Strapped for cash? I’m A Celeb’s Jimmy Bullard says he was on the show ‘for the money’ and discussed terms of leaving with producers as star explains the contract ‘was big for him and his family’ during tense finale

Jimmy Bullard openly shared he went on I’m A Celebrity South Africa ‘for the money’ and discussed his contract’s terms of leaving before he pulled the plug on the show.

Adam Thomas was crowned Jungle Legend, after a chaotic and tense live final in London on Friday night.

The finale descended into complete mayhem as Jimmy accused Adam of being ‘abusive, aggressive and intimidating’ during an expletive row in the pre-recorded show last year, after he quit mid-trial with Adam and not on his own back in camp.

Former footballer Jimmy, 47, who left the show for ‘personal reasons’, admitted that if he quit the show during the trial he would get paid in full, but if he quit the show back in camp it meant he got a ‘small percentage’ of his outlined pay.

Defending the way in which he chose to quit, Jimmy explained that the money was ‘big for him and his family’.

During his first stint on I’m A Celeb in 2014, it was claimed that Jimmy opted to go into the jungle for monetary concerns after losing £625,000 in an investment scheme.

Adam Thomas was crowned Jungle Legend, after a chaotic and tense live final in London on Friday night

‘Why, oh why, did you say I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here?’, Ant asked Jimmy. 

Jimmy explained: ‘When we went down to the trial, it was originally for stars so then I chose Adam. Then you sprung a big light bulb moment in my head and said “The bottom two get to go home”. So I didn’t choose Adam after that, I didn’t know anyone was going home.

‘That’s the first thing I have to get off my chest, I didn’t have it in for this boy [Adam], never have done.’

Jimmy confirmed that he did tell Adam, production and Craig that he was about to ‘pull the plug’ on the show before the challenge.

Before quitting the show, Jimmy said he asked a member of production to discuss his contract with him for monetary purposes.

Jimmy added: ‘This is another important thing – my contract is pro rata’.

‘What is it with footballers and contracts?’, Ant joked. 

‘It’s all a job for us. It’s a job for me and that money is big for me and my family’, Jimmy urged. ‘I made my mind up in that light bulb moment, I was going home.

‘I had to go home for personal reasons, that is why I took Adam. And then all hell broke.’

During I’m A Celebrity’s spin-off show Unpacked, Craig Charles was asked what he thought on the subject.

‘Well it is all for the money, that’s why we’re here’, he added.

Jimmy shared that if he quit the show during the trial he would get paid in full, but if he quit the show back in camp it meant he got a ‘small percentage’ of his outlined pay

Jimmy confirmed that he did tell Adam, production and Craig that he was about to ‘pull the plug’ on the show before the challenge

This year’s All Stars series has been plagued with bullying rows and controversial spats between feuding cast mates – Adam, Jimmy and David Haye.

As hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly struggled to control the fiery trio during the finale, Gemma Collins and Sinitta stormed off stage in fury.

Ant and Dec gave Jimmy the opportunity to speak after Adam allegedly called him the ‘C-word’ in an explosive clash when he pulled the plug on the show early last year.

‘Listen, Adam and all of you can be upset with me and I absolutely threw him under the bus, I get it and I’ll wear that’, Jimmy said. ‘But what I don’t stand on, is someone being abusive, aggressive and intimidating, I don’t stand on that.’

Welcoming Ant and Dec to share their opinion on the matter, Jimmy said: ‘You [pointing to the hosts] were there and you didn’t show any of that [footage].’

‘You didn’t show any of the C-bombs, it’s a liberty’, Jimmy fumed. 

Ant argued: ‘The reason we didn’t air the C-bomb is because that is unbroadcastable. I was there and I didn’t think it was intimidating. I was there Jim.’

During Adam’s opportunity to speak, he said: ‘I take full responsibility for my actions and yes emotions were definitely running high in that moment.

‘I have nothing but love for Jimmy in that moment. I have apologised to Jimmy on numerous occasions and I do take everything that he is saying into account and the only thing I can do is apologise. 

‘That is not how I want to show myself off and I have never shown myself off like that before or after that. I do apologise Jimmy.’ 

‘Funny way of showing it’, David interjected before Ant and Dec furiously told him to stop interrupting. 

David continued: ‘I like to say how I see it, I like to keep it real and what I have seen is a lot of editing to make this poor guy [pointing to Adam] the victim so the people will support him.

‘We all had banter back and forth, a lot of it was cut out from there side. But I think it is time for the truth.’ 

Storming off stage, Sinitta yelled at the audience: ‘Guys, you weren’t there, I was there and it was aggressive and abusive, we were shaking.’

Jimmy shouted in the background: ‘You can’t be aggressive, abusive and intimating, it doesn’t matter if Adam said sorry. I will not take you [Ant] saying it wasn’t aggressive, abusive and intimating, you can’t say that. Show it, let everyone watch it, let’s play it now!’

Ant and Dec wrapped up: ‘Right, let’s leave it there. We’ll agree to disagree Jim.’

This year’s All Stars series has been plagued with bullying rows and controversial spats between feuding cast mates – Adam, Jimmy and David Haye 

The finale descended into complete mayhem as Jimmy accused Adam of being ‘abusive, aggressive and intimidating’ during an expletive row in the pre-recorded show last year

As hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly struggled to control the fiery trio, Gemma Collins and Sinitta stormed off stage in fury

Storming off stage, Sinitta yelled at the audience: ‘Guys, you weren’t there, I was there and it was aggressive and abusive, we were shaking’

After airing Adam’s final eating trial in Friday night’s show, which fans branded ‘horrendous’, Gemma Collins urged: ‘He will forever be my hero, Adam. He so deserves to win!’

Looking visibly unhappy with the praise Adam was receiving, David interrupted hosts Ant and Dec to ask: ‘Do you think he deserves to win this after calling Jimmy the C-word a couple of times?’

‘Yeh after that challenge I do think I deserve to win’, Adam proudly replied. 

‘Don’t you think you should ask Jimmy whether he thinks he deserves to win?’, David added. ‘Because there was a lot of that stuff cut out of it.’ 

As Ant and Dec tried to control the situation, Dec urged: ‘We will come to this, we are going to ask Jimmy later and we will speak to you as well.’

‘There was a lot of stuff that was said that was unbroadcastable [sic]’, Ant confirmed.

In the scenes that did air of the fiery clash in 2025, Adam could be seen shouting at his co-star: ‘Jimmy, are you f***ing taking the p***? I am in there getting covered in f***ing ants.’

Jimmy replied: ‘Woah, calm down. That’s pathetic.’

However, Craig and several other co-stars have since claimed that Adam dropped the C-bomb multiple times in unaired scenes. 

Craig Charles finished in fourth place, with Harry Redknapp and Mo Farah placing second and third.

Earlier in the episode, Adam awkwardly glossed over his aggressive row with Jimmy as he addressed the ‘drama’ for the first time.

‘It certainly hasn’t been short of drama this year’, Declan quipped as he kicked off the live final.

Addressing the drama in camp for the first time, Adam said: ‘I know there was a lot of drama that went on in a lot of camp but honestly we had the best time and I am just thankful I got to share so many memories with these guys.’

Former footballer Jimmy listened closely in the audience to what Adam had to say following a string of ‘bullying rows’ that has plagued this year’s show.

‘It’s not going to kick off, what a shame’, Ant laughed, unaware of what was to come. 

Amongst some cheers, Adam was greeted by a smattering of boos as he took to the stage.

Viewers on X seem to be very divided in the feud, with some saying they’re not mad ITV cut down the fight between Adam and Jimmy.

Fans wrote: ‘I hope Adam is okay. David Haye is just making himself look more like a bully. We know Adam called Jimmy a C*** but they couldn’t air it due to the word. We don’t give a toss. It’s a word that is used often, Jimmy would’ve been called worse in football’,

‘Adam does not deserve to win. He was the first bully and couldn’t take it back. Regardless if jimmy wanting out thats no way to behave’,

‘What an absolute fool David H is, a big grown man acting up makes him even more unpopular should be ashamed of himself definitely NOT a team player !!!!’

Adam failed to appear on This Morning for promotional interviews alongside Harry, Mo and Craig on Friday. 

Instead, his campmate Craig spoke on the show about the ‘bullying rows’ and said he feared the Adam was going ‘attack’ campmate Jimmy during expletive-filled row over a jungle trial. 

Opening up about the incident, Craig said: ‘They watered down the Jimmy Bullard incident, it was unbroadcastable as it was.

‘It was deeply traumatic and really upsetting, it was between the two of them, Adam was so wound up, he was so aggressive, like a coiled up spring, it looked like he was going to attack Jimmy.

‘He was dropping f-bombs and c-bombs… It really was traumatic and they couldn’t broadcast it, and I’m not blaming ITV, they couldn’t [put it out].’

Craig added of the incident: ‘They had to water down what [viewers saw] but they didn’t water down our responses, so people were thinking, “Oh, it wasn’t that bad, why are they picking on Adam?”

‘We weren’t picking on Adam at all, it was just what he did.’ 

Craig Charles finished in fourth place, with Harry Redknapp and Mo Farah placing second and third 

‘It certainly hasn’t been short of drama this year’, Declan Donnelly quipped as he kicked off the live final

This week, Adam revealed he was receiving therapy on his At Home With The Thomas Bros podcast, as he emotionally said his ‘feud’ with boxer David ‘f***ed’ with him.

Breaking down in tears, Adam said: ‘It was like being back in school again and although it wasn’t physical bullying or anything like that, and I’m not saying it’s bullying, but he was just mind f***ing me. 

‘And I just never stuck up for myself whilst I was in there and I was like “s**t bro, I wish I stuck up for myself”. That was beating me up more than anything.’

He continued: ‘I’m not the same person, like I know for a fact I am not the same person as I was when I went into the jungle to when I came out. It’s changed me and that’s no over exaggeration.

‘I’m in therapy now because, like it’s f***ed with me mentally because I just thought, “How is this happening? I’m a 37-year-old man”. I’m like, “How am I letting some other person do this to me in here?”‘

David has continued to take swipes at Adam, including a vile social media jibe as well as claiming the dad-of-two was paid between ‘£20-25k per day’ for his appearance on the ITV show.

The boxer had sparked bullying complaints from viewers over his comments to Adam when he excused himself from the Termite Terror trial over his health.

Adam, who suffers from autoimmune condition psoriatic arthritis, had told his campmates he did not feel well enough to compete.

During his appearance on This Morning, Craig was asked about the ‘bullying’ claims in camp and revealed that the campmates had been unaware that Adam was being affected by such behaviour and suggested ITV ‘didn’t think he was getting bullied enough to step in’.

The Red Dwarf star said: ‘Since we’ve got back, the last few weeks, it’s all been over social media that Harry, Mo and I were not there for Adam when he was getting bullied.

‘Let me tell you a little story, it all started when they were the Rhinos, and me and Adam were Lions, and we were the underdogs – [they had] David Haye the boxer, Harry the gaffer, Ashley Roberts who was fit as a fiddle.

‘You had me, a broken down TV star, Gemma Collins… but we won every challenge and we gave them dogs abuse, me and Adam, over the fence, ribbing them, jest and banter, we wrecked them.

‘We were relentless, we poked the bear, and then David Haye came back at us – now, Adam gave as good as he got, he really did give as good as he got, he was laughing and we didn’t realise he was being emotionally affected by it.

‘He never told us, I asked him yesterday, “Well why didn’t you tell us?” and he said, “I didn’t want to appear weak”. We didn’t know.

‘ITV have got a duty of care, they have got 24/7 people on high definition close ups picking it all out, but they didn’t think he was getting bullied enough to step in – they have a duty of care, they would have stepped in if they thought he was being bullied.

‘We didn’t see it until that final morning when I thought David got a bit nasty, I thought, “This is turning into bullying, this, now” and on that final morning, I found myself in the perfect position, voting people out, I saved Adam knowing that the other two were not going to pick David, thereby ensuring David went home.

‘We were there for him, we didn’t know the extent of his troubles.’

I’M A CELEBRITY ALL-STARS 2026: MEET THE CAMPMATES

 GEMMA COLLINS 

The GC took part in the 14th series of I’m A Celebrity back in 2014

AGE: 45

SERIES: 2014 (14th series) quit after 72 hours 

OCCUPATION: Reality star 

FAMOUS FOR: Gemma, popularly known as The GC, rose to fame on the reality series The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE). She is known for her larger-than-life ‘diva’ persona. 

ASHLEY ROBERTS  

As the 2012 runner-up, Ashley said going on I’m A Celebrity was life-changing 

AGE: 44

SERIES: 2012 runner-up (12th series)

OCCUPATION: Heart Radio presenter, Pussycat Doll

FAMOUS FOR: Ashley Roberts is a showbiz correspondent for Heart Breakfast. She rose to fame in noughties girlband the Pussycat Dolls. 

SIR MO FARAH

Sir Mo Farah, 43, is hoping to conquer his fear of snakes

AGE: 43

SERIES: Fifth place in 2020 (20th series set in Wales)

OCCUPATION: Olympian

FAMOUS FOR: Sir Mo is the most successful British track athlete in modern Olympic history. He won gold in both the 5,000m and 10,000m at both the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

DAVID HAYE 

Former World Champion boxer David Haye thinks nothing will scare him in the jungle

AGE: 45

SERIES: 2012, came in third place (12th series)

OCCUPATION: Boxer

FAMOUS FOR: David is a legendary British former professional boxer. He is one of only three boxers in history to have unified the world titles at cruiserweight and gone on to become a world heavyweight champion.

SCARLETT MOFFATT

Scarlett Moffatt, 35, admitted she was feeling apprehensive about the jungle

AGE: 35

SERIES: 2016 Queen of the jungle (16th series)

OCCUPATION: Reality star 

FAMOUS FOR: Scarlett became a TV favourite after joining Gogglebox. She went on to win I’m A Celebrity in 2016. 

SEANN WALSH

Since Australia, Seann Walsh is now a proud dad of two 

AGE: 40

SERIES: 2022, finished in fifth place (22nd series)

OCCUPATION: Comedian

FAMOUS FOR: Seann Walsh is a comedian who was caught in a cheating scandal when he starred in Strictly in 2016 alongside his professional partner Katya Jones. 

SINITTA 

Sinitta, 62, hopes she will finally conquer her phobia of ‘everything’

AGE: 62

SERIES: 2011, voted out second (11th series)

OCCUPATION: Eighties popstar

FAMOUS FOR: Sinitta, first reached global fame in the 1980s with hits like So Macho and Toy Boy. She was also known for her guest appearances on The X Factor. 

JIMMY BULLARD 

Former footballer Jimmy, 47, will be joining his fellow co-stars Gemma and Craig 

AGE: 47

SERIES: 2014 (10th place)

OCCUPATION: Former footballer

FAMOUS FOR: Known as ‘The Bulldog’, Jimmy was a highly technical and energetic midfielder who became a cult hero for his sense of humour and iconic celebrations. 

ADAM THOMAS

Adam’s son, Teddy, was only two when he first did the Australian jungle

AGE: 37

SERIES: Third place in 2016 (16th series)

OCCUPATION: Actor 

FAMOUS FOR: Adam is famous for starring in Waterloo Road and Emmerdale. He recently returned to Waterloo Road for its 20th anniversary. 

 

 HARRY REDKNAPP 

Harry Redknapp won the 18th series of I’m A Celebrity back in 2018

AGE: 79

SERIES: 18th series in 2018. I’m A Celebrity King Of The Jungle.

OCCUPATION: Legendary football manager

FAMOUS FOR: Harry Redknapp’s career spans over 60 years in professional football, transitioning from a skilful winger to one of the most recognisable managers in Premier League history.

CRAIG CHARLES

Corrie legend Craig, 61, was another celebrity who starred in the 14th series

AGE: 61

SERIES: 2014 quit early

OCCUPATION: Actor

FAMOUS FOR: Craig is most famous for his role as Dave Lister in the cult science-fiction sitcom Red Dwarf and for playing Lloyd Mullaney in the long-running soap opera Coronation Street.

BEVERLEY CALLARD 

Beverley was part of the first series that took place in a Welsh castle in 2020

AGE: 69

SERIES: 2020, came in tenth place (20th series)

OCCUPATION: Actress

FAMOUS FOR: Beverley played Coronation Street’s iconic Liz McDonald on and off for 31 years.