The latest I’m A Celeb news has seen hosts Ant and Dec address the “rice-gate” controversy from last night’s episode (December 7).
Sous chef Nigel Farage was cooking rice for the campmates, but after he left the kitchen area it burned. He blamed head chef Sam Thompson, claiming that he’d told him to keep an eye on it and put more water in it. But Sam went off for a lie down and fell asleep, being awoken by the smell of burning.
An argument between Nigel and Sam followed. The likes of Tony Bellew and camp leader Danielle Harold then got involved.
I’m A Celeb news: ‘Rice-gate’ causes a stir
But Ant and Dec cleared things up on their Instagram Live, reading out the transcript of what was actually said. And it turns out that I’m A Celebrity star Nigel wasn’t entirely telling the truth…
Hold on, hold on, Nigel never mentioned putting some water in the rice.
They clarified on the show, too, that Nigel had told the camp he told Sam to put more water in the rice. However, he’d actually told Sam that the rice would be okay for a few minutes – prompting Sam to lie down for a while.
“Hold on, hold on, Nigel never mentioned putting some water in the rice,” said Ant. “Well, it’s not like a politician to re-write history and paint themselves in a better light, is it,” Dec added.
So what actually happened?
Nigel said: “I’ve put the rice on, it’s reducing slowly, there’s enough water at the moment. Should be fine for a few minutes.”
But when Sam woke up, he realised that the rice was burning. He said: “I don’t know if I’ve burnt the rice. I don’t know who has burnt the rice.”
Nigel said that Sam had “ruined the rice”, while Tony Bellew said to the former Made in Chelsea star: “You had one job Sam. You’re head chef. You fell asleep on the job.”
Sam took responsibility for the debacle as head chef. He acknowledged that communication between him and Nigel hadn’t been the best.
But viewers weren’t impressed with Nigel. One said on X (formerly Twitter): “Nice bit of gaslighting by Nigel there.”
Another commented, bringing up Sam’s ADHD diagnosis: “Nigel didn’t actually ask Sam to do anything. He said it’d be fine and walked away. Neurodivergent people can’t read between unclear lines and people should just say what they [bleep] mean. Nigel should have asked Sam to keep an eye on it if that’s what he meant.”
I’m A Celeb news: Nigel speaks to Sam ‘like a dog’
‘Rice-gate’ wasn’t the only time Nigel and Sam have clashed on I’m A Celebrity, either.
Nigel came under fire from viewers after telling Sam, who has ADHD, to “sit down” while he was excited, as Nigel was preparing to serve up the fish he’d been cooking to the rest of the campmates.
The former UKIP leader was then branded “condescending” and a “nasty bully” by viewers. Some accused him of speaking to Sam “like a dog”.
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