ANT McPartlin owned up to giving Dean McCullough some tough love on I’m A Celeb during the Radio 1 star’s exit interview tonight.
While discussing the sheer amount of Bushtucker Trials that he was put through, Dean ended up confronting the I’m A Celeb show host about his ‘harsh’ treatment.
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Turning to Ant, Dean exclaimed: “You were so harsh! What was going on?”
Ant decided it was time to level with the reality star, and responded: “Let me explain why, Dean. I was very angry with you for calling I’m a Celebrity.”
McPartlin is referring to one of two incidents where Dean stopped his trial partway through, despite being capable of completing the challenge.
His co-host Dec rushed to add: “But that was because we felt that the trial was doable. And you panicked over the sand in sarcophagus.”
Undeterred, Ant continued with his explanation, firmly saying: “You could have done the trial. Then that tough love kind of got you through.”
The presenter admitted that he was really proud of Dean for becoming braver as he tackled more trials and stopped screaming or quitting partway through.
He praised him for his newfound courage, adding: “By the time you got on the flying challenge, you were brilliant, absolutely brilliant. See, I knew you could do it.
“I knew you could do it and you did it in the end. So that’s the good thing.
“You can leave here now with your head held high. If you’d only done a couple of trials, and called I’m A Celebrity, you’d be forever disappointed.”
Dean agreed with Ant’s verdict, and even thanked the show host for convincing him to keep going – even if that sometimes came in the form of an angry outburst.
One of the pair’s showdowns took place when Dean had to tackle a trial that involved putting his head inside of containers while different creepy crawlies were poured over his neck.
After facing cockroaches, crickets, mealworms and spiders, the star panicked when he felt an unknown wet substance against his skin.
Ant and Dec had given him the option of knowing what was going to be dropped on him but Dean begged the presenting duo not to tell him.
However, this backfired when fish guts were dumped on him and he couldn’t deal with the uncertainty of what it was he had in the cage with him.
Dean quickly screamed: “I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!” leaving Ant fuming.