On last night’s episode of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!, we saw the first conflict in camp unfold when 26-year-old YouTuber Nella Rose took issue with French maître d'hôtel Fred Sirieix. Nella was offended after a conversation where 51-year-old Fred told her he was old enough to be her father – with Nella later explaining that her father’s passing four years ago is still a deeply triggering topic for her.
In the clip that aired last night, Nella and Fred can be seen recalling the conversation somewhat differently, with Fred going on to apologise for any offence he may have caused Nella by referencing himself as her father’s age. While Nella accepted the apology, she told him that she no longer wanted to be around him, and they would just have to co-exist in camp without necessarily being friends.
The disagreement has since caused intense debate online, with Nella receiving intense backlash after some viewers determined that she had overreacted to Fred’s comment. Countless people have jumped to Fred’s defence, arguing that Nella took his words the wrong way, and many have even compared her to Celebrity Big Brother’s Roxanne Pallet – who caused monumental controversy when she accused fellow housemate Ryan Thomas ‘deliberately’ and ‘repeatedly’ punching her in the ribs, when in fact he had playfully punched her while shadow boxing around her. You can read more about the incident here.
The comparison of Nella to Roxanne is an extreme accusation, and in fact, the entire reaction to Nella and Fred’s disagreement appears completely disproportionate. Nella has been ruthlessly trolled in the aftermath, with viewers now campaigning to have her be the first campmate to be voted out the jungle.
What we must remember though, is that the nuances of conflict are often lost on heavily produced reality TV shows that are edited to be entertaining for viewers and cause conversation online. As viewers, we have seen a five-minute clip of their disagreement, and as a whole we have only seen around three hours of footage from the last 72 the celebrities have actually spent in camp. It’s crucial then that we bear in mind all of the other behaviour, side conversations or personality conflicts we might have missed that could provide necessary conflict to Nella and Fred’s fallout.
Take for example, Nella and Fred’s conversation in the morning. Nella repeatedly referenced specific issues around Fred’s attitude towards cooking in camp, but as viewers we haven’t been shown any of those scenes. Perhaps they didn’t make the edit or didn’t seem to be worth airing at the time, but regardless the point is that viewers are not privy to every interaction in the camp that could provide context to any personality clashes.
Beyond the editing, the lack of empathy for what is clearly a very triggering topic for Nella is ruthless. There are so many contributing factors that go into why someone can feel triggered by a certain conversation or incident, Nella’s grief clearly playing a part in this one. Who are we to tell her how she should or shouldn’t feel while still processing such an intense loss? And even if she later determines she did overreact, have we not all reacted to triggering subjects in ways we later regret? One heated reaction does not reflect a person’s entire personality or character – and it shouldn’t have resorted to such extreme side-taking as it has now.
You may well believe Nella overreacted to Fred’s comment, but that doesn’t give anyone the right to troll her or react with such vitriol after one minor disagreement. She is clearly an extremely loving bubbly person with so much to offer the camp, punishing her for one incident is entirely unfair.