I'm a Celebrity, day 7 review:
The new series has yet to take off but Nigel Farage seems to be enjoying it as just another jungle bunny
There was room for a spew on the latest serving of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! as boxing champ Tony Bellew went 12 rounds with the toughest opponent of his career: a glass of blended “Vomit Fruit”. Cringing on the couch at home, sensitive viewers may have felt their stomachs somersault in sympathy.
“It’s not great,” Bellew said with stunning understatement. Watching on, Ant and Dec giggled nervously. Larf turned to barf as Bellew, having just about swallowed the disgusting drink, chundered like a champion. It was unsightly – but, as per I’m A Celeb rules, he had quaffed before he yakked. He kept that precious gold star.
At just 60 minutes, this was one of the season’s most economical helpings to date. Closing in on the first week in the jungle yet another so-so episode also confirmed a few things. First, the new series has yet to take off and the contestants are generally a bland bunch. There’s nobody to boo or cheer. Instead, there is a sense of a show trudging through the motions.
Nigel Farage, though, seems to be enjoying it. Despite suspicions he might prove 2023’s Matt Hancock – the one everybody loves to hate – Nigel Farage is just another jungle bunny.
He provided moral support to Bellew as he participated alongside the bashful bruiser in the “Down Your Sorrows” contest. And he yet again bared all or – or at least a bit – while scrubbing down, to the enduring amusement of Grace Dent. But otherwise, the camp has taken him at face value. There have been few barrages at Farage over his political career.
Instead of Farage, the participant potentially getting on everyone’s nerves is bearded Duracell Bunny Sam Thompson. The Made In Chelsea veteran is a font of happiness and positivity – and it’s starting to grate. The otherwise matey Bellew refused to sit alongside Thompson when the “Home” and “Away” teams were reunited. Meanwhile, Jamie Lynn Spears – Britney’s sister – expressed existential horror at Thompson’s showboating flatulence. As he broke wind yet again, it gave a whole new meaning to “hit me baby one more time.”
He is also getting under the skin of the audience, who have voted for Thompson to participate in the next trial alongside an upset-looking Nella Rose.
Despite the relatively brief hour to play with, there was lots of time – potentially to much – to watch Bellew and Farage vying with 12 disgusting drinks to win dinner stars. It was the Vomit Fruit that broke Bellew. However, he’d already come close to quitting when confronted with blended sheep brain. Meanwhile, Farage’s stiff upper lip did backflips as he got stuck into pureed cow anus.
The other highlight was the “Breakfast of Champions”, which the home team had won the previous night. It was a slap-up meal they sent them punch-drunk with ecstasy, though Fred Sirieix’s plan to use the condiments to spruce up their supper that night was against the rules. Just as well Nigel Farage hadn’t yet rejoined along with the rest of the away team, or he’d have railed against ITV red tape.
The suffering will continue on Sunday as Sam and Nella participate in their underwater challenge. Sam stayed on script by expressing delight. Nella sat there shocked as Ant and Dec revealed that she’d been nominated. One week in, it wasn’t getting any easier – or more exciting. ITV will hope, perhaps with increasing desperation, that the series discovers its mojo, sooner rather than later.
