I’m A Celebrity bosses have been reportedly disappointed that one of the stars they secured for this year’s show was failing to live up to their fiery reputation.
Producers hoped MP Kezia Dugdale would stir up some political debate and clash with her fellow campmates over her strong views after she arrived as a late comer with Iain Lee, so they paid her a big sum to appear.
But so far, the Scottish Labour MP has barely made her mark.
She’s been quiet in camp and hasn’t tried very hard in her trials.
Bosses apparently began wondering why they’d bothered shelling out a near six figure sum for the 36-year-old’s appearance.
A show insider told The Sun: “Kezia has been a massive let down since joining the show. She hasn’t bonded particularly well with other campmates and doesn’t see herself as part of that showbiz world, she has been acting superior.
“Far from coming out of her shell, she hasn’t broken from her politician mode once or shown a softer side, letting her personality come through.”
Producers had hoped Kezia would clash with Conservative Stanley Johnson, father of foreign secretary Boris, and tried to set up some showdowns by having political themed trials, creating a replica House Of Commons in the clearing and 1o Downing Street in the camp.
But so far she has left that to Iain, saying she was secretly pleased when he rowed with the jungle PM as someone needed to “keep Stanley’s power in check.” So why not you, Kezia?
The show insider said bosses were also “ticked off” that Kezia had barely tried in her trials.
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In the first one, where all the celebs had backed her to win, she barely made it out of the first box as she struggled to find a star in with some rotting meat.
Then in the live trial where she has to drink blended bull’s penis and blended pig and ostrich anus as quickly as possible, she sipped her drinks while Iain downed his.
The show’s trials producer Ben Aston told The Sun they were disappointed with her efforts.
“We started planning these trials in April. Kez was a bit of a let down. She only had a little sip,” he said.
Her teammates and co-host Ant McPartlin also couldn’t hide their disappointment at her lacklustre performance.
“I have to say Kez gave up there. She gave up. She didn’t even try. She’s only got herself to blame,” Ant said, as Iain was amazed by how much his rival had left to drink after he’d downed his glasses in seconds.
Kezia had said she wanted to go in the jungle as it would be “an amazing platform to talk about politics and Labour values” but, so far, viewers have seen her do little more than complain about her campmates not doing enough chores.
She said in the Bush Telegraph: “Stuff just needs to get done and it’s frustrating me and it’s making me a bit angsty.
“I found myself getting a little bit nippy with people in a way that I don’t want to be. Yes there are people in particular who are not pulling their weight but I shouldn’t name them. I’m going to wait until I properly lose it before I name them.”
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Let’s hope Kez will “properly lose it” soon and then show producers might finally start getting their money’s worth!