ITV insiders have branded Nigel Farage a waste of money – because he is so boring in the jungle.
Members of the production crew say the Brexit campaigner has been an expensive flop, having been paid up to a reported £1.5 million to sign up for I’m A Celebrity. Show bosses are understood to be tearing their hair out trying to find footage of Farage where he doesn’t talk about politics – with some crew working on the show in Australia branding him dull and a waste of money.
A senior TV source said: “People I know working on the show think Farage is one of the least interesting campmates ever. He is very boring and producers have struggled with fun storylines to show a different side to him. He’s good for Brexit and culture wars stuff, but outside of that, the local wildlife is more entertaining than he is.
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“One example is a few of them were talking about their favourite movies and he couldn’t come up with a single one! Politics is his life and basically outside of that he’s got no personality.”
GB News, where Farage works, had claimed last week he was being airbrushed out of the show and a conversation about Donald Trump had not been aired. But ITV bosses are thought to be keen to try to keep the show light and fun, which means it won’t air political chat every night.
And so this means footage of Farage in a meaningful or funny conversation is a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack. Over the weekend his two main conversations were about the House of Lords and then blaming “European greed” for overfishing of the seas.
Producers managed to find one brief scene which was not political, but this mainly consisted of the other campmates sunbathing and joking Farage had one of his nipples pierced. Nigel responded: “What are you talking about? Of course I f***ing haven’t.”
Other non-political footage has not featured him talking at all, but instead was of his bare bottom in the shower near the start of the series. Perhaps aware of his own limitations at conversation outside of politics, Farage has been keen to take part in trials, telling fellow celebs it is 25% of the airtime.
A backlash around the decision to sign Farage up, given the divisive nature of some of his politics in the past, also appears to have given the show hosts Ant and Dec something to think about. It’s been revealed they are keen for I’m A Celebrity not to feature a politician next year after Garage and former Health Secretary Matt Hancock arguably have made the series too controversial and ITV have seen a drop in the show’s ratings.
Dec said: “I think we should do a year without any politicians. Let’s put that motion through.” Ant quickly added: “AGREED! Agreed.”
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Responding to this on ITV, Lorraine Kelly said on Monday (December 4): “Ant and Dec made it clear who they don’t want in camp next year, it’s an interesting one. They’re astute those two, they know what works and what doesn’t. I think it hasn’t quite worked this year as they thought it might for their big money signing, who has not delivered, as we know.”
Many fans of the show were also upset that former health secretary Matt Hancock was paid £320,000 to go into the jungle whilst he was a working MP in 2022. Asked to comment on Farage being boring in camp, an ITV spokesman said: “We’re a 60-75 minute Entertainment show. It is always our intention to produce a show that is a fair and accurate representation of life in camp.”
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