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I'm A Celeb has now received more than 700 Ofcom complaints

Photo credit: ITV
Photo credit: ITV

From Cosmopolitan

I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here has now received more than 700 Ofcom complaints after being on air for nine days. 724 viewers have so far complained to the broadcasting watchdog, with 200 of those following the second episode.

While Ofcom has yet to confirm what the most recent complaints have been about, the main concerns have been over animal welfare and also claims that the celebrities could prepare for trials.

Episode two saw Shane Richie and Radio One DJ Jordan North compete in the Viper Vault Trial, where they were each locked in a box with 30 snakes.

The RSPCA previously released a statement about the treatment of animals on the show, saying: "Since I'm a Celebrity was first aired, animals have been dropped, thrown, handled roughly, crushed, chased, overcrowded, scared by contestants and prevented from escaping from stressful experiences. There have also been incidents where animals have been killed for no other purpose than entertainment."

Responding, a show spokesperson explained: "I'm a Celebrity complies with animal welfare law concerning the use of animals and we are proud of our exemplary production practices. We have a long working relationship with the RSPCA in New South Wales, Australia and as such contacted their counterparts some months ago when we knew that the programme would be made in the UK, with a view to working collaboratively with them."

This year's series had barely been on air for 48 hours before it received a raft of complaints from viewers. On the first episode, Jordan was told he had to abseil down a cliff in order to rescue the team's kit for the first night in camp.

The DJ, who is terrified of heights, ended up vomiting in the bushes before bravely facing his fears and joining up with the rest of the contestants. After watching the scenes, 37 people contacted Ofcom about it, while another 42 contacted the regulator regarding the treatment of animals on the show.

"Ofcom has received a total of 79 complaints for last night’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! of which 37 related to scenes of Jordan vomiting and 18 related to non-specific animal welfare," an Ofcom spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, this year's first show received a record number of viewers, with a peak of 12 million people tuning in to see the new set up after the ITV series moved from Australia to North Wales due to the pandemic.

Watch I'm A Celeb tonight on ITV at 9pm.

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