The finale of I’m A Celebrity South Africa kicked off on Friday night, with Harry Redknapp, Adam Thomas, Mo Farah and Craig Charles hoping to be crowned the Jungle Legend.
During the live episode in London, Adam awkwardly glossed over his aggressive row with Jimmy Bullard as he addressed the ‘drama’ for the first time.
Adam, 37, and Jimmy, 47, locked horns during a Bushtucker Trial in the pre-recorded South Africa-based show last year, when Jimmy refused to do a trial and put Adam’s position at risk since they were partnered up.
The Waterloo Road star, who revealed he was receiving therapy as a result of his feud with David Haye in the jungle, finally came face to face with Jimmy and the boxer on Friday night.
‘It certainly hasn’t been short of drama this year’, Declan Donnelly quipped as he kicked off the live final.
Addressing the drama in camp for the first time, Adam said: ‘I know there was a lot of drama that went on in a lot of camp but honestly we had the best time.’
Former footballer Jimmy listened closely in the audience to what Adam had to say following a string of ‘bullying rows’ that has plagued this year’s show.
‘It’s not going to kick off, what a shame’, Ant McPartlin laughed.
Adam failed to appear on This Morning for promotional interviews alongside Harry, Mo and Craig on Friday.
Smiling Adam Thomas awkwardly glossed over his aggressive row with Jimmy Bullard as he addressed their ‘drama’ during the I’m A Celebrity South Africa live final on Friday night
Former footballer Jimmy listened closely in the audience to what Adam had to say following a string of ‘bullying rows’ that has plagued this year’s show
Instead, his campmate Craig spoke on the show about the ‘bullying rows’ and said he feared the Adam was going ‘attack’ campmate Jimmy during expletive-filled row over a jungle trial.
Opening up about the incident, Craig said: ‘They watered down the Jimmy Bullard incident, it was unbroadcastable as it was.
‘It was deeply traumatic and really upsetting, it was between the two of them, Adam was so wound up, he was so aggressive, like a coiled up spring, it looked like he was going to attack Jimmy.
‘He was dropping f-bombs and c-bombs… It really was traumatic and they couldn’t broadcast it, and I’m not blaming ITV, they couldn’t [put it out].’
In scenes that did air, Adam could be seen shouting at his co-star: ‘Jimmy, are you f***ing taking the p***? I am in there getting covered in f***ing ants.’
Jimmy replied: ‘Woah, calm down. That’s pathetic.’
Craig added of the incident: ‘They had to water down what [viewers saw] but they didn’t water down our responses, so people were thinking, “Oh, it wasn’t that bad, why are they picking on Adam?”
‘We weren’t picking on Adam at all, it was just what he did.’
Jimmy is reportedly ‘seeking revenge’ on Adam after their fiery clash aired, as it’s claimed he will use his time during the finale to give his version of events.
A source told The Sun: ‘He is also not afraid to say exactly what he thinks – and that means he won’t be toeing ITV’s line.
‘Jimmy knows the truth about what happened. He’s ready to tell his story.’
Adam was joined by his co-finalists Harry Redknapp Mo Farah and Craig Charles – all hoping to be crowned king
‘It certainly hasn’t been short of drama this year’, Declan Donnelly quipped as he kicked off the live final
This week, Adam revealed he was receiving therapy on his At Home With The Thomas Bros podcast, as he emotionally said his ‘feud’ with boxer David ‘f***ed’ with him.
Breaking down in tears, Adam said: ‘It was like being back in school again and although it wasn’t physical bullying or anything like that, and I’m not saying it’s bullying, but he was just mind f***ing me.
‘And I just never stuck up for myself whilst I was in there and I was like “s**t bro, I wish I stuck up for myself”. That was beating me up more than anything.’
He continued: ‘I’m not the same person, like I know for a fact I am not the same person as I was when I went into the jungle to when I came out. It’s changed me and that’s no over exaggeration.
‘I’m in therapy now because, like it’s f***ed with me mentally because I just thought, “How is this happening? I’m a 37-year-old man”. I’m like, “How am I letting some other person do this to me in here?”‘
David has continued to take swipes at Adam, including a vile social media jibe as well as claiming the dad-of-two was paid between ‘£20-25k per day’ for his appearance on the ITV show.
The boxer had sparked bullying complaints from viewers over his comments to Adam when he excused himself from the Termite Terror trial over his health.
Adam, who suffers from autoimmune condition psoriatic arthritis, had told his campmates he did not feel well enough to compete.
During his appearance on This Morning, Craig was asked about the ‘bullying’ claims in camp and revealed that the campmates had been unaware that Adam was being affected by such behaviour and suggested ITV ‘didn’t think he was getting bullied enough to step in’.
Launching into his explanation, Craig hit out against ITV for ‘watering down’ the moment Adam and Jimmy clashed in a trial that would decide who got sent home
David and Adam had a fractious relationship during their time together in the South African jungle, which was filmed in September last year
The Red Dwarf star said: ‘Since we’ve got back, the last few weeks, it’s all been over social media that Harry, Mo and I were not there for Adam when he was getting bullied.
‘Let me tell you a little story, it all started when they were the Rhinos, and me and Adam were Lions, and we were the underdogs – [they had] David Haye the boxer, Harry the gaffer, Ashley Roberts who was fit as a fiddle.
‘You had me, a broken down TV star, Gemma Collins… but we won every challenge and we gave them dogs abuse, me and Adam, over the fence, ribbing them, jest and banter, we wrecked them.
‘We were relentless, we poked the bear, and then David Haye came back at us – now, Adam gave as good as he got, he really did give as good as he got, he was laughing and we didn’t realise he was being emotionally affected by it.
‘He never told us, I asked him yesterday, “Well why didn’t you tell us?” and he said, “I didn’t want to appear weak”. We didn’t know.
‘ITV have got a duty of care, they have got 24/7 people on high definition close ups picking it all out, but they didn’t think he was getting bullied enough to step in – they have a duty of care, they would have stepped in if they thought he was being bullied.
‘We didn’t see it until that final morning when I thought David got a bit nasty, I thought, “This is turning into bullying, this, now” and on that final morning, I found myself in the perfect position, voting people out, I saved Adam knowing that the other two were not going to pick David, thereby ensuring David went home.
‘We were there for him, we didn’t know the extent of his troubles.’
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