November 27th 2024.
Ant and Dec, the beloved hosts of I'm A Celebrity, are facing some backlash for their remarks towards one of the campmates, Reverend Richard Coles. The popular ITV reality series has been back for over a week now and has already captured the hearts of many viewers. In particular, Richard, a 62-year-old Church of England priest, has been gaining a strong fanbase.
However, it seems that Ant and Dec may have rubbed some viewers the wrong way with their jokes about the priest and the Church of England. In fact, the communications regulator, Ofcom, has received a total of 70 complaints about the hosts' "references to the Bible and to the Christian faith," as they told Metro.
During Saturday's episode, Richard and his partner, Maura Higgins, had to take on a grueling Bushtucker trial that involved eating pig's eyes, cockroaches, vomit fruit, and even sheep's brain. While commentating on the challenge, Dec made a joke about offering the priest a cup of tea, saying, "More tea vicar?" Later in the studio, he referred to the trial as "unholy." Ant then added in his own quip, saying "Bum-holey."
But despite the complaints, Ant and Dec didn't hold back in Tuesday night's episode. In one segment, they delivered a mock sermon with the accompaniment of organ pipes, talking about Richard's experience the night before. Dec humorously began, "It's the start of a new day now and the first to wake up was Reverend Richard..." Ant then chimed in, "And though the night before there had been darkness and a plague of insects had been visited upon him. But he had receiveth a small bounty that did taste of cheese. And now, praise be, he did rise again."
Dec then summed it up in his usual blithe manner, saying, "So basically you are saying Richard had a fright, got some crisps, then had a sleep and got out of bed?" To which Ant responded in a mocking accent, "Yes my child." However, this may not sit well with the viewers who have grown to love Richard and his kind nature. He even had a touching conversation with Oti Mabuse, another campmate, about the difficult birth of her daughter who was 10 weeks premature. Richard shared his own personal experience with loss, as his partner David Coles passed away in 2019 at the age of 53.
But it's not all serious and emotional moments for Richard. He also showed his humorous side when he had a chat with another campmate, influencer GK Barry. The two had a candid conversation about their sexuality, with GK asking if it was difficult for Richard to be a gay priest. Richard replied that it wasn't personally difficult for him, but he's happy to have that argument with others. The conversation eventually led to the topic of "scissoring," which Richard admitted he had no clue about and was happy to keep it that way. But that didn't stop him from making his own cheeky comments, as when GK asked him who the most interesting person he's ever met was, Richard replied with a laugh, "Great in bed..." before bursting into laughter.
I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! continues to air every night on ITV1, STV, and ITVX. Do you have a story to share? You can get in touch with the entertainment team at The Agency by emailing us, calling us at 020 3615 2145, or visiting our Submit Stuff page. We would love to hear from you!
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