{"id":549539,"date":"2026-04-25T05:48:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T05:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/549539\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T05:48:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T05:48:19","slug":"ant-and-dec-hailed-for-finest-moment-of-tv-ever-as-they-break-character-and-firmly-shut-down-live-explosive-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/549539\/","title":{"rendered":"Ant and Dec hailed for \u2018finest moment of TV ever\u2019 as they ‘break character’ and firmly shut down live explosive row"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Haye was shut down live on air by Ant and Dec during the I’m A Celebrity… South Africa final, as the ITV show descended into chaos during an explosive reunion.<\/p>\n

The former heavyweight boxer repeatedly clashed with finalist Adam Thomas and Jimmy Bullard, forcing the presenters to step in and regain control of the broadcast.<\/p>\n

Tensions flared when Mr Bullard accused ITV of failing to show the full extent of his earlier row with Mr Thomas.<\/p>\n

“What I don’t stand on is someone being abusive, aggressive and intimidating. You were there… You didn’t show none of that,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"ITV\"\/<\/p>\n

Tensions immediately flared during the live reunion on Friday night<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

ITV<\/p>\n

Declan Donnelly pushed back, replying: “Well we did show quite a lot of it,” while Ant McPartlin added: “The reason why we didn’t air the C-bomb is because that’s unbroadcastable.”<\/p>\n

When pressed further, Mr McPartlin stood firm, telling Mr Bullard: “I was there and I didn’t think it was intimidating.”<\/p>\n

Mr Bullard responded in disbelief: “You didn’t?”<\/p>\n

“No, I was there! I was there, Jim!” Mr McPartlin insisted, prompting loud applause from the studio audience.<\/p>\n

\"Ant<\/p>\n

Ant and Dec were forced to intervene <\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

ITV<\/p>\n

The situation escalated further when Mr Haye attempted to interject, with Mr Donnelly snapping: “You keep out of this, David, you’d gone, you weren’t even there!”<\/p>\n

The audience again reacted with cheers as the presenters struggled to contain the escalating row.<\/p>\n

Mr Thomas then turned to Mr Haye, urging him to step back from the exchange.<\/p>\n

“Will you just let the finalists talk, please?” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Jimmy<\/p>\n

Jimmy Bullard said Mr Thomas was ‘abusive and aggressive’<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

ITV<\/p>\n

“Listen, I’ve apologised to Jimmy on numerous occasions, ok, and I do take everything he’s saying into account and the only thing that I can do is apologise.”<\/p>\n

However, Mr Haye continued to interrupt, prompting Mr McPartlin to cut him off and shift the focus.<\/p>\n

“Like we said, you weren’t there for that moment, but I’ve got a question for you… what have you made to some of the reaction to comments that you made in camp?” he asked.<\/p>\n

The boxer responded by criticising the show’s editing, claiming it had misrepresented events.<\/p>\n

\"\\u200bAdam<\/p>\n

Adam Thomas said he had already apologised for his outburst<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

ITV<\/p>\n

“I like to say it as I see it. When I’m in a situation, I keep it real. And what I’ve seen is a lot of editing to make Adam look like a victim,” he said, as the crowd began to boo.<\/p>\n

“We all had banter back and forth. A lot of it was cut out from their side. I think it’s time for the truth to come out.”<\/p>\n

Mr Bullard then attempted to involve other campmates, asking whether Mr Thomas had been “abusive and aggressive”.<\/p>\n

Gemma Collins immediately rejected the claim, while Harry Redknapp admitted: “I don’t know.”<\/p>\n

\"David<\/p>\n

David Haye has been accused of ‘bullying’ Mr Thomas on the show<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

ITV<\/p>\n

Sinitta backed Mr Bullard\u2019s version of events, insisting the confrontation had been aggressive, before walking off set and telling the audience they “weren\u2019t there”.<\/p>\n

Ms Collins also left the stage shortly afterwards, as the atmosphere became increasingly tense.<\/p>\n

Sir Mo Farah attempted to calm the situation, telling the panel: “We all have a moment in our lives, right or wrong.”<\/p>\n

Mr McPartlin then urged Mr Bullard to move on, pointing out that Mr Thomas had already apologised.<\/p>\n

“Leave it there,” he said, reiterating that he did not view Mr Thomas’s behaviour as abusive.<\/p>\n

The chaotic exchange came after an earlier confrontation in the show, when Mr Haye had challenged Mr Thomas live on air.<\/p>\n

“Do you think you deserve to win this after calling Jimmy the C-word a couple of times?” he asked during the reunion.<\/p>\n

The dramatic scenes quickly went viral, with viewers divided over the explosive showdown.<\/p>\n

\"Ant<\/p>\n

Ant and Dec attempted to de-escalate the situation<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

ITV<\/p>\n

Some praised the presenters for taking control, with one writing: “Ant and Dec \u2014 that was your finest moment on TV ever.”<\/p>\n

“I think Ant and Dec just broke character…and I loved it”, penned another.<\/p>\n

Others criticised the handling of the situation, questioning why more footage of the original row had not been shown.<\/p>\n

One viewer commented: “If it wasn\u2019t abusive or aggressive, why not just show it?”<\/p>\n

Another added: “You\u2019ve got people on stage saying it was aggressive…so someone\u2019s not telling the full story.”<\/p>\n

Despite the controversy, Mr Thomas went on to be crowned the winner of the series.<\/p>\n

However, viewers noted he appeared subdued following the tense scenes that had unfolded live on air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David Haye was shut down live on air by Ant and Dec during the I’m A Celebrity… South…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,830,96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-549539","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-celebrity","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-tv","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}