Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly confirmed during the live I’m A Celebrity South Africa finale that the full argument between Adam Thomas and Jimmy Bullard was far uglier than anything viewers saw on screen. Thomas took home the winner’s crown Friday night, but the ceremony was almost completely overshadowed by explosive accusations, walk-offs, and a furious showdown between Bullard and the show’s own hosts.
According to LADbible, the drama exploded when Bullard challenged Ant and Dec directly, telling them they had failed to show viewers what really happened. “You didn’t show none of the C-bombs, it’s a liberty,” Bullard said to the hosts on live television. Ant’s response was blunt: much of the footage simply could not be aired. “There was a lot of stuff which was unbroadcastable,” he confirmed, with Dec adding dryly, “I knew it was going to go smoothly.”
Bullard’s central complaint was that Thomas had been “abusive, aggressive and intimidating” during their falling-out, and that ITV’s editing left that behavior largely unseen by the public. Ant pushed back on that framing, stating flatly: “No, it wasn’t, I was there,” according to RTE. That direct contradiction from a host live on air only added more fuel to an already combustible situation.
What Sinitta says she heard behind the scenes
The clearest account of what Thomas allegedly said came from fellow campmate Sinitta. She described hearing the confrontation play out: “I can hear C word, C word, shouting, C word, you C word… it’s this massive fight.” She said she tried to physically intervene and couldn’t understand why no one else stepped in, calling it “unfair” for anyone to be “shouting and screaming” at Bullard the way Thomas allegedly did.
SportBible reports the original altercation happened during a Bushtucker trial where the losing team would be eliminated from the show. Bullard dropped out by saying the elimination phrase, which sent Thomas into a rage. Several campmates present said Thomas called Bullard a series of expletives that ITV never broadcast. Thomas himself did not deny the outburst, telling the audience he takes “full responsibility” for his actions and apologizing to Bullard directly.
David Haye and the walk-offs that derailed the finale
Former boxer David Haye made things considerably worse by jumping into the argument uninvited. He accused ITV of deliberate editing to cast Thomas as a sympathetic figure, telling the audience: “What I’ve seen is a lot of editing to make this poor guy look like the victim.” That claim was met with heavy booing. Haye had already courted controversy earlier in the series after making remarks about “ugly girls,” which Ant referenced in a pointed joke during the broadcast.
The situation spiraled quickly. Sinitta, who sided with Bullard, stood up and walked off the set while arguing with audience members on her way out. Gemma Collins, a vocal Thomas supporter who had called him her “hero” earlier that same evening, also stormed off moments later, reportedly muttering that the behavior around her was “disgusting.” With two campmates off set and the hosts struggling to maintain order, Bullard turned to the remaining cast and demanded ITV simply air the uncut footage, shouting: “Well, show it then! It’s terrible! It’s your show! Unbelievable!”
Despite the chaos, Thomas was eventually crowned winner by Sam Thompson, who had won the original series back in 2023. Mo Farah finished second and Harry Redknapp came in third. Thomas described his time on the show as a “blast,” though he looked visibly shaken by the time the announcement came. Much like that Georgia man who got more than he bargained for after calling out fellow customers, Bullard quickly found the live studio audience had little sympathy for his complaints. It was one of those nights where, not unlike the woman who found something unexpected and went with it anyway, the people involved seemed determined to see the whole thing through no matter what.
