I’m A Celebrity viewers had one winner in mind for the ITV series, after a clash with Nigel Farage in camp.
One star of the 2023 series wasted no time in calling out Farage over Brexit, leading to several of their co-stars suddenly walking away to avoid the awkward clash. Fred Sirieix questioned Farage over "his part" in Brexit, before telling him his campaign was "shameful".
Viewers watching the moment unfold were quick to praise the First Dates star, calling for him to win the whole series. Fred told his campmate that the average person had "lost out" now we were no longer part of the EU, but Farage insisted "they haven't lost out" despite multiple problems for the country since it left.
Fred asked Farage: “What’s the benefit of Brexit then? If you are an average person from Britain, what’s the benefit?” Farage said: “To know that we’re independent, we stand on our own two feet in the world.”
Fred said back: “Brexit was about immigration, I remember your poster. I thought it was shameful what you did Nigel. Shameful.” Farage replied: “Sadly, sadly it was absolutely true. It was a poster showing mass young men moving illegally across borders.”
Fred then said: “But it was about demonising migrants.” Farage replied: “No it wasn’t. In your view it was, but it wasn’t.” To which Fred said: “It’s not only just my view.”
UKIP's controversial "breaking point" anti-EU poster in 2016 showed a long queue of migrants. A number of politicians attacked the 2016 poster, featuring a photo taken in Slovenia, with George Osborne saying at the time it had "echoes" of 1930s literature and was "disgusting and vile".
Farage also said: “Brexit is about one thing and one thing only; being self-governing. We’re in charge. We can get it right, we can make an absolute mess of it but we’re in charge and the people who make those decisions we can hire and fire at elections where they have real power.”
Fred said: “I think the average person in the UK has lost out because of what you’ve done.” Farage said: “They haven’t lost out.” After witnessing the moment air, viewers raced to X, formerly Twitter, to share their thoughts - with many calling for Fred to be this year's winner.
One viewer said: "Fred attacking Nigel about politics, is one of the best moments I’ve seen on reality tv this year. He spoke for the people. Fred to win x." Another commented: "okay Fred to win he is the people’s prince," as a third said: "Fred to win."
A fourth fan wrote: "Fred not hiding his distaste for Farage, my winner," while a fifth said: "When I saw Fred’s name on that line up I knew he was a winner in my eyes. Crown that King!" It comes amid the show facing a loss in ratings after the launch, amid viewers boycotting the series over the inclusion of Farage.
His signing for a reported £1.5million fee in the jungle looks to have backfired for I'm A Celebrity bosses. The opening night's ratings dropped by millions compared to the 2022 ITV series it’s been revealed.
The first show of 2023 pulled in a peak audience of 7.8m and an average of 7m. This was down around 2m on the same show on ITV last year.
It comes as thousands of fans decided to boycott watching the year because of the inclusion of Brexit campaigner Farage. They made their feelings clear on social media where #BoycottImACeleb was trending on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday night.
