Holly makes Jungle TV hit of the year
Sorry Ant, but could it be new recruit Holly’s thigh flashing outfits – and the most risque shower scenes yet?
THERE were fears that losing one-half of its famous presenting double-act would rob I’m A Celebrity... of its pulling power.
But viewers seem far from disappointed that Holly Willoughby has replaced Ant McPartlin in the jungle.
Nearly 12million tuned in to see her team up with Declan Donnelly in the first major shake-up in I’m A Celebrity’s 16-year history.
Sunday night’s show drew a peak of 11.9million, the fourth largest for a series launch and 700,000 up on last year.
The average audience of 11million made it the most watched programme of the year, excluding the World Cup. It beat the 8.7million average for May’s wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the 10.4million who tuned in for the finale of BBC drama The Bodyguard.
Viewers praised the immediate chemistry between Donnelly, 43, and Miss Willoughby, 37.
But many also pointed to the glamour brought to the show by the This Morning presenter – and her array of outfits that ensured she flashed plenty of shapely thigh.
If Miss Willoughby wasn’t enough to ensure male viewers stayed tuned, several of the female contestants stripped down to bikinis for some of the most risque shower scenes yet.
Emily Atack, Fleur East and Sair Khan were among those to follow the example set by Myleene Klass in 2006, when she famously set pulses racing by taking a shower in a white string bikini.
The future of I’m A Celebrity had been questioned when McPartlin announced in August that he was stepping down from his TV commitments following his arrest and conviction for drink-driving.
He was fined £83,000 and banned from driving for 20 months after a collision in March this year, prompting him to enter rehab and cancel appearances on Britain’s Got Talent and Saturday Night Takeaway as well as on I’m A Celebrity.
Miss Willoughby was drafted in to replace him and her jungle wardrobe helped ensure she got off to an impressive start.
She made her debut in a £1,000 outfit by French designer Isabel Marant – a £475 Mumba black broderie anglaise lace top with a matching £510 black mini-skirt. She added a pair of chunky boots by British designer Grenson and posted the finished look on Instagram afterwards.
Ahead of Sunday’s launch, Miss Willoughby had been spotted wearing equally thighcom skimming red shorts, paired with an embroidered white linen shirt.
During rehearsals with Donnelly, she embraced the warm Australian climate in a pair of denim hotpants and a Boohoo. T-shirt, while in the official promotional shots Miss Willoughby was seen wearing a tan suede minidress – rather more glamorous than her usual This Morning attire.
The first episode of the threeweek series saw ten celebrities including Miss Atack, 28, Harry Redknapp, 71, Nick Knowles, 56, John Barrowman, 51, and Rita Simons, 41, enter the New South Wales jungle.
The contestants were split into two groups and given a series of tasks, including a 12,000ft sky dive and a nail-biting 328ft high challenge called The Edge, to determine who would be staying in the luxury campsite and who would have to endure the hardships of the basic one. In last night’s episode, Inbetweeners actress Miss Atack was left terrified during the first Bushtucker Trial as a snake appeared to lunge at her in the Viper Pit Challenge.
The trial involved her having to collect stars for her campmates from chambers and holes occupied by snakes.
‘I can’t move him. He’s looking right at me. He’s sticking out his tongue,’ she shouted as Donnelly and Miss Willoughby looked on.
Clearly shocked by the episode, Miss Willoughby could be seen recoiling in horror – she has previously admitted to being scared of everything in the jungle.
‘He’s sticking his tongue out’