I love reality TV. I’m not fussy about what it is, as long as it’s camp, meme-able and contains plenty of drama then I’m on board.
However, the one big reality TV series I’ve struggled to get on board with is I’m A Celebrity.
As far as reality television goes it’s just so… straight.
To me, it has always seemed to be the show for cricket fans and people who love daytime television without any hint of irony. It hasn’t been for people like me for a long time – if ever.
And I’ve always put that down to the noticeable lack of LGBTQ+ representation in the jungle.
Unlike Big Brother, which just crowned its second consecutive LGBTQ+ winner in Ali Bromley, I’m A Celebrity has only crowned two openly LGBTQ+ king or queens of the jungle in its entire 22 year and 24 season long history.
Most recently, in 2022, Jill Scott won the show, but the first was Christopher Biggins in 2007.
But considering he was axed from Celebrity Big Brother in 2016 for claiming bisexuals bear a major responsibility for spreading Aids in the 1980s, it’s hardly a legacy to be proud of.
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Out of the 281 contestants who have entered the jungle, only 20 have been openly LGBTQ+, which is surprisingly low in the realms of reality television.
That being said, this year’s line-up is the most LGBTQ-friendly since 2012 when Sam Fox and interior design couple Colin McCalister and Justin Ryan entered the jungle.
This year there’s also three openly LGBTQ+ contestants in GK Barry (real name Grace Eleanor Keeling), Reverend Richard Coles and Dean McCullough. And already, within a few episodes, there were important conversations about the LGBTQ+ experience being had around the campfire.
Grace told the camp she’d only recently come out to her family after finding love with her first girlfriend, Ella Rutherford. Now, barely an episode goes by without the mention of Ella’s name.
During a conversation with jungle priest Richard, GK revealed she can’t see herself ever dating a man again. ‘I always thought, “why do I always lay there with the lights off and top on waiting for it to be over?”,’ she told him.
‘[It’s] because I like women. It makes a lot of sense, it took me 25 years but that’s where we are.’
I can’t remember such a frank and open discussion about being LGBTQ+ in the jungle before.
In the same conversation, the Rev and GK Barry discussed his relationship with his sexuality and religion, with him stressing: ‘I’ve never given it a moment’s twinge of anxiety over whether God thought it was alright or not.’
Seeing LGBTQ+ friendships thriving, particularly between two campmates born 37 years apart, is such a special moment to see on a platform like I’m A Celebrity.
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One of the greatest privileges of being in the LGBTQ+ community is the friendships you make, the protection you feel towards one another and admiration for other generations, younger or older.
Whatever your sexuality, there’s a lot to be said watching cross generations talking to each other with equal respect and care like Grace and Richard.
It goes to show that, though we may be at very different stages of our LGBTQ+ journey, the fundamental truths and experiences are still so similar – coming out, prejudice, fear, pride. It’s a universal language of being LGBTQ+ and wonderful to see it being aired on such a huge scale.
This sort of LGBTQ+ conversation is one you’d more likely find on Big Brother – a show that, arguably, has better representation yet pulls in a tenth of the same viewership as I’m A Celebrity.
There simply isn’t another series which has the same platform or that predominantly airs to such a straight audience. So for it to now be bringing LGBTQ+ joy to over 10million viewers a night, even if unexpectedly, is a triumph we should be loudly celebrating.
And it’s not just the LGBTQ+ campmates that are starting important conversations either.
Just days into the latest series, Tulisa revealed she thinks she might be demisexual – only being attracted to someone else after forming a close bond.
Demisexual falls under the asexuality bracket in the LGBTQ+ spectrum and I imagine a huge proportion of I’m A Celebrity viewers had never heard the term before Tulisa introduced it to them.
There will be so many people watching I’m A Celebrity who may never have realised they were demisexual too until hearing someone else sharing the same feeling and experiences on national television.
Outside of the campmates, there are plenty of other highlights to quench the thirst of the LGBTQ+ community.
I never imagined there would be a camper detective than Jessica Fletcher, but Coleen Rooney’s proven she’s not just Wagatha Christie by name, it’s in her nature.
Spending £5,000,000 for the woman at the centre of the most ludicrous (and expensive) celebrity feud of the century is high camp in itself, but watching her play Miss Marple to suss out the liars in camp totally justified her record-breaking fee.
Maura Higgins also has all the energy and razor-sharp tongue of the most vicious drag queen. Few, if any, gay icons emerge from Love Island, but if there was one it’s her and she’s exceeding all expectations already.
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Her entry into I’m A Celebrity, gleefully lying to the camp mates while she bathed in bubbles and ate like a queen, shows she hasn’t softened one bit. If anyone has earned their divaship, it’s her.
Then we’ve also had Danny Jones single-handedly causing Dean – and millions of gay men – to almost pass out when he revealed McFly shower together after every gig. I’m not sure Dean will ever recover.
After two consecutive years of including politicians who have been responsible for causing devastation, I’m A Celebrity was dead to me and judging by its falling ratings it was to so many others too.
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While I don’t suppose it was ITV’s intention to win over the LGBTQ+ community – rarely, if ever, are we its target audience – this is by far the gayest I’m A Celebrity ever and it’s no coincidence it’s also the best series to date.
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