I'm A Celebrity: Sam Thompson accuses Nigel Farage of throwing him 'under bus' in 'rice-gate' row

What did you miss?

I’m A Celebrity stars Nigel Farage and Sam Thompson locked horns in a cooking row that viewers are gleefully calling “Rice-gate”.

The pair fell out after a mix up about who was supposed to be watching the campers’ meal. The rice ended up getting burned and ruined, leaving Farage and Thompson pointing the finger at each other and Thompson insisting: “Nige threw me right under the bus.”

The drama unfolded in Thursday’s instalment (7 December) of the ITV programme, after Farage was made the sous chef by camp leader Danielle Harold, who has since been eliminated.

What, how, and why?

The former UKIP leader told Made In Chelsea star Thompson: "I’ve put the rice on and it’s reducing slowly. There’s enough water in there for the moment.”

Thompson lay down, saying he could “sort of chill”, and Farage said it “should be fine for a few minutes”.

“Everybody was asleep,” he said in the Bush Telegraph. “I thought, ‘Well look, we’ve got to get the rice on.’ So I put the rice on, the water’s reducing in the rice and soon it’s going to be done.”

Thompson dozed off but when he woke up he was puzzled by the smell, asking: “Why does this smell like it’s burning?”

Farage reminded him that he’d said it was “reducing”, saying: “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. He’s ruined the rice.” He also gave Thompson short shrift when the reality star said he thought Farage “had it”, repeating: “I said to you, it’s reducing.”

“You had one job Sam,” said campmate Tony Bellew. “You’re head chef. You fell asleep on the job.”

The row got everyone talking, with Marvin Humes explaining in the Bush Telegraph: “One’s blaming the other, Sam’s blaming Nigel, Nigel’s blaming Sam.”

Thompson did admit that communication was “lacking” and said that as the chef he would take responsibility. But he still insisted: “Nige threw me right under the bus. I’m almost certain I didn’t hear him say, ‘Can you watch over it?’”

What did viewers say?

Viewers were gripped by the tense scenes – but were divided about who was actually responsible for the rice blunder.

“That burnt rice was Nigel’s fault,” one said on X. “He left it and p***** off! He knew Sam was lying down!”

But another said: “It was Sam’s fault the rice burnt. I wound it back and Nigel asked Sam who was actually the chef to check on the rice after two minutes. Sam fell asleep. So how is it Nigel’s fault?”

“Rice-gate love it !!” said someone else.

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