I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! alum Jake Quickenden has weighed in on a resurfaced 2014 clip of him and Jimmy Bullard in the jungle, after the chaotic all-stars final. The South Africa spin-off of the show ended in dramatic fashion last Friday, when former Fulham footballer Bullard and David Haye let rip on Adam Thomas over a fight that was filmed months ago.
A clip from Bullard’s original stint in the jungle has now resurfaced, in which fans have claimed he was ‘bullying’ his X Factor co-star. The moment from the Australian jungle sees Quickenden and Bullard take swipes at one another, after a fellow campmate mistook the topless footballer for newsreader Michael Buerk, who is 33 years his senior. Yet Quickenden has now jumped into the Instagram comments section on a post of the clip to insist he was not being bullied.
The 37-year-old wrote: ‘I’m gonna be honest here, bullying should be called out but he didn’t bully me here. ‘He was my pal in there, we was [sic] having a laugh, he out did me and I didn’t know what to say back lol. He was trying to make me bite.’ Quickenden continued: ‘Some people may see it different [sic] but I can say this, he didn’t bully me. ‘He was actually so sound to me in there and ever since, he still messages me to catch-up.’
Since the final, both Sinitta and Craig Charles have asserted that the live event should not have unfolded as it did. Meanwhile, Ashley Roberts has described it as ‘unhinged’ and shared her sympathy for Thomas, who couldn’t properly celebrate his win as the Ultimate Legend.
The clash in the jungle between Bullard and Thomas unfolded during a Bushtucker Trial in which the defeated campmates would be sent packing. Bullard was paired up with Thomas and said the immortal words ‘I’m a celebrity, get me out of here’, inadvertently sealing the Waterloo Road star’s fate as well as his own. Thomas then had a go at Bullard in scenes which host Ant McPartlin confirmed were not aired in their entirety, as parts were ‘unbroadcastable’, reportedly on account of the c-word being used.
Bullard is now reportedly planning legal action against ITV after claiming in the final that Thomas’s behaviour was ‘abusive, intimidating and aggressive’. I’m A Celebrity…South Africa is available to watch on ITVX.
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