Ant accused of I’m a Celeb ‘racial slur’

ANT and Dec have sparked furore as fans have accused them of delivering a racial slur during Friday’s edition of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

The presenting duo were speaking to camera when they took a break from observing the activities of the jungle camp to poke fun at some of the crew.

Declan Donnelly, 42, was making a joke about some blue vests which the celebrities had been wearing to complete a task while in the jungle.

He directed his attention to the camera to announce that the jack- ets were being donated to “underprivileged Australians who suffer terrible working conditions”.

The camera then panned to members of the production crew wearing said jackets as the studio team erupted into enthusiastic laughs.

Troubled Ant McPartlin, 42, then turned to the camera to announce - what many viewers agree: “Poor souls. They get paid in Abos”.

The comment sparked debate on social media with many slamming the duo for inappropriateness as the term “Abo” is regarded as a derogatory term for native Australian Aborigines. “Did [he] just say “they get paid in Abos”? #racist #ImACeleb,” one fan asked on Twitter.

Another raged: “Paid in Abos!! Little racist there #ImACeleb #ImACeleb2017 #ImACelebrity.”

While a further Twitter user directed her anger at the official I’m A Celeb twitter account, writing: “is it NOT ok to say “Poor souls, they get paid in abos” FYI, ‘ Abo’ is a racial slur that has been used in the past and still used TODAY to degrade Aboriginal people, you know the Indigenous peo- ple of the land where you film your show @imacelebrity”.

Others have taken to Twitter to suggest that Ant was actually saying the crew are paid in “eyeballs” or “avos” (referring to avocados).

A spokesperson for the show confirmed Ant was not being racist, insisting: “he said ‘avos’ which is a way to describe avocados,” urging viewers to : “listen/watch the footage again and you’ll clearly hear him say ‘avos’.”

Earlier this week, comic Shappi Khorsandi became the first star of the 2017 series to be evicted from the jungle.