This year’s I’m A Celebrity is missing the drama (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
As I watched the I’m A Celebrity campmates get on perfectly, I couldn’t help but feel skeptical.
It’s clear to me, having been in the Jungle myself, that the celebrities this year are being very careful. I do not think that these personalities would, under normal circumstances, compliment each other so harmoniously.
I believe the real raw emotions have not quite boiled into the surface yet, and I don’t know if that makes for great TV.
Viewers like myself want to be entertained and, while it’s refreshing to see the cast get along so well, a good old fashioned blazing row would not go amiss.
I’d even go as far to say, if it wasn’t for the handful of comedic personalities, like witty one-line queens Maura Higgins and GK Barry, the show would be lacking in the entertainment department. They have saved the day.
Even Dean McCullough is failing to bring the drama. I feel like his spat with Alan Halsall was blown out of proportion as they could have asked another campmate to help Jane Moore collect firewood as he was clearly asleep.
The show has changed since I was a campmate in 2010 (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
Dean has been this year’s most controversial campmate so far (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
I can also vouch for Dean that it takes a few minutes to adjust contact lenses once you’ve woken up. I’ve been around that fire and it’s very drying for your eyes making it difficult to see. Everyone was mocking him but there’s truth to what he said.
The onslaught of hostility towards Dean for his attempts at Bushtucker Trials has also been horribly unfair.
The public has no idea what it’s like having hundreds of cockroaches crawling all over your body or being encased in a coffin – but I do and it’s horrific.
If you don’t have a reaction to that kind of suffering then you need to be studied as it’s not normal. I would have to be hypnotised if I ever signed up for I’m A Celebrity again.
The nation’s heart broke when Barry spoke about the death of his daughter (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
Danny spoke openly about living with anxiety on I’m A Celebrity (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
I feel so strongly about this because everyone is against Dean and I feel compelled to help the underdog. I know Ant has urged viewers to stop nominating him for Bushtucker Trials but it’s futile as no one listens to him.
What I have welcomed this year, though, is seeing celebrities’ vulnerable sides. We did not have such frank discussions about our private lives in the jungle in 2010. It’s a sign of the times as mental health is no longer such a taboo.
For example, I had absolutely no idea Danny Jones lived with anxiety. I’ve met him before and never thought for a minute he would be anxious. There also wasn’t a dry eye in my house when Barry McGuigan spoke about his daughter Danika’s death from bowel cancer in 2019 aged 33.
I also really applauded GK Barry and Reverend Richard Cole’s discussion about their sexuality, which will be helpful for a lot of people who might be afraid to be themselves. The message they were sending out was: Just be whatever you want to be and don’t overthink it. It was very powerful, motivating and inspiring.
Richard and Maura have formed a strong bond since joining the jungle as latecomers (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
Richard and GK had an open discussion about their sexuality (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
I hope to see more of their intergenerational friendship as they aren’t represented enough on screen. Same for Richard and Maura. In real life, they would never hang out but I bet they’ll carry on hanging out once I’m A Celebrity ends.
While I’m not fully sold on this year’s I’m A Celebrity, perhaps a likeable cast is a refreshing change. At the very least, I’m glad there are no more politicians on the show. That was a terrible idea. They just don’t belong in the jungle.
It may have been running for 22 years but I still think there’s life in I’m A Celebrity yet – but probably no more than five to 10 years. Then, it will have to become a TikTok show as that is the way the world is heading.
As told to Ruth Lawes