I’m a Celeb: The best and worst challenges of all time

Over the years, there are been some completely brilliant, and some utterly gruesome, challenges featured on the popular UK TV series, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! These challenges, for those who might not already know, frequently feature the celebrity contestants having to chomp or slurp down revolting foods and liquid concoctions. In past years, we have witnessed contestants eating pig testicles, silkworms, fish eyes, various insects and even live spiders! However, for this year’s 2019 series, the use of live animals in the bushtucker trials and challenges has been banned. This decision by ITV producers follows on from years of protest by vegans and animal rights activists, such as Autumwatch’s Chris Packham, who was a leading figurehead in the fight to scrap this controversial element of the trials. In the past, people have expressed their concerns about the entertainment factor of the show being lost with the removal of live animals, but so far with this year’s series, the entertainment factor certainly hasn’t been compromised. The hype of the show remains strong, and has even prompted the creation of play-along bingo games which let fans of the show play along in competition with their friends and family, crowning their own king or queen of the sitting-room!

However, if you are looking for a reminder of the very worst and the very best I’m a Celeb challenges since the show began back in 2002, then look no further.

The worst challenges of all time?

Ferne McCann and that huge spider

Back in the 2015 series of the show, English model and television personality Ferne McCann faced up to the challenge of chomping down on a “live water spider”. Now this was not just any old daddy long legs, this was the real jungle deal, with long wiggly legs almost as big as a tarantula. It was one of the most gruesome moments ever seen on I’m a Celeb: you could quite literally hear it clunking about in its glass container, accompanied by the sounds of crunching in Ferne’s mouth as she was chewed it up. It doesn’t come as too much of a surprise that following this trial the programme received almost 1,500 complaints.

A Night in the Infested Glass Box

In the 2011 series of I’m a Celeb, the campmates were confronted with a grizzly overnight trial. Locked in a glass box infested with creatures and creepy crawlies, ranging from snakes, rats, cockroaches, crickets, the celebs were challenged to endure the unendurable. American singer Sinitta surrendered almost immediately, while other contestants tried determinedly to stick it out. Mark Wright, who is terrified of rats, let out a pretty monumental scream.

Ashley Roberts and the fish eye

In the history I’m a Celeb, many contestants have munched down a fish eye or two during their time in the jungle. It is a particularly revolting challenge, and sure to turn any viewer’s stomach. But, when American singer, and former Pussycat Dolls’ star, Ashley Roberts faced up to the challenge after making it into the 2012 final of the show, viewers could hear the fish eye pop in her mouth as she bit into it. Out of all the I’m a Celeb fish eye eating challenges, Ashley Roberts’s was by far the worst!

The best challenges of all time?

Steve Davis’ pre bushtucker trial trip

Back in the 2013 series of I’m a Celeb, poor old Steve Davis managed to trip over, launching himself into the lake before the bushtucker trial had even begun. The former professional snooker player left everyone in stitches of laughter, the show’s loveable presenters Ant and Dec perhaps even more so than anyone else. Even though Davis was the fifth contestant to be booted out, he reportedly said that he had had a great time in the jungle, and that he couldn’t stop laughing.

Stuart Manning, Gino D’Acampo & the slip ‘n’ slide                                                    

One of the most memorable I’m a Celeb moments was when chef Gino D’Acampo and actor Stuart Manning endured the slip ‘n’ slide trial side by side, only strengthening their awesome bromance that had developed throughout the 2009 series of the show.

When Gillian McKeith fainted during live I’m a Celeb trial                                               

All I’m a Celeb fans will recall the dramatic moment when celebrity nutritionist Gillian McKeith fainted during a live bushtucker trial back in the 2010 series of the show. The majority of McKeith’s fellow campmates weren’t too sympathetic about the incident however, with some saying that she deserved an award for her over-the-top performance. In fact, co-contestant and British television personality Alison Hammond said that McKeith told her that she fainted on purpose to avoid partaking in the challenge. Regardless of whether her fainting was faked or genuine, the incident stirred a huge wave of reaction from I’m A Celeb viewers, and a great deal of talk of about the show.

Each and every series of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! has its memorable moments, some for being beyond stomach-churning, and others simply just for being hilarious. With the 2019 series of the show now underway, we can’t wait to see what this year’s group of celebs will bring to our television screens.

The editorial unit
Image: Courtesy of ITV