go wrong? I wonder if Kelly will chat about her very short stint working on #BGT?’, tweeted @Peter_H_Todd.
Predicting fireworks, @andrewmcb wrote: ‘Do people realise Kelly Brook & Ant and Dec have serious beef with each other?’, later joking: ‘I wonder if they’ll find a way to get her out early’.
It remains to be seen whether Ant or Dec will bring up their beef with Kelly during her I’m A Celeb stint, but it has been suggested that the radio broadcaster has been gearing up to make ‘great television’, as she ‘doesn’t forget’ those who have wronged her.
Kelly’s rift with the award-winning pair began in 2009 when she joined Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan, and Amanda Holden on the Britain’s Got Talent panel as its first fourth judge, a lineup that was later permanently adopted when Alesha Dixon joined.
At the time, however, it was a very new thing, and Kelly didn’t last long behind the desk.
Her departure was initially explained by boss Simon as the four-judge format simply not working.
However, Kelly later revealed that she was told Ant and Dec, who have hosted BGT since its inception, had a hand in her axing.
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.’
It has since been alleged that she felt the hosts were ‘sneering’ at her for being a former Page 3 girl, believing she ‘didn’t have any talent’.
Addressing what has since been branded ‘the Kelly problem’ in their memoir, Ant and Dec had plenty to say.
On the reality of the situation, Dec penned in their 2009 book, Ooh! What a Lovely Pair: Our Story: ‘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.’
The two added that ‘no one could give [them] a good reason why Kelly was on board’ in the first place, and they ‘didn’t agree’ personally with Simon’s choice to hire Kelly.
It won’t shock you to learn they haven’t worked with her since… well, until now. And only time will tell whether Kelly – who was ‘upset’ by the treatment she received in the past – wants to open old wounds and have her say before the nation.
I’m A Celebrity continues tomorrow at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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