Sam Thompson said winning was “a dream come true”
By Ian Youngs
Entertainment & arts reporter
An average audience of 6.6 million watched this year’s finale of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, overnight ratings show.
Made In Chelsea star Sam Thompson was crowned king of the jungle in the ITV reality show’s final on Sunday.
Thompson held off competition from boxer Tony Bellew and former UKIP and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage.
Viewing figures will be significantly higher when those watching later and on other platforms are added.
Although overnight figures have been lower than last year’s, consolidated figures show episodes have generally attracted audiences of well over eight million – making it still one of the most popular programmes ITV makes.
Of the three finalists, Thompson was the bookmakers’ favourite to win. The reality star and DJ, who has ADHD, endeared himself to many viewers with his positive personality and attitude.
Former heavyweight Bellew was second, with Farage – who was the best-paid campmate with a reported £1.5m fee – in third.
Figures released by ITV show Thompson won with 56.6% of the vote, to Bellew’s 43.4%.
The earlier vote, before Nigel Farage was eliminated, saw the politician take 25.8% of the vote share, against Bellew’s 30.9% and Thompson’s 43.3%.
The three finalists were among 12 celebrities who entered the Australian jungle three weeks ago – although Bellew and Frankie Dettori joined a few days after the launch.
Thompson said he was “really overwhelmed” by his win, adding: “I didn’t think I was even going to be invited onto this show, let alone be sat here [on the winner’s throne].”
He told viewers: “I am so grateful, thank you so much. I’ve dreamed of doing this show and being invited on for years and years, and you’ve just made a boy’s dream come true.”
Popular winner
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.
That positivity came despite being asked to eat items including a pig’s vagina and a camel’s penis in the last bushtucker trial.
Image source, ITV/Shutterstock
Left-right: Sam Thompson, Tony Bellew and Nigel Farage were in the final
Thompson has improved on his third-place finish on Celebrity Big Brother in 2017. He left Made In Chelsea in 2019 and currently hosts a show on Hits Radio and co-presented the official Love Island podcast.
Thompson’s girlfriend is Zara McDermott, who found fame on Love Island before moving to Made In Chelsea and then this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.
She posted a video of herself with other supporters cheering when Thompson was named the I’m A Celebrity… winner.
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On the way to the I’m A Celebrity 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 the 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 more than 800 complaints to media regulator Ofcom.
An average of 8.3 million people watched the show every night during the first two weeks of the series, according to consolidated ratings, which are not yet available for the final week.
That is down by more than two million on the same period last year, when footballer Jill Scott went on to win.
However, the 2022 series attracted a higher audience than the previous year due to the huge media interest in former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who finished third.
Asked recently whether Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was a potential future campmate, Dec said: “I think we do a year without any politicians.”
“Agreed, agreed, agreed,” Ant responded.
