The Obsession With The I’m A Celebrity Contestants Weight Loss Needs To End

Framing a three-week starvation diet as incredible weight loss transformation is incredibly problematic.

I'm A Celebrity

by Georgia Aspinall |
Published on

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! contestants often leave the jungle and reveal all the nitty gritty details of their time in camp. The secret luxuries they tried to smuggle in, the sly conversations we never saw air, it’s the exact kind of water-cooler gossip the public are desperate for after watching their new favourite celebrities bury themselves in bugs for three weeks straight.

But there’s a worrying detail being shared this year, one that comes up again and again despite concerns of its harm: the campmates ‘weight loss transformation’.

‘I’m A Celebrity 2022’s biggest weight loss transformations as jungle stars shed the pounds,’ one headline reads in today’s papers. Others refer to the ‘jungle diet’, detailing every pound each celebrity lost and exactly what they ate to do it. In fact, it’s now resulted in a major spike in Google searches for ‘How much weight did the I’m A Celebrity contestants lose?’ – up 4,500% in the last day.

The search comes after numerous I’m A Celebrity contestants revealed how much weight they lost in interviews coming out of the show, due to the meagre rations they lived off in the jungle for the short stint of time.

While Jill Scott confirmed that there is a nutritionist behind the scenes of the show monitoring their health, she too spoke of the ‘hunger element’ of being in the jungle.

‘When they say rice and beans, they really mean it,’ Babatúndé Aléshé told This Morning. ‘The food was definitely one of the toughest bits.’

Of course, none of this is to say that ITV aren’t looking after the celebrities’ health – in fact, Olivia Attwood confirmed the production's rigorous attitude towards it, when they removed her from the jungle after fears her blood pressure was too low to continue.

But what we must examine with all of this is how we’re framing discussions around the celebrities' ‘weight loss transformation’ having been on the ‘jungle diet’. These are people that lived on limited food for the best part of three weeks. It is not, by any means, a nutritionally fulfilling diet.

And when it comes to the weight lost, experts advise that only one to two pounds per week is the safest, and healthiest, way to lose weight, which makes for a grand total of six pounds over the course of the celebrities' jungle stint - certainly less than some of the camp mates report losing. Celebrating or commenting on any celebrity weight loss always feels murky, but doing so after we’ve borne witness to them complaining of hunger for three weeks straight is even more uncomfortable.

Ultimately, any time we talk about weight and diet we must be considerate of the way it can perpetuate diet culture. This year, the NHS reported a record number of young people are being treated for eating disorders. Anorexia still has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder, from medical complications associated with the illness as well as suicide. It is a devastating illness that affects millions of families, and it’s something we should actively be fighting against by resisting the diet culture that exasperates eating disorders.

According to Beat’s guidelines for reporting on eating disorders, mentioning specific weights, amounts eaten, or calories consumed can be extremely triggering for those suffering from the illness. But it’s also just entirely irresponsible, especially when framed as a ‘transformation’ to encourage clicks.

'The pressure to lose weight can be extremely harmful to those affected by eating disorders,' Tom Quinn, Beat's Director of External Affairs told Grazia. 'For instance, weight loss transformations often share specific weights, BMIs or before and after photos which can encourage people to engage in dangerous behaviours to try to reach a weight target or goal. This can worsen an eating disorder or contribute to an eating disorder developing for someone who is already vulnerable. Sharing specific diets and extreme dieting techniques can also be very harmful, as they can serve as eating disorder "tips" and motivate people to become more unwell.

'We'd never advise that someone with an eating disorder changes their diet or exercise without first speaking to their doctor or care team, and would encourage anyone worried about their health to reach out to their GP without delay,' Quinn continued.

For support with eating disorders, visit: beateatingdisorders.org.uk

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