Kim Woodburn has hit out – demanding that I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! bosses fill the jungle with celebs and her comments might leave GK Barry - who's better known for her TikTok antics - feeling a little awkward.
In recent years, the programme has faced backlash over the line-up of stars entering the Australian jungle in a bid to be crowned King or Queen of the camp. Last year, YouTube content creator Nella Rose found herself on the show alongside the likes of Nigel Farage MP, Sam Thompson, Marvin Humes and Jamie Lynn Spears.
This year, TikTok creator GK Barry, whose real name is Grace Keeling, will be joining the likes of Coleen Rooney, Tulisa Contostavlos, Jane Moore, Oti Mabuse and Danny Jones. But while GK has amassed a huge online following, Kim, who placed second in 2009, losing out to Gino D'Acampo firmly believes that it's time the show was filled with a string of household names again.
However, the 82-year-old believes that the programme is lacking big names due to a lack of cash. It's reported that Coleen has walked away with a record breaking fee, surpassing Farage who was paid a whopping £1.5 million for his stint – the highest the show has ever coughed up for a famous face.
Image:
Ken McKay/ITV)Image:
ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, Kim said: "It's called I'm A Celebrity... so they must put celebrities in! I'm not downing someone that's starting out in the business, we've all got to start somewhere but we're not interested in a person we've never seen before doing trials.
"They're not an interest to us. When they had all the very well known people, I'd say 'I wonder', you want to see how a well known personality you've watched for years is going to cope when they're being terrified. When it's somebody unknown, you think 'I don't even know that person,' it's not because I'm downing unknown people – it is called I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! so can we please have celebrities, can we please have that? They can't afford it, they can't."
During our chat hosted by WhichBingo.co.uk, Kim went on to explain that budgets are "not what they used to be". "The more television channels that have come on these last few years, they're destroying it," she said. The How Clean Is Your House? legend commented that TV bosses are now "limited" in who they can pay to go onto the show. "If they want the shows to continue, they've got to have people that are rather un known, unfortunately," she commented, adding: "The show may be just as good – but it's never as good when it's someone you know being tortured. We're rotten beggars aren't we."
Kim went on to add: "It's not like when I was in, in my day. There were so few channels, they could splash out – they can't now. There are many stars on television, you'll seen an unknown, they'll have been on TOWIE [The Only Way Is Essex] or something – you see the show and think 'Why?' some do well, some are trained and some can't do it."
But the presenter who has since become a hit on social media fumed that if bosses are no longer going to place well known names into the show "don't put it on!" She added: "It'll continue like this, it's not going to get any better."
Follow Mirror Celebs onTikTok,Snapchat,Instagram,Twitter,Facebook,YouTubeandThreads.
English (US) ·