Kathy Burke has sparked an unlikely feud with TV hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly - branding them ‘f**king a**eholes’.
The 59-year-old comedian and actress has taken off her gloves to blast the pair over their career choices and taken aim at them for seemingly ‘betraying’ their heritage. Hosts Ant and Dec, both aged 48, have enjoyed a long career in the spotlight transitioning from child stars to national sweethearts thanks to their shows like Saturday Night Takeaway and Limitless Win.
But it is their job as hosts of ITV’s long-running reality show I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! that has set off Kathy. The comedian - who has herself starred in hit shows like Absolutely Fabulous and Gimme, Gimmie, Gimme - was a fan of the jungle based show until last year.
Kathy has been left retching over some of the casting on the show - first taking offence to the fact love cheat politician Matt Hancock, 45, appeared in the 2022 season, and then felt the casting of controversial political figure Nigel Farage, 60, was the final straw. Farage was one of the stars of the 2023 season and, despite his marmite appears, made it to the final of the show and landed in third place.
Kathy has slammed Ant and Dec over the casting - letting tip on her podcast, Where There’s A Will, There’s A Wake. She seethed to podcast guest Seann Walsh, 38 - himself a contestant in 2022 - saying: "I didn’t watch this year’s because of Farage being in it.”
Ant McPartlin’s ex Lisa Armstrong poses with boyfriend after concerning postShe explained: “It was a step too far having [Matt] Hancock in there I felt but I thought I’d watch it anyway. But when they announced Farage I just thought, you f***ing a**eholes.”
As she continued her astonishing rant, Kathy also slapped down Ant and Dec for turning on their roots by including Farage - who is well known for having strong opinions on immigration. Kathy said: "And I was really angry with Ant and Dec. They’re Irish descent, man! And also I think it was really unfair on the rest of you, on the other contestants."
It wasn’t just Farage’s views that had some viewers reaching for the remote during the 2023 season of I’m A Celeb. The controversial figure had a penchant for stripping off to bath - leaving campmates and viewers shocked.
This Morning star Josie Gibson was left alarmed when she walked in on Nigel bathing naked in the jungle early on in the competition and declared to the Bush Telegraph: “Freaking hell! I wasn’t expecting to see Nigel Farage’s bottom so soon!” Bug Farage himself was very pleased to take part in the show - boasting that reports he netted £1.5 million to take part were bang on the money.
He said in an interview last year: "I gave up a very successful career in the city of London - colleagues of mine are on the rich list, I never moaned, never complained. Is this the biggest pay check I’ve ever had? Yes it is."