Asyia Iftikhar
Published December 2, 2025 3:17pm
Updated December 2, 2025 3:17pm
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The two Black people participating this season, Alex and Eddie, were quickly voted out by the public (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
As I watched first footballer Alex Scott and then comedian Eddie Kadi get booted out of the I’m A Celebrity jungle, all I felt was bitter disappointment.
The 2025 season of the hit ITV reality series hosted by Ant and Dec is nearly at an end, with the King or Queen of the Jungle set to be crowned this Sunday.
I will of course be watching when that happens – but in the back of my mind will be the alarming knowledge that the victor will be the 25th white person in a row to win the show.
People of colour are hardly even given a chance to prove their worth before being kicked out of camp. The two Black people participating this season, Alex and Eddie, were quickly voted out by the public.
Many viewers responded with shock and horror, immediately pointing out that this leaves an all-white cast going into the final episodes, and claiming that it’s no coincidence that it’s turned out this way.
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Even this points to a growing awareness, and divide, among reality TV viewers: on one side, there are the people who are clocking onto the pattern and on the other, the ones who are voting to make it happen.
I’m a Celebrity has failed contestants of colour (Picture: James Gourley/ITV/Shutterstock)
It’s become so common, many might not even have noticed. In fact, not only has the show never had a winner who’s a person of colour, but the last time anyone even made it to the final three was in 2016 with Adam Thomas (who will reportedly return for the 2026 All Stars).
The only others to join him as former finalists are Myleene Klass in 2006, George Takei in 2008 and Fatima Whitbread in 2011.
This is made all the more depressing by the fact that politician Nigel Farage, who has been widely slammed for his right-wing remarks, made it as runner-up in the 2023 season.
The systematic icing out of non-white stars over the past quarter of a century shows not just our lack of progress as a society – it’s a backslide.
Comment now Do you think reality TV shows need to address representation more actively? Share below Comment NowAs we go into the final days of this season, I’m A Celebrity feels shrouded in shame. Designed to be a social experiment for celebrities, the show feels as though it’s actually one for the general public. One that they have totally failed.
Racism within British reality TV is far from a new concept.
In fact, from what I’ve observed, Black women and women of colour overwhelmingly face the worst conditions on reality shows, either through underrepresentation, treatment by other contestants or reception from the general public.
This year alone, we’ve seen fans sharing their theory over why EastEnders star Balvinder Sopal has been voted onto the most Strictly dance-offs ever (believing racism is the reason), and Love Island was once more criticised for ostracising the only Black female contestant.
Balvinder Sopal, the only female person of colour on Strictly this year, has been in the dance-off five times (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)
Even before I’m A Celebrity had started airing this year, I could have put good money on Alex Scott being the first to leave. The UK public is simply that predictable.
In a University of Nottingham study, Dr Tom Lane studied 35 series of Big Brother, comprising 465 contestants, and found ‘there is indeed strong evidence of discriminatory patterns of behaviour against ethnic minorities on British reality TV’ and that the scourge of this age-old bigotry had yet to be ‘stamped out’ of Britain.
Former Love Island star Whitney Adebayo recently spoke out about the racism she has received after appearing on the Sidemen’s reality show, Inside.
‘What I’ve encountered more than anything is the reality of racism. I understand that being in the spotlight [brings] criticism, but what I’ve experienced the past few days goes beyond criticism. This [is] evil, hatred and pure racism and should not be tolerated,’ she said in March.
In 2020, former The Only Way is Essex star Vas Morgan claimed costars uttered vile racist slurs to him, which led to the show introducing an anti-racism policy. The same year, X Factor’s Misha B accused the show of portraying her as the ‘angry black woman’.
Whitney Adebayo faced horrendous racism following her appearance on the Sidemen’s reality show, Inside (Picture: Euan Cherry/Getty Images)
The lack of conversation around this pervasive form of seeming racism in I’m A Celeb feels significant, especially as ITV has been called out for racism before on Love Island responded.
At the time, ITV publicly addressed this, saying: ‘We would take any suggestion that any editorial decisions are made based on race very seriously indeed and would refute this in the strongest possible terms.’
Clearly, this is not enough, and when it comes to reality TV, more needs to be done – measurable action needs to be taken.
The examples of overt and covert racism are manifold – and the latest developments on I’m A Celebrity prove that this nationwide unconscious bias is going nowhere.
There are small things that can be done to improve the state of reality TV, and how PoC contestants are received.
Alex and Eddie deserved better (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
Some of the responsibility falls on the shows themselves. They need to stop platforming provocative right-wing figures (otherwise before we know it, we’ll be crowning Tommy Robinson as King of the Jungle) and production teams must offer more proactive support for stars in this social media era.
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However, when it comes to the public’s voting habits, it’s clear that a bigger cultural shift needs to happen about how we view race in the UK, and that won’t be achieved overnight.
That kind of change needs the efforts of politicians, the media and everyday people to come together to prove the UK is a meaningfully diverse hub.
Then, perhaps one day we’ll see a break to this grim streak on I’m A Celebrity.
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Metro has reached out to ITV and the BBC for comment.
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