Boyd’s TV Land
ITV
The new Ruler Of The Jungle has been crowned, and the traditional Coming Out catch-up show arrives this Wednesday, so it’s time for an end-of-term report. Firstly, it was an Ant-less affair and, initially at least, some critics had it in for Holly Willoughby. One silly bookmaker even sent me an email with odds on Holly being axed by ITV mid-series. In fact, she’s been a breath of fresh air, establishing a seemingly effortless chemistry with Dec, who gets funnier every year. Their brilliantly conceived links were a huge part of what made the series so much fun to watch, along, of course, with the casting of the celebs. Just when I was beginning to think the reality TV well had dried up, and that we’d never get any big new famous people willing to take part in this kind of show who hadn’t previously been seen on Love Island, TOWIE or Chelsea, the IACGMOOH bookers pulled some triumphant celebrity rabbits out of their jungle hat. The idea of casting football manager Harry Redknapp was truly inspired, and he never let us down, while the reboot of Noel Edmonds’ TV career proved to be thoroughly entertaining, even if he was foolishly voted off first. As for The Chase’s Anne Hegerty, I loved her uncompromising realness, from her choice of dream dinner-party guests – which baffled her jungle mates – to her refusal to do an immunity challenge. My one criticism of the series is that there are perhaps too many tasks and trials. Sometimes it’s enough to show us the contestants literally chatting shit for ten minutes without interrupting things with a load of anus-eating, so to speak. All in all, though, it’s an A+ from me.