Sam Thompson sort of helped Ellie Leach win I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
King of the Jungle Sam Thompson ‘helped’ Ellie Leach win Strictly Come Dancing.
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! star didn’t land from his Australia flight, and head straight to Ellie and Vito Coppola’s final training session to dish advice on how to perfect their step-ball-change into a leap. Although, we love the idea of that scene taking place.
Instead simply by winning the ITV series, he contributed to a pattern that increased Ellie’s chances.
Ever since 2012, if the winner of I’m A Celebrity is male then the winner of Strictly is female, and vice versa.
It all began in 2012 with Louis Smith taking home the Strictly win and Charlie Brooks reigning supreme in the jungle.
Following suit have been ten more pairs – Abbey Clancy and Kian Egan, Caroline Flack and Carl Fogarty, Jay McGuiness and Vicky Pattison, Ore Oduba and Scarlett Moffatt, Joe McFadden and Georgia Toffolo, Stacey Dooley and Harry Redknapp, Kelvin Fletcher and Jacqueline Jossa, Bill Bailey and Giovanni Fletcher, Rose Ayling-Ellis and Danny Miller, and finally Hamzin Yassin and Jill Scott.
Sam and Ellie are both champions (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
The trend was pointed out by TV critic Ian Hyland who took to X, formerly Twitter, to share his prediction that Ellie, 22, would secure the Glitterball trophy before she even performed a single high kick on Saturday night. He believed the win was hers, as she was the only female finalist – Ellie’s competitors were Layton Williams and Bobby Brazier.
‘Random fact ahead of tonight’s #StrictlyFinal. Since McFly’s double triumph in 2011, whenever a man has won I’m A Celeb a woman has won Strictly – and whenever a woman has won I’m A Celeb a man has won Strictly.’
Harry Judd won Strictly in 2011, while his bandmate Dougie Poutner become victorious in the jungle.
He concluded: ‘So yeah, thanks to Sam Thompson, Ellie is winning tonight.’
Ellie and Vito are Strictly 2024 champions (Picture: PA)
After his prediction came true he simply wrote: ‘Well.’
Of course, it was mainly Ellie’s hard work and talent that secured her the win but it is a very interested pattern!
Sam didn’t get to keep his sceptre (Picture: James Gourley/ITV/Shutterstock)
Sam, whose girlfriend Zara McDermott also competed on Strictly, got to meet and congratulate Ellie on This Morning. The 31-year-old was impressed that Ellie got given a mini version of the Glitterball trophy.
On the other hand, Sam doesn’t have the crown or sceptre which were both handed to him as a symbol of his I’m A Celebrity win.
‘I didn’t keep any of it! They wouldn’t let me keep it! I really wanted to bring the sceptre back through airport security. I don’t have anything to show for it,’ he joked.
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Sam’s thank-you card is in the post.