I'm A Celebrity winner named after Sam Thompson, Tony Bellew and Nigel Farage made final

11 months ago 19
ARTICLE AD BOX

 Sam Thompson, Tony Bellew & Nigel FarageImage source, ITV/Shutterstock

Image caption,

Left-right: Sam Thompson, Tony Bellew and Nigel Farage were in the final

By Ian Youngs

Entertainment & arts reporter

Made In Chelsea star Sam Thompson has been crowned king of the jungle after being voted the winner of this year's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

Thompson held off competition from boxer Tony Bellew and former UKIP and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage in the ITV reality show's final on Sunday.

The 31-year-old was the bookmakers' odds-on favourite to win.

Former heavyweight Bellew was second, with Farage - who was the best-paid campmate with a £1.5m fee - in third.

They were among 12 celebrities who entered the Australian jungle three weeks ago.

Thompson said he was "really overwhelmed" by winning, adding: "I didn't even think I was going to be invited onto the show, let alone this.

"I am so grateful, thank you so much, I've dreamed of doing this show for years and years and you made this boy's dream come true."

Thompson's likeable and enthusiastic personality proved to be a hit with viewers.

Earlier on Sunday's final, he said being on the show had been "like a dream that I don't even want you to wake me up from".

"I've had the best time and I'm the luckiest person in the world," he told hosts Ant & Dec.

On the way to the final, Thompson was praised for talking about receiving an ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) diagnosis last year.

"I'm not ashamed of having ADHD in any way," he said last week. "But I know that I would have felt better about myself at school if I had been diagnosed with it at a younger age.

"Because I really was just like, 'I just suck at everything.'"

Farage 'thrilled' with third

Farage's supporters rallied for him to win, but the GB News presenter said he "couldn't be more thrilled" with the third-placed finish.

Despite some disagreements during the show, the divisive political figure said he was surprised other contestants were so nice to him.

"It was interesting. Obviously there were people there that have very different views on Brexit and other subjects, and I never raised one political debate in there - not one in the whole time I was there," he said.

"Others did with me, but I think I managed to persuade them that we should respect the right of the other person to have a different point of view. And I had no screaming arguments... But we had proper debates. And I think in the end, I hope, the other candidates respected my point of view."

However, a heated conversation about immigration between Farage and YouTuber Nella Rose attracted 856 complaints to media regulator Ofcom.

Read Entire Article