I'm A Celeb's Craig Charles emotional as he claims ITV 'watered down' Jimmy Bullard feud with Adam Thomas

Lydia Davies
Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:46:10 +0000

Craig Charles became visibly emotional during an appearance on This Morning today as he defended himself and fellow I'm A Celebrity campmates against claims they abandoned Adam Thomas during alleged bullying in the South African jungle.

The 61-year-old actor, who appeared alongside Sir Mo Farah and Harry Redknapp with Mr Thomas notably absent, disclosed ITV had been forced to heavily edit footage of the Emmerdale actor's explosive confrontation with Jimmy Bullard.

Mr Charles told the hosts: "They watered down the Jimmy Bullard incident, it was unbroadcastable as it was."

The Red Dwarf star's voice cracked as he addressed social media accusations that he, Mr Farah and Mr Redknapp had failed to support Mr Thomas when he faced difficulties with boxer David Haye during the pre-recorded series filmed in September last year.

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Mr Charles described the original footage as "deeply traumatic and really upsetting," revealing Mr Thomas had been "so wound up, so aggressive, like a coiled spring" during the altercation.

"It looked like he was going to attack Jimmy," the former Coronation Street star said.

"He was dropping f-bombs and c-bombs."

The confrontation erupted during a Bushtucker Trial when former footballer Mr Bullard, 47, refused to participate in a challenge that would determine which pair faced elimination, putting Mr Thomas' position in jeopardy.

Mr Charles drew a comparison to illustrate the severity of Mr Thomas' reaction, telling Dermot O'Leary: "If Alison said she didn't want to do an interview and you reacted like that, you would be escorted off the premises."

He emphasised he did not blame ITV for the editing decisions, acknowledging the footage simply could not be broadcast.

Mr Charles went on to address the wider controversy surrounding Mr Haye's treatment of Mr Thomas, explaining that campmates had been completely unaware of the emotional toll it was taking.

"Adam gave as good as he got; he was laughing," Mr Charles recalled.

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"We didn't realise he was being emotionally affected by it because he never told us."

When Mr Charles asked Mr Thomas why he had stayed silent, the Waterloo Road actor replied he "didn't want to appear weak".

The BBC radio DJ argued ITV's production team, with their round-the-clock monitoring and high-definition cameras, had not deemed the situation serious enough to intervene.

Mr Charles revealed he had ultimately protected My Thomas by strategically voting during an elimination, ensuring Mr Haye was sent home.

"We were there for him, we didn't know the extent of his troubles," he said.

Mr Charles grew increasingly emotional as he highlighted the damage inflicted on his fellow campmates by the online backlash.

"These guys have suffered reputational damage with this social media campaign," he said, gesturing towards Mr Redknapp.

"They're giving this 80-year-old man dogs abuse on social media just because he said, 'I don't like the way Adam reacted'."

His voice wavering, Mr Charles added: "We didn't like the way Jimmy reacted, we didn't like the way Adam reacted."

As the actor struggled to compose himself, Alison Hammond rose from her seat to embrace him.

"I'm gonna get up and give you a hug because that was a big thing for you to do," she told him.

Mr Charles reflected on happier memories from the jungle, saying: "I just remember tears of laughter, we laughed so much in that jungle, Adam laughed so much, and to come back and see it all reduced to a grudge match."