27 April 2023 , 23:01
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According to a new survey, we each have 11 punch the air moments per week.
One of mine definitely arrived just before 10pm on Monday.
That was when Shaun Ryder realised his worst nightmare had turned up in the I’m A Celebrity… South Africa camp, with her hair in braids like a Madge from Benidorm tribute act.
Shaun’s short, sharp, shocked reaction to his old jungle nemesis, former TV poo-whisperer Gillian McKeith, was the perfect cliffhanger for the launch episode: “Oh.”
Not that we needed a cliffhanger. I’d been enjoying the show so much, I couldn’t wait for Tuesday’s instalment to drop.
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And if that news surprises you, then just imagine how I felt. I’d been fully expecting this three-week “All-Stars” challenge to be even more of a pointless anti-climax than last Sunday’s emergency alert.
Former hellraiser Shaun in camp (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)The line-up didn’t seem that legend-filled. It was all pre-recorded last year, so there would be no real jeopardy. And ITV has acquired a habit of ruining formats by milking them to death.
Plus, to be perfectly honest, I was still harbouring residual bad-feeling following last year’s grubby affair with Matt Hancock.
And yet. All it took to reel me in was the spectacle of Paul Burrell expertly reprising his camp horror show from 2004 as he shoved his hand in a dark hole for his very first task. The fact that his latest torture was accompanied by a giggling Shaun, who was duly admonished by an indignant Janice Dickinson (“Stop laughing you pig!”) merely added to the fun.
The laughter and the nonsense continued pretty much all week, with stuff like Phil Tufnell’s P&S word game reminding us of simpler campfire days.
We’ve also had showbiz anecdotes aplenty from seasoned veterans who clearly have no care for cancel culture.
If you’d like a real indicator of just how entertaining it has been though, look no further than the two gurning Geordie fellas in the summer shirts who clearly had a whale of time making this show.
In particular giddy Ant, who could not contain his joy as he asked Amir Khan – a boxer, remember – whether his favourite supermarket was Spar.
What’s that?
Did Ant also ask Dec what his favourite supermarket was?
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No, he didn’t. But I’m guessing it’s Lidl.