Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have addressed the I’m a Celebrity all-stars finale furore after McPartlin had a live run-in with contestant Jimmy Bullard – with the host revealing what he said to the contestant in the car park outside.
The hosts – popularly known as Ant and Dec – were forced to step in and, in a rare move, take sides after repeatedly being interrupted by former footballer Bullard and boxer David Haye, who questioned the show’s decision to edit down a row Bullard had with actor Adam Thomas.
Bullard and Thomas locked horns after the former decided to quit the ITV show despite the fact his decision would have sent Thomas home as well. In scenes shot eight months ago, Thomas was infuriated by the move and angrily confronted his campmate, with the fallout spilling into the live final last Friday (24 April).
When Bullard outright asked the presenters if Thomas had been intimidating during their argument, the always impartial McPartlin shocked viewers by telling him: “I didn’t think it was intimidating. I was there. I was there, Jim.”
The presenters have now spoken out on the chaotic finale, which saw them struggle to retain control of the bickering stars – as well as a photo showing an awkward interaction between McPartlin and Bullard after the show had finished recording.
“If you didn’t see the finale on Friday, I bet you read about it,” McPartlin said on the latest episode of their podcast Hanging Out. “The first question was to Jimmy about why did you call ‘I’m a celebrity… get me out of here’ on the night. I said I disagreed with it.”
The pair said they knew tensions were frayed as they had heard that Thomas and fellow contestant, TV personality Gemma Collins, had left a WhatsApp group set up after the show was filmed last year.
McPartlin said he encountered both Bullard and Haye in the car park outside, quipping: “I thought, ‘Oh God, how’s your luck?’
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“I went over to David Haye, and he was like, ‘How brilliant was that? Wasn’t that great?’ And I was like, ‘Well, it was certainly talk-about-TV. I wouldn’t call it great,’ but anyway, we had a laugh and we were cool. And then I walked off and saw Jimmy Bullard, and I just shook his hand and I was like, ‘Look after yourself’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, cheers.’’
He said “there was no confrontation”, adding: “He wasn’t shouting at me, I wasn’t shouting at him.”
Donnelly added that Haye told him: “Hope you get some good ratings for that one.”
It’s been reported that Bullard and Haye are contemplating taking legal action against ITV.
According to The Sun, Bullard wants to sue for unfair representation of his row with Thomas, claiming the actor’s behaviour was “abusive, aggressive and intimidating”. It’s been confirmed that the channel edited out several c-words Thomas used, with McPartlin calling the footage “unbroadcastable” after Bullard to him: “You didn’t show any of the c-bombs, it’s a liberty.”
One person corroborating Bullard’s version of events is former singer Sinitta, who walked off stage at the live final after the crowd started chanting Thomas’s name in support. “It was abusive – you weren’t there,” she told the audience. Thomas eventually won the show.
The Independent has contacted Haye and Bullard for comment.
