Sam Thompson has reacted to Nigel Farage’s huge fee (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
Sam Thompson has been floored by Nigel Farage’s reported payday for I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
The Made In Chelsea star was recently crowned the new King of the Jungle with boxing legend Tony Bellew coming in as the runner-up, and former UKIP leader Nigel in third place.
It’s been reported that the politician landed a massive £1.5 million fee for his stint in Australia – making him the highest-paid campmate ever – and this year’s winner was baffled to hear the figure.
After being told the reported amount, he told The Times: ‘Was he? Bloody hell! I didn’t have a clue. You could buy five houses for that!’
Sam insisted his own jungle experience wasn’t about the money or a ‘career move’, and he’d have happily gone on the show out of his own pocket.
‘Mate, I would have done it for anything! I would have been a very, very easy negotiation. I would have paid them to be on it,’ he said.
Sam was crowd King of the Jungle with Tony Bellew the runner-up and Nigel in third place (Picture: James Gourley/ITV/Shutterstock)
Instead of wanting a hefty paycheque, the reality star and radio presenter simply wanted to get to know hosts Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly, and tackle some gross Bushtucker Trials.
‘It wasn’t monetary, or a career move, I genuinely wanted to go and eat camel’s penis,’ he added. ‘I wanted to meet Ant and Dec, they’re my heroes, the most iconic people of my life.’
According to the MailOnline last month, Farage’s 2023 fee is the most I’m A Celeb has splashed out on a star since Noel Edmonds, who received £600,000 in 2018.
Following the finale of the I’m A Celebrity, it was revealed that Farage picked up 25.78% of the vote, trailing behind Sam on 43.35% and Tony with 30.87%.
Show bosses were met with significant public backlash when news of his casting on the long-running reality series was announced, but he ended up making it to the final three.
Nigel’s booking was met with fierce backlash (Picture: James Gourley/ITV/Shutterstock)
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‘A lot of people said to me, don’t do it, it’ll be a disaster. It’ll demean you. People will never look at you seriously again,’ he recently said on GB News.
‘I said to them all “Don’t be such stuffed shirts”. I think it is worth the gamble and people will see who I really am, as opposed to who they think, perhaps I am.’
Despite clearly picking up some public support, behind the scenes there were some tense moments between Farage and I’m A Celebrity bosses after he decided to shower naked.
Producers were anything but impressed, but when they told him off, he responded by telling them to ‘go to hell’.
He continued to The Sun: ‘Sam did not shower naked and Sam did not check himself. Sam woke up one morning screaming – the leech was huge. It was on his a*** and the sleeping bag looked like a murder scene.
‘So, there were very good reasons [to be naked].’
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The King of the Jungle had no idea.