Nigel Farage threatens 'war' with ITV boss after I'm A Celebrity stint: What went wrong?

Nigel Farage has now even threatened "war" on ITV boss Kevin Lygo after coming out of the I’m A Celebrity jungle - despite loving his experience on the show. So what really went wrong along the way?

The former politician, 59, made the hotly-anticipated ITV jungle show final where he was placed third, Tony Bellew came second and Sam Thompson was crowned King of the Jungle. ITV released the voting figures which revealed the former UKIP leader had no chance of winning the reality show on Sunday. The results saw Thompson take the lead in the initial vote with 43.35% and then Bellew received a knockout 30.87%, compared to 25.78% for Farage.

Back in the real world after his time in the jungle, Farage has now launched an attack on TV bosses when making a return to GB News. He made claims that ITV were making things "unpleasant" for him during his time on the show.

He said: "It seems whilst I was in the Jungle, one or two people at the top of ITV were doing their best to make things unpleasant for me. What I will say to Kevin Lygo, the boss of ITV, it's up to you mate. If you want to go to war with me, you really can."

Farage responded to the claim that Lygo had made a "rude gesture" aimed at him. He further claimed: "So I’m prepared to ignore your rude, one handed gestures. Your pathetic attempt by some of your staff to stitch me up. I’m prepared to forget it all, if you want to call it a truce. But if you really, really want to go to war with me, I don't think it will do ITV's share price an awful lot of good."

Nigel Farage’s airtime row

While he was in the jungle, Farage’s camp claimed he wasn’t getting airtime on the show despite his huge fee for taking part in the programme. GB News claimed: "ITV execs are making a conscious effort to limit Farage’s screen time.”

However, at the time of the claims, ITV rubbished the reports and said in a statement to GB News. It read: “We are a 60-75 minute Entertainment show and the content featured is a fair and accurate representation of life in camp.”

Farage had revealed his obsession with getting airtime on the show as he told his campmates: “If you do the challenges, you get 25% of the airtime.” Times where he wasn’t voted to do the Bushtucker trials, viewers commented on how Farage looked visibly upset.

Nigel Farage’s off camera row with TV bosses

On leaving the jungle, Farage revealed he had a "huge row" with TV bosses over his naked shower scenes. Behind the scenes, the former Brexit Party leader told TV bosses to “go to hell” and had no qualms breaking the show’s strict nudity rule because he said he wanted to keep himself clean.

He told The Sun: "To be told to check yourself and to be told you must keep clean – and then to be told you can’t take your pants off in the shower struck me as contradictory. I had a huge row. I was told in the interest of taste and in respect for the cameramen and women that I shouldn’t be doing this. I said, ‘Go to hell!"

What was Farage paid for I’m A Celebrity?

It was reported that Farage would receive a £1.5m pay cheque for his time on I’m A Celebrity. The former politician defended the huge payout when Susanna Reid grilled him about the £1.5m contract on Good Morning Britain after leaving the jungle.

The former UKIP leader said he lived a "modest" life and was delighted with his pay cheque. He responded: “The money of course! What’s wrong with that? I gave up a very successful career in the city of London. My friends on the rich list and I live a modest life, I gave up for a career in politics. Is this the biggest pay cheque I have ever had? Yes, what’s wrong with that.”

Why do I’m A Celebrity in the first place?

Farage wanted to show there was more to his personality than the "demonised" version of himself in the press. "Given millions hate me, I do expect people will vote for me to do trials,” he admitted ahead of his stint in the jungle. "My crime was to stand against an establishment view and I was for many years the lone voice saying Europe wasn’t where we should be, so I have been a little bit demonised. I am hoping those who hate me might hate me a little bit less afterwards. But it’s a gamble."

He added: "And the idea that somehow the things I represent - mean-spirited, small-minded, nasty, the ‘little Englander’ - all those accusations that have been flung at me over the years just aren’t true. If we can dispel some of those misconceptions, then that will be a good thing too."

Plus, Farage said he wanted to push himself with the appearance on the reality show in the Australian jungle. He said: "I want to test myself. Business, politics, media, I’ve done so many different jobs and generally I have been reasonably successful. But I have never been tested in quite this way. It’s such a mental test and maybe I will discover who I really am."

Also, Matt Hancock had appeared on I’m A Celebrity the year before - and he too came in third place. Ahead of his stint, he said: "I understood why Matt Hancock did it. He went in there with his reputation on the floor. The truth is after the banking issue I raised a few months ago, I was standing up for a million people who had lost their bank accounts, then winning at the TRIC awards, I am going in at a different stage of my career."

Yahoo News has approached ITV and Kevin Lygo’s representative for further comment.

Read more: Nigel Farage

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