Maya Jama Shares Her Thoughts on the I’m A Celebrity… South Africa Final
Maya Jama has shared her perspective on the chaotic events that unfolded during the live final of I’m A Celebrity… South Africa. The episode saw the remaining contestants return to the studio for the final challenge, where things quickly spiraled into disarray.
The final was marked by a series of intense moments. David Haye erupted in anger at Emmerdale actor Adam Thomas, while Jimmy Bullard launched a furious rant at hosts Ant and Dec over the editing of certain clips. Meanwhile, Sinitta and Gemma Collins both stormed off stage during the broadcast.
As a presenter on ITV’s Love Island since January 2023, Maya Jama took to social media to express her thoughts on the incident. She retweeted a clip capturing the chaos and added: ‘Didn’t watch but from this clip alone… This is why I love live TV so much & hosting the aftersun show because barely any channels do it anymore out of fear of what can go wrong but people want real reactions and an edited show will never compete to the live experience! Ant and Dec I love you forever also x.’
Her post sparked a wave of responses from fans, many of whom agreed with her sentiment. Some comments included:
- ‘Lol this is where British TV thrives tbh — unfiltered and messy af.’
- ‘You’re absolutely right, live TV adds a real edge.’
- ‘I also love live TV for this like LI Allstars final when Kyra called out Jack you was confused but said well come to you Jack to say your bit Ant & Dec handled this well.’
- ‘Love islander viewers yearn for messy live tv.’
- ‘People love drama, violence and celebrities were ruining their lives on live TV. This would bring back British television.’
- ‘Yeah live TV chaos is unmatched.’
- ‘We need live TV more often.’
During the final, Ant and Dec gave Jimmy Bullard the opportunity to speak after he alleged that Adam Thomas had used the ‘C-word’ during a previous clash when he pulled the plug on the show early last year. Jimmy admitted that he had to leave for personal reasons and that if he hadn’t said ‘I’m A Celebrity’ in the challenge, he wouldn’t have received his full pay.
‘Listen, Adam and all of you can be upset with me and I absolutely threw him under the bus, I get it and I’ll wear that’, Jimmy said. ‘But what I don’t stand on, is someone being abusive, aggressive and intimidating, I don’t stand on that.’
Welcoming Ant and Dec to share their opinion, Jimmy added: ‘You [pointing to the hosts] were there and you didn’t show any of that [footage].’
‘You didn’t show any of the C-bombs, it’s a liberty’, Jimmy fumed.
Ant argued: ‘The reason we didn’t air the C-bomb is because that is unbroadcastable. I was there and I didn’t think it was intimidating. I was there Jim.’
During Adam’s turn to speak, he said: ‘I take full responsibility for my actions and yes emotions were definitely running high in that moment. I have nothing but love for Jimmy in that moment. I have apologised to Jimmy on numerous occasions and I do take everything that he is saying into account and the only thing I can do is apologise. That is not how I want to show myself off and I have never shown myself off like that before or after that. I do apologise Jimmy.’
‘Funny way of showing it’, David interjected before Ant and Dec furiously told him to stop interrupting.
David continued: ‘I like to say how I see it, I like to keep it real and what I have seen is a lot of editing to make this poor guy [pointing to Adam] the victim so the people will support him. We all had banter back and forth, a lot of it was cut out from there side. But I think it is time for the truth.’
Storming off stage, Sinitta yelled at the audience: ‘Guys, you weren’t there, I was there and it was aggressive and abusive, we were shaking.’
Jimmy shouted in the background: ‘You can’t be aggressive, abusive and intimating, it doesn’t matter if Adam said sorry. I will not take you [Ant] saying it wasn’t aggressive, abusive and intimating, you can’t say that. Show it, let everyone watch it, let’s play it now!’
Ant and Dec wrapped up: ‘Right, let’s leave it there. We’ll agree to disagree Jim.’
In the scenes that did air of the fiery clash, Adam could be seen shouting at his co-star: ‘Jimmy, are you fing taking the p? I am in there getting covered in f***ing ants.’ Jimmy replied: ‘Woah, calm down. That’s pathetic.’
However, Craig and several other co-stars have since claimed that Adam dropped the C-bomb multiple times in unaired scenes.
I’m A Celebrity… South Africa airs on ITV.
