I’m a Star… I need to get out of here! Viewers have complained to Ofcom over a remark made by Fred Sirieix to Sam Thompson.
The offending episode of the ITV series had the campmates debating who should participate in the day’s bushtucker hunt.
The participating celebrity would have to compete against ‘Fly on the Wall’ to win stars that would translate into food for the starving camp.
With two campmates required, individuals interested were encouraged to apply, and the group was then faced with reaching a decision collectively.
While Marvin Humes received full approval after putting his hand up, many others, including Fred, 51, and Sam, 31, also indicated interest.
First Dates star Fred made his opinion very clear and insisted he should go, and told eventual King of the Jungle Sam: ‘Don’t worry I’m going. You go play with your toys and we will go and do the men stuff.’
Some of the other celebs were critical of how the choice was made, with EastEnders star Danielle Harold saying it wasn’t fair and boxer Tony Bellow urging everyone to relax.
While the group opted to let Fred have his way, others watching at home were not pleased with the way he addressed Made in Chelsea star Sam.
‘The way Fred just spoke to Sam was disgusting. Gone right off Fred,’ wrote user Chloe Yates on X, formerly Twitter.
User Melissa Jane added: ‘Fred calm down man. Stop being so demanding. I thought what Fred said to Sam was so uncalled for feel sorry for Sam bless him.’
The way he just spoke to Sam was disgusting. Gone right off Fred. #ImACeleb
— chloe yates (@chloeya74993489) December 5, 2023
Fred calm down man. Stop being so demanding. I thought what Fred said to Sam was so uncalled for 😡 feel sorry for Sam bless him #ImACeleb @imacelebrity
— MelissaJayne💋💕 (@Mel_Jayne1207) December 5, 2023
At the conclusion of the trial, Fred and JLS vocalist Marvin, 38, returned with five stars out of a potential eight.
Ofcom, the broadcasting watchdog, verified receiving 60 complaints over the December 5 show.
The clash was not the only scene on the episode that prompted viewers to notify Ofcom.
The broadcasting watchdog validated 907 complaints concerning the November 21 programme, with 861 relating to the argument when Fred said that he was old enough to be YouTuber Nella’s, 26, father because of their ages.
Nella, who had lost both of her parents, addressed the Road Trip host and, although accepting his apologies, stated that she no longer wanted to speak to him and would not eat any of the food he had cooked.
After completing a job, Nella and Fred appeared to mend fences by moving into a luxury camp and, critically, a more intimate environment with only three other campmates.
During the show on November 22, an altercation Nella had with Nigel Farage over immigration resulted in 856 Ofcom complaints about ‘alleged racial offence.’
During the conversation, the Catfish UK host accused the GB News presenter of wanting individuals like her ‘gone’ from the UK when she confronted him about comments he made about cutting immigration levels.
Nella asked the former Ukip leader ‘apparently you’re anti-immigrants’ which she said she had read off the internet, before asking ‘why don’t black people like you?’
Farage said ‘you’d be amazed, they do’, to which Nella replied ‘so everyone hates you for no reason?’
Farage said the accusations were ‘grossly unfair’ before adding: ‘All I’ve said is we cannot go on with the numbers coming to Britain that are coming.’
I’m A Celebrity is available to watch on ITVX.
