‘I’m A Celebrity’ bullies get a taste of raw reality

Bushtucker Barbie Georgia was one of the only shining lights in a series of grinding misery

I’m A Celebrity winner Georgia Toffolo. Screengrab: ITV
I’m A Celebrity winner Georgia Toffolo. Screengrab: ITV

"Where can you go from a pig's vagina?" inquired a perma-tanned Joe Swash at the end of a very long three weeks in the jungle. Where indeed.

This was the final indignity for Iain Lee, forced to munch on a sow's sex organ on primetime telly. Lee will probably appear on Celebrity Masterchef in a couple of months, offering up some version of this to a tight-lipped Marcus Wareing while a baffled Gregg Wallace wonders where to dip his chips.

It didn't matter anyway. Even after this monstrous meal, Lee failed to win the voters' hearts on I'm a Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here! and was sidelined, coming third behind ex-Hollyoaks bloke Jamie Lomas.

Uncomfortable viewing

The soap actor was one of the trio of alpha male bullies (which also included boxer Amir Khan and footballer Dennis Wise) who constantly attempted to belittle socially awkward Lee, making for extremely uncomfortable viewing even for the more soulless among us. When confronted by Ant and Dec with footage of Amir's antics that caused the infamous "strawberries and cream" incident, Lomas shrugged off the accusations with a shake of his head and a hollow laugh. A win for Lomas would have acted as a grim endorsement of these ultra-masculine manboys, the cherry on top of the critter-filled cake of a reality show that prides itself on cruelty and humiliation.

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Thankfully, lumbering Lomas was pipped to the post by dear Georgia "Toff" Toffolo, the unstoppable Bushtucker Barbie who was one of the only shining lights in a series of grinding misery. She rose to every challenge placed before her with a winning smile – whether picking at an ostrich's foot or listening to Dennis Wise drone on about football.

Hate figure

Toff was sent into the jungle as a surefire hate figure, the bumbling posho who once forgot she had to actually go to work, the Made in Chelsea socialite who probably never boiled a kettle or has even heard of having a bag of cans. Her win, like Vicky Pattison's from Geordie Shore before her, proves that reality telly has room for redemption; there's always time to change the wider public's perception.

Shows like I'm a Celebrity . . . or Big Brother offer the reality star a chance to escape the narrow confines of the characteristics they are known for. Pattison showed she was a loveable Northerner, not some bed-hopping harridan, and Toff proved she was made of sterner stuff than her fanciful persona.