Following the dramatic finale of I’m a Celebrity… South Africa 2026, where Adam Thomas was crowned winner after a series full of twists, challenges and emotional highs and lows, the show has once again been thrust into the spotlight.
I’m a Celebrity has provided viewers with some unforgettable moments over the years, including surprise romances, emotional breakthroughs, and headline-making controversies that have kept audiences talking long after the series ended.
Here are some of the best moments from the jungle over the years:
Gillian McKeith ‘faints’
Did she? Didn’t she? We’ll never know.
The nutritionist – who once made a bizarre request for unvaxxed men to name the price of their sperm – was nominated for her seventh consecutive Bushtucker Trial.
It ultimately got too much for the Scot, as she stumbled to the floor and “passed out” on live TV.
At least it gave medic Bob some much-deserved airtime.
Gino D’Acampo cooks up a controversy
Gino D’Acampo may have won series nine of I’m a Celebrity, but he certainly stirred up a storm along the way. The lack of food in camp prompted the celebrity chef to get creative, making a rat risotto with a wild rat he stumbled across in the jungle.
Chief Inspector David Oshannessy, of the New South Wales RSPCA, said at the time: “The allegation is that an animal was cruelly treated on the set.
“It was a rat that was killed.
“There is a code of conduct in New South Wales that dictates how animals can be used. The killing of a rat for a performance is not acceptable.”
ITV were later fined for the incident.
Gemma Collins vs helicopter ride
Gemma Collins got off to an eventful start in 2014, after refusing to face the first hurdle – the helicopter ride.
“Can you stop a minute please, I’m serious, just stop,” she said. “I need to get out, seriously I’m going to be sick, I can’t do it, no way.”
Once she came back down to earth, Gemma comically explained: “It’s like the turtle and the rabbit, or the horse and the rabbit, I can’t remember what it was … but the slowest one won in the end.”
…We think she meant the tortoise and the hare.
Lady C rages at the washing-up task
Love her or loathe her, Lady C was a force to be reckoned with – and certainly provided viewers with what they wanted.
When the eccentric campmate was faced with one of the lighter tasks, compared to the Bushtucker Trials, she point-blank refused.
“There’s absolutely nothing in this world that would induce me to participate in something that is a complete injustice… You can all just bugger off,” she said.
Katie Price and Peter Andre find love
Enter one of Britain’s biggest TV romances: Katie Price and Peter Andre.
Despite speculation that the relationship was a “showmance”, the pair later tied the knot in a Cinderella-style ceremony, had two children together, and let’s not forget their collaborative rendition of Aladdin’s ‘A Whole New World’.
“Having Pete there in the jungle did make it easier because you’d fall asleep thinking of him and wake up seeing him there,” Price later said.
“If you haven’t clicked with someone in there, I think it’s quite hard and lonely.”
“It was a proper love story and I think me and Pete are the only ones who had kids come out of it.”
The pair divorced four years later.
Joey Essex spots a ‘dragon’
Whenever the former TOWIE star appears on screen, viewers already know there’s likely to be an unintentionally hilarious line or two.
During the show’s thirteenth series, the 31-year-old hadn’t even reached the Bushtucker Trial before encountering an obstacle… “A dragon on the bridge.”
Amir Khan’s and Iain Lee’s strawberry-gate
Now for some serious scandal.
On their way back to camp following a task, Amir Khan came up with the idea to eat their prize winnings – strawberries and cream.
Guilt got the better of Iain, who later confessed to the camp about strawberry-gate – but at first, the rest of the camp thought it was a joke.
“I don’t find it f***ing funny, simple as that,” former footballer Dennis Wise told the Bush Telegraph.
The situation soon became even messier when Amir told campmates that Iain had initiated it.
Jordan North’s ‘happy place’
The BBC Radio One star had to take himself to his happy place to face his fears.
While most would be visualising themselves on a beach or with friends, Jordan’s ‘happy place’ was none other than Burnley FC’s stadium, Turf Moor.
The 2020 I’m a Celeb runner-up won the hearts of the nation – and even that of Burnley Football Club – which led to a giant billboard being erected near the stadium featuring Jordan’s face.
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