Yahoo News Please, no politicians on I'm a Celebrity next year, say Ant and Dec
Ant and Dec have urged ITV executives for a year “without politicians” on I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here following the appearances of Matt Hancock and Nigel Farage.
The pair, who have presented the ITV show for more than 20 years, were asked on Instagram if prime minister Rishi Sunak should be a campmate.
Dec told viewers: “I think we do a year without any politicians.”
Co-presenter Ant added: “Agreed, agreed, agreed.”
Nigel Farage, the former MEP, is on this year’s show, while ex-health secretary Matt Hancock appeared last year.
ITV declined to comment on the pair’s remarks.
The duo - real names Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly - made the comments during an Instagram livestream with fans on Saturday.
Mr Farage signed up to appear on the show for a reported record fee of £1.5 million.
His supporters have claimed that he is the subject of a “dirty tricks” campaign, starved of airtime because “Lefty producers” disapprove of his politics.
They have accused the broadcaster of trying to paint him in a negative light with the clips they do pick, and of attempting to humiliate the 59-year-old by filming his naked bottom in the jungle shower.
A spokesman for the show has denied that Farage was being treated unfairly or differently to the other contestants, a few of whom have taunted him over his Brexit campaigning since his first appearance in the jungle.
Last week, ITV extended an episode that featured a cultural appropriation row between Mr Farage and campmate Nella Rose, 26, a social media influencer.
The argument saw the GB News presenter butting heads with the Youtube star during a heated exchange that was sparked from a conversation about the Jamaican pronunciation of “water” as “wata”.
Mr Farage told the television presenter Fred Sirieix: “If you sang that, they’d call it cultural appropriation Fred.”
The former politician went on to suggest that a white person could be “cancelled” if they “did a black accent”.
When Miss Rose asked what he meant, Mr Farage replied: “If a white person does a black accent that’s considered to be a crime – that they should be cancelled for it.”
The YouTube star explained that it “depended on the context,” saying: “If you’re taking the p--- then you’re taking the p---. But if you’re not, then you’re not.”
