Joel Dommett made an awkward joke about his leaked sex tape on last night's episode of I'm A Celebrity... Unpacked.
The 39-year-old TV host and comic was catfished nine years ago when an internet user claiming to be a woman convinced him to perform a sex act online. Thinking he was having 'Skype sex', Joel was in fact secretly filmed while pleasuring himself. And the video went on to be leaked online a week before he headed into the jungle himself as a contestant on the 2016 series.
But proving he can laugh about it now, he opened the show by saying: "Welcome back to Unpacked everybody! The Face Invaders trial was so good tonight. We've had so many messages about celebrities screwing up their faces and moaning whilst making suggestive hand motions." He then joked: "But enough about my online content!"
Though Joel feared for his career at the time the solo sex tape was leaked by catfishing criminals who had demanded money to keep it off the internet, it went from strength to strength. He's since hosted some of the biggest programmes on TV, such as The Masked Singer, I'm A Celebrity and the National Television Awards.
Image:
ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Explaining what happened during his time in the jungle, Joel told footballer Wayne Bridge: "We're just all human beings and sometimes you just happen to get caught masturbating on the internet!" Opening up about the naked snaps of himself, he told his fellow campmates: "They're easy to find on the Internet, I was catfished."
In a story that shocked his fellow celebs, Joel owned the unfortunate experience as he shared: "Basically someone messaged me online and after a while she said did you want Skype sex, so I was like yes, I was so naive. I messaged a few weeks later and she didn’t reply and then a few years later the video was released online - it was released about a week before I came in here."
He added: “I thought I was having SKYPE sex with someone but it was actually a video and it turned out it was someone watching me, watching porn, a porno gogglebox." Joel revealed before entering the jungle that the police had been called to investigate the matter, though it's not known if anyone was ever brought to justice over the video.
Image:
@joeldommett/Instagram)Image:
WireImage)Opening up to the BBC, Joel revealed how he had just got out of a two-year relationship and was dipping his toe back into the dating pool - before meeting model wife Hannah Cooper, who he shares one-year-old son Wilde with - when he fell victim to the scam.
After the video was filmed he was contacted on X, formerly known as Twitter, by an account called ‘@CelebbustedUK’. In the biog it says, “If we follow you, we have naked pictures of you”. Joel didn't click at first how they would have naked pictures of him, but then the penny dropped.
Joel has since revealed how he was able to turn his situation around - and is now an unlikely agony uncle for people who have unwittingly found themselves in the same situation, famous or not.
He told the Daily Mail: "The way I see it is the more you hide, the more there is to find out. So instead of me going, ‘Oh, no, this is the worst thing that ever happened to me,’ I was like, ‘This could be a funny show.’ I was the victim and I still get people messaging me saying, ‘This has happened to me. What should I do?’ My advice is separate yourself from it. Although you’ve been a victim you have to try to laugh it off because it doesn’t help to dwell on it.”
Do you have a story to share? Email me at katie.wilson01@reachplc.com
Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads