You may remember ‘Strawberry-gate’, but I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! had another controversy regarding food as one contestant misplaced an item. Though it was promptly resolved, viewers couldn’t help but laugh at the latest food-related blunder.
Thursday’s (20 November) episode of the ITV reality series saw Vogue Williams and Tom Read Wilson enter the camp as late arrivals, with the pair immediately being tasked with assigning duties to their co-stars.
Martin Kemp and Kelly Brook were given the honour – or poisoned chalice depending on your opinion – of being the designated cooks in the camp, and their first meal didn’t go exactly to plan.
As they prepared some wild boar meat and sweet potato, Kelly soon remarked that she had lost the potatoes, with a wild goose chase ensuing as the group frantically searched for some much-needed food.
With Aitch sharing an amusing theory that a “potato thief” was on the loose, the explanation for their ‘disappearance’ was actually far simpler – the potatoes were still in the cooking pot and Kelly had merely not spotted them due to the darkness.
ITV
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‘Potato-gate’, as we’ve affectionately dubbed it, certainly got fans talking on social media, with one user writing on X: “The pot being the potato thief is so funny I can’t get over the campmates this year #ImACeleb”
“Aitch immediately assuming there’s a potato thief who made a run for it with a singular potato rather than she just accidentally threw them away #ImACeleb” remarked another viewer.
“The camp thinking that someone stole a potato when it was in the pot the entire time just shows how hungry and exhausted they all are #ImACeleb” noted another viewer, while a fourth asked: “How do you lose potatoes Kelly #ImACeleb”
ITV
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This isn’t the first food-related controversy to come up on the long-running series, with Amir Khan and Iain Lee famously opting to devour some strawberries instead of sharing them amongst their campmates.
Dubbed ‘Strawberry-gate’, Khan explained in 2023 that he didn’t regret his decision, saying: “I was starving at the time, and it was fun and boisterous! It caused a lot of commotion in camp, but I couldn’t believe how big it became in the UK!”
I’m a Celebrity… airs on ITV1 and ITVX.
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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
