The Second Serve // A Puerile Venture

A lot of people have been saying that recruiting Nigel Farage for the latest series of I’m A Celebrity marks a new low for the show – but that’s getting it a little back to front. The truth is producers have been trying to land Farage as a campmate since at least 2016, but he’s always batted them back.

His advisors had always told him he should hold out for a “better class of show”. So, technically, it marks a new low for Farage.

This time last year, everyone was tying themselves in knots worried about what would be the harvest of Matt Hancock getting a nationally broadcast platform to rehabilitate his image and further his media career.

It was a fair concern – although it vastly overstated the cultural influence of IACGMOOH. Matt clearly thought it was his ticket to the big time though, as he’d been taking a string of meetings with production companies for future TV vehicles.

We mentioned before that he was shopping round an Escape To The Chateau-style series for himself called Hancock’s Holiday Home, but he also started the groundwork of shooting a documentary about himself. However, he ended up pulling it as he found it the process “too raw”.

Josie Gibson is a reality TV veteran, so shouldn’t be too fazed by the jungle. Obviously the IACGMOOH camp exposes its contestants to more extreme conditions than the Big Brother house, but Josie’s not afraid to slum it.

She got the full VIP treatment at Camp Bestival Shropshire last summer with luxury accommodation – yet still somehow managed to make things needlessly disgusting for herself.

She was spotted coming out of one of the public portaloos barefoot.

I’m A Celeb has broadcast some pretty gnarly footage in its 20-odd series, but they did at least spare us some of the worst of it.

Richard Madeley once filmed a segment for IACGMOOH’s spin-off show in which he was made to lie down and have snakes crawl all over him. Producers had to intervene however and request that he do something to tuck his penis in a little more tightly as he was going commando and it kept lolling about conspicuously in his shorts.

On camera, it had the effect that one of the snakes had slithered its way up there and was doing something very unnatural to him.

There’s a skipper who runs cruises around the Whitsunday Islands in Australia who likes to tell British tourists who board his ship about the time he once shagged an English girl who’d been over filming I’m A Celeb.

Sadly, he couldn’t remember her name – only that her favourite position was doggy and that she was very “down to earth”.

We might never have known who this mystery woman was had it not been for one passenger who had brought a copy of Now Magazine on board with them. As they were leafing through it, the skipper saw the lady in question and pointed her out to everyone as the one he’d been talking about.

It was Danniella Westbrook.

I’m A Celebrity is often accused of being low-brow, common denominator drivel, but did you know it once had a big effect on an Adam Curtis documentary?

His series All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace is a reflection on how computers not only failed to offer us the tech-utopian future they once promised, but ended up distorting our understanding of the world.

The title was originally rejected by BBC bosses who told him it was too long and complicated for television – and wouldn’t fit on the electronic programme guide. Until Adam pointed out that I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! had just as many words.

Unable to argue, the bosses relented.

Last week saw music quizzes on the topics of Frank Sinatra, Max Martin, One Hit Wonders and “…& The Somethings” bands.

This week, we’ve got another five weekday quizzes lined up for you to test your weird pop knowledge on. Each round contains ten songs. All you have to do is identify each title and the band/artist that performed it. You get a point for each song and a point for each artist – making twenty points in total per round.

Monday’s Theme: Shittyflute – songs massacred by pennywhistle and kazoo…

Tuesday’s Theme: The Joneses

Rage Against The Machine in a Sonic The Hedgehog style
[Play on YouTube]

Dog Photography Awards 2023
[See them here]

Feed Matt Hancock willies, bumholes and turds
[Play it here]

Profile of Billie Eilish we enjoyed from the weekend
[Read on Variety]