Bushtucker trials shared among jungle celebrities

New rule aims to stop stars hogging limelight

- TOM BRYANT

I'M a Celebrity bosses are clamping down on their stars doing repeated bushtucker trials after gripes some were hogging the limelight.

Contestants voted to do them by ITV viewers will be limited to two in a row.

Insiders claim it gives more celebs the chance to shine on the show and endear themselves to the public, who ultimately decide who is King or Queen of the Jungle.

But it also comes after a furore last year when Radio 1 DJ Dean McCullough, 33, was voted to do seven bushtucker trials two of which he ended early.

Even Ant McPartlin expressed his frustration with Dean repeatedly being put up for trial, saying: "Who's still voting for Dean, I don't get it. We aren't getting to know the others."

At the time, some fans were convinced he was faking his tears. Dean later insisted they were "100% real".

Reform politician Nigel Farage, 61, who finished third in the 2023 series, has previously complained the contestants doing challenges got "25% of the airtime".

He was locked in a box of snakes for his final bushtucker trial to win food for the camp.

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The rule change will also effectively stop viewers targeting celebrities.

Stars such as Corrie's Helen Flanagan and self-proclaimed TV health guru Gillian McKeith were repeatedly picked on by voters keen to see them suffer in trials.