There’s no doubt that Matt Hancock’s involvement on this year’s I’m a Celeb caused controversy, but the real outrage swelled when it was reported that he could be exempt from trials because of a history of trench foot, contracted during filming Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, earlier this year.
As if giving the man a platform wasn’t bad enough, now they were going to deny us the right of seeing him squirm through the grimmest of bushtucker trials?!
Thankfully, it turned out to be fake news, and the public have made their feelings toward the former health secretary known by voting him to take part in most of the trials so far. Instead, we’ve seen pop star Boy George, Corrie actor Sue Cleaver, comedian Babatunde Aleshe and ex-Rugby player Mike Tindall dodge trials, and with explanations from hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly not forthcoming, it’s been up to fans to decipher why the campmates might have found themselves exempt from certain challenges.
Why didn’t Babatunde do the water challenges?
On the show’s premier episode comedian Babatunde made a not-so-valiant effort at the Walk The Plank challenge but it wasn’t long before viewers noticed he wasn’t taking part in any of the water-based challenges.
There’s loads of reasons he might be steering clear of water, the most obvious being that he can’t swim.
‘Starting to think Babatunde can’t swim cos he’s always exempt from water challenges,’ tweeted one fan, with another agreeing, ‘Babatunde definitely can't swim considering all these water trial exemptions.. #ImACeleb.’
Another suggested that he could have an in-ear condition, writing, ‘Either Babatunde can’t swim or he has a medical condition like mine that doesn’t allow water in ears or high water pressure.’
Why didn’t Mike Tindall do the Horrifying Heights challenge?
Mike Tindall has a history as long as his arm of sustaining head injuries both on the rugby pitch and off it, having previously competed the more extreme reality series like The Jump (where he was beaten by fellow tough-guy Joey Essex) and Bear Grylls: Mission Survive.
So it seems that avoiding further medical complications is a top priority for Mike, who has previously spoken about how a fear of developing dementia as a consequence of his injuries is a ‘real health concern’ – which might explain why he’s been exempt from certain trials.
Why hasn’t Sue Cleaver done the eating challenges?
Some eagle-eyed fans spotted that Sue Cleaver, who was ejected from the camp in ninth place, was wearing an insulin patch on her arm during the challenge, and the Coronation Street actor has spoken before about living with type 2 diabetes, telling diabetesadvice.co.uk in 2018, ‘having good control of diabetes is really important — after all, people with the condition live with it every day, taking care of their diet and physical activity levels.’
It has lead fans to surmise that keeping her blood sugar in check is most likely the reason she’s not chowing down on animals’ goolies like the other campmates.
Why was Boy George exempt from the Horrifying Heights challenge?
Evicted in 8th place, it’s less clear why Boy George was exempt from the Horrifying Heights challenge early in the series but has made up for it with five trials before his exit on the 22nd of November.
Other trial dodgers…
Of course, it’s not the first series where celebs have been excused from participating in certain challenges. When The Chase star Anne Hegarty entered the jungle in 2018, she found herself exempt from most tasks due to medical grounds which many fans speculated could be to do with her autism (she was diagnosed at the age of 45).
‘I was quite freaked out by the first bushtucker trial and only getting two stars,’ she said, referring to the first task she did, Monstrous Monoliths, were she bagged two stars out of a possible ten. ‘I could have got four, but either I couldn’t line up the numbers on the padlocks or I wasn’t pushing the spring down properly.
‘I don’t want to go into more details as I’d be giving away production secrets, but the “exemption on medical grounds” thing thereafter was really more on the basis of how I’d reacted psychologically to that one, rather than because I’m a fat lump or anything.’
She continued, ‘I do wonder if, when people are saying, “She did so amazingly!” they really mean something like “She did so amazingly, considering she’s autistic!” because I don’t want pity, and I don’t want to find that [her The Chase alter ego] The Governess is somehow less intimidating because she’s been seen screaming and weeping.’
And who could forget when 2008 contestant Nicola McLean was ruled to be exempt from one trial thanks to her boobs.
The former glamour model said later, ‘There was something with a harness because we were worried they’d end up around the back, as implants can move, but yeah I can’t remember what it was but I wasn’t allowed to do something.’