I’m A Celebrity 2017 contestant Jack Maynard apologises after coming under fire for racist and homophobic tweets

I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here contestant Jack Maynard has been forced to apologise after a series of tweets he wrote containing racist and homophobic slurs were unearthed.

In the posts, which date from between 2011 and 2013, the vlogger repeatedly used the n-word, the insult ‘retarded’ and referred to other users as ‘f******’.

One alleged tweet read: “Nandos & film with my n***** #CantSayNo”.

Another post said: “Yeah alright then… Completely forgot you know how I got it YOU RETARDED F******”.

He also tweeted: “Hahaha shutup you f*****… By the way who hit you with a shovel?”

In a statement, a representative for Maynard said the YouTuber was ‘ashamed’ of the offensive language used.

“Jack is ashamed of what he said in these tweets, many of which were deleted a long time ago and were sent in response to a neighbour who was bullying him,” they said.

“Jack was a lot younger when he posted them in 2012, but realises that age is no defence. He would never use that language now and realises that, as someone who was bullied himself, this kind of retaliatory, insulting language is completely unacceptable.”

The star’s future on the ITV reality show looks to be safe for now as a spokesperson for the broadcaster said: “Jack has issued a full apology and has deleted the tweets that he sent.”

Maynard, who has over one million subscribers on YouTube and and 642,000 followers on Twitter, is the first social media influencer to appear on I’m A Celeb.

Other stars joining him in the jungle this year include Boris Johnson’s father Stanley, Made in Chelsea regular Georgia Toffolo, Coronation Street actress Jennie McAlpine and boxer Amir Khan.

I’m A Celebrity continues Monday, November 20 at 9pm on ITV.