‘I’m A Celebrity’ host Holly Willoughby has disputed contestant Nick Knowles’ claims they were treated badly on the show.
The pair were reunited on ‘This Morning’ on Wednesday when conversation turned to how the campmates banded together in order to survive the various things producers threw at them in the jungle.
However, Holly was not convinced by Nick’s claims bosses were deliberately trying to come between them.
During the interview, the ‘DIY SOS’ presenter said: “On the first couple of days we gathered together and said, ‘Look, they’re going to do everything they possibly can to get under our skins, and we don’t want to look like a bunch of arses, so why don’t we make it them versus us, and we get tighter the tougher it gets?’”
Rejecting Nick’s assessment, Holly said: “But I don’t think they do try and do, because that was one thing that I noticed more than ever actually is how supportive they were of you guys.”
Nick responded: “Yeah, not really.”
“You don’t think? Really?” a surprised Holly replied.
“No. They try to get under your skin. They make you tired, they make you hungry, they make you dehydrated,” Nick continued.
Co-host Phillip Schofield then interrupted, saying: “Of course they do – that’s the show! You’ve got to expect that when you go in!”
Nick said: “Exactly, it’s us versus them. It’s like being in a rugby team, you set yourself up. It isn’t you versus the world, it isn’t us versus the production. But if you get that mindset, that it’s us versus them, you bond together.
“Every time it gets more difficult, you come back and find they’ve left the canopy open and all your bedding is soaking wet, and you say, ‘Can you change our sleeping bags?’ and they say, ‘No you have to sleep in wet beds’.”
Nick wound up finishing sixth on last year’s series of ‘I’m A Celebrity’, which saw Holly co-present with Declan Donnelly in place of his usual co-host Ant McPartlin.
Holly has already confirmed she will not be returning to the jungle later this year, as Ant returns to the helm after a year off our screens to focus on his health.
‘This Morning’ airs weekdays at 10.30am on ITV.