ITV’s annual reality TV juggernaut I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Is having a chequered 23rd season.
Before celebrity campmates even arrived in Australia to experience jungle life, there was criticism over ITV’s decision to pay controversial politician Nigel Farage a reported £1.5million ($1.9m) to participate.
Once everyone was in camp, it was clear Farage intended to use the primetime platform to push his personal agenda. “Never say never,” was his response to questions about his future political plans.
Meanwhile, two miserable contestants left the camp this week “on medical grounds” – Jamie Lynn Spears, sister of Britney, departed having spent much of her time on the show in tears and missing her children, and she was preceded by British food writer Grace Dent.
Now The Sun newspaper reports that ITV has had to issue an apology after the official social media account for the show appeared to “like” a hate comment about YouTuber Nella Rose, another contestant on the show.
Fans had spotted the inappropriate “like” and the broadcaster has scrambled to delete the thread and apologize. ITV said:
“Yesterday we accidentally liked a comment on Instagram while scrolling down through viewer comments.
“The post in question contained unacceptable language about one of our campmates and we apologise for the mistake made and any offence caused.
“We seek to champion all our campmates and would always urge our audience to be kind when commenting on social media.”
Nella Rose has caused controversy herself in this year’s show, arguing with other contestants, including restaurateur Fred Sirieux and Farage, and needing temporary medical intervention herself. But she is a popular presence on YouTube, and is expected to continue in the competition.
Despite all this headline-making controversy, ratings for this year’s series are down on last year’s… and it’s raining.
