David Haye 'planning to sue ITV' over I'm A Celebrity 'editing' amid Adam Thomas bullying row

Olivia Gantzer
Wed, 29 Apr 2026 16:20:55 +0000

David Haye is understood to be preparing to take legal action against ITV, seeking up to £10 million in damages following his appearance on I'm A Celebrity... South Africa.

The 45-year-old former heavyweight champion has instructed lawyers to send a formal letter to the broadcaster, demanding a comprehensive investigation into how the programme was edited.

According to The Sun, Mr Haye believes producers deliberately portrayed him as the "pantomime villain," making him appear misogynistic, aggressive and a bully.

"He insists he is none of these and has suffered trolling," a source told the publication.

The source added that Mr Haye is "incandescent with rage" over how the series was handled, feeling he has been made a scapegoat by the broadcaster.

His legal team reportedly intends to scrutinise the entire series to identify further examples of allegedly unfair editing.

Mr Haye sparked controversy during the programme with a series of remarks about women's appearances.

Speaking about his girlfriend Sian, a model, he said: "She's like tall, blue eyes. She's lovely. She's got the personality of a proper ugly bird."

He went on to suggest that "ugly girls" need to have "a personality and banter" to compensate for not being "aesthetically amazing."

Rather than backing down from these comments, the former boxer defended his position during a subsequent appearance on This Morning.

"If you get a hundred beautiful girls and a hundred ugly girls and put them in the dark, the ugly girls will have better personalities because they've had to develop them through necessity," he stated.

His legal team reportedly plans to cite the Gemma Collins "fat-shaming" moment as an example of manipulative editing, claiming clever cuts and "snide eye-rolls" were used to make his remarks appear more damaging.

ITV has firmly rejected these characterisations, with a spokesman stating: "We showed an accurate and fair representation of events."

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The tensions between Mr Haye and Emmerdale actor Adam Thomas became a central focus throughout the series.

Mr Thomas has since spoken out about his experience, stating plainly: "What happened to me in camp was bullying."

The actor revealed that even after filming concluded, Mr Haye had told him: "You're the nicest guy I've ever met and I just wanted to break you."

When Mr Thomas was crowned champion on Friday, Mr Haye allegedly told him: "You're not a worthy winner," prompting Mr Thomas to respond: "This is bullying."

Despite initial reconciliation attempts through voice messages, Mr Thomas has now drawn a line under the relationship.

"I just sent him a message back just saying, you know, 'I think this is where we draw the line and I hope that you find happiness bro, but I'm done,'" he explained.

Mr Haye is not alone in considering legal action against the broadcaster.

Former footballer Jimmy Bullard, 47, is also reportedly consulting lawyers, believing he was "stitched up" by the final edit.

Gemma Collins was among those who publicly criticised both men following Mr Thomas's victory.

Posting a photograph of the winner wearing his crown, she declared: "What a show up!!! Absolutely disgusted with Jimmy and David's behaviour, the biggest show up in TV history!!! What an embarrassment!"

She described their conduct as "the biggest disrespect ever" to the production crew, cast, and presenters Ant and Dec, who were forced to "break character" to defend Mr Thomas.