OPINION: The popular YouTuber was crowned the new King of the Jungle, stealing the victory from the real winner.
I’m A Celebrity viewers crowned Angry Ginge the new King of the Jungle (Image: James Gourley/ITV/Shutterstock)
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! has officially wrapped for another year, and I think it’s clear that the public picked the wrong person to be crowned the new King of the Jungle. It’s been less than 12 hours since Angry Ginge was crowned the new reigning champion, usurping 2024 winner Danny Jones on Sunday night (December 8). The announcement came as quite a surprise to many of the millions of viewers tuning in to the grand finale, with bookies previously predicting that Shona would come out as the show’s 25th victor at the end of the night.
Bookies pipped the EastEnders icon to steal the ITV crown out of the three finalists, according to Oddschecker. Aitch had also been a favourite to win for most of the series, but he was voted out the night before the final, which prompted some fans to demand a vote recount.
There’s no doubt the 24-year-old influencer, whose real name is Morgan Burtwhistle, was enjoyable to watch, but he was definitely the wrong person to take the crown. For one, he was virtually unknown to the vast majority of viewers before he entered the jungle.
It is believed that his involvement in the ITV reality show was a last-ditch effort to boost viewing figures for the winter show, which has been declining over the last couple of years.
Boasting an impressive 1.4million followers on YouTube, the star has only made very minor appearances on TV before now, instead succeeding on the video platform. The Mancunian streamer represents a new era of creators who are meant to appeal to Gen Z viewers tuning in at home.
However, for many viewers, it was challenging to get behind the young influencer, whom they knew nothing about, compared to his fellow campmates, such as Jack Osbourne, Martin Kemp, and Ruby Wax.
EastEnders’ Shona McGarty was the rightful new Queen of the Jungle (Image: James Gourley/ITV/Shutterstock)
Unfortunately, even his involvement struggled to bring viewers back to the show, with the series losing one million viewers every night within the first week since its launch. On the lower viewing figures from last year, ITV sources told the Mail at the time: “It’s all in the consolidated figures, Aitch and Angry Ginge’s fans will not be sitting down to watch it live, Gen Z tend to watch on catch-up.”
After watching the trio grow together on the show, it was nice to get to know the fiery redhead, but I, for one, developed a much stronger love for the beloved noughties EastEnders star.
As a long-standing fan of the show for several years, it was nice to see what the actress was really like away from the soap. She was candid in her confessions in camp, opening up about calling off her engagement months before stepping into the jungle and sharing her passion for music.
The raven-haired beauty really allowed fans to get to know the real person behind the character and allowed us to fall in love with her bubbly personality and impressive singing voice, which could be a new career venture for her after leaving the jungle.
EastEnders’ Shona McGarty was the rightful new Queen of the Jungle (Image: James Gourley/ITV/Shutterstock)
Unfortunately, even his involvement struggled to bring viewers back to the show, with the series losing one million viewers every night within the first week since its launch. On the lower viewing figures from last year, ITV sources told the Mail at the time: “It’s all in the consolidated figures, Aitch and Angry Ginge’s fans will not be sitting down to watch it live, Gen Z tend to watch on catch-up.”
After watching the trio grow together on the show, it was nice to get to know the fiery redhead, but I, for one, developed a much stronger love for the beloved noughties EastEnders star.
As a long-standing fan of the show for several years, it was nice to see what the actress was really like away from the soap. She was candid in her confessions in camp, opening up about calling off her engagement months before stepping into the jungle and sharing her passion for music.
The raven-haired beauty really allowed fans to get to know the real person behind the character and allowed us to fall in love with her bubbly personality and impressive singing voice, which could be a new career venture for her after leaving the jungle.
Not only that, but it was clear to anyone with eyes that she and her fellow campmate Aitch had sizzling chemistry in the camp, and who doesn’t love to root for a jungle romance? Plus, it would have been lovely to see another woman level out the scales as the new Queen of the Jungle, with Jill Scott being the last woman to take the crown in 2022.
As much as the funny lad from Manchester brought humour to the show, I wouldn’t be surprised if we still didn’t know his name in 12 months’ time, like we would for the other finalists. I’d say that attempting to draw in a younger audience is a lost cause in this day and age. Despite Aitch and Angry Ginge appealing to Gen Z, they are a lot less likely to tune in for the show.
Surely it would make more sense to appeal to their loyal viewership by appealing to the masses and recruiting campmates that are well known to all age groups, such as TV presenters, music icons, and acting legends. But only time will tell which way the ITV show will go.
