Whilst James Haskell started out his I’m A Celeb journey as one of the most popular campmates, fans quickly turned on him as his ‘chivalrous’ behaviour saw him shouting down his fellow campmates and snapping at Kate Garraway and Andrew Maxwell. Unsurprisingly, this criticism saw James making an early exit from the jungle.
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However, fans were surprised by his campmates’ reactions when Ant and Dec announced that he’d got the boot – as both Roman Kemp and Jacqueline Jossa were left in tears. Ian Wright – who became the fifth campmate to leave the following night – claimed that the camp’s heart had been ‘ripped out’.
So whilst James had very much become the ‘villain’ of this year’s camp for many viewers – it seems he was pretty popular amongst his actual campmates! This emotional reaction to James leaving got fans wondering if he had in fact come across badly due to the show’s editing, as his wife Chloe Madeley had suggested.
Now he’s out and can speak for himself, James has responded to the criticisms of his behaviour, telling Holly and Phil on This Morning: ‘I always try to do what’s best for everybody. I ended up taking on a leader role, not intentionally but sometimes you’ve got to make tough decisions. It was absolutely nothing and I just think it’s a shame that it came across as anything else.’
However, some viewers weren’t convinced by James explanations for his behaviour – as he also claimed that he didn’t know I’m A Celeb was a competition – saying ‘I wasn’t aware before I went in that there were a King and Queen of the jungle, I didn’t know about that competitive element.’ Really, James? Have you not watched the show for the past 20 years?!