Social media was abuzz with comments following last night's episode of I'm A Celerity...Get Me Out Of Here!. But it wasn't because of a nasty Bushtucker Trial or a famous person doing something funny, but a comment made by one of the hosts, Ant McPartlin.
Credit: ITV/I'm a Celebrity
After having a bit of back and forth with his co-host Declan Donnelly, the Geordie was accused of saying something derogatory against Indigenous Australians.
Dec was joking on the 'underprivileged Australians who suffer terrible working conditions' when speaking about the show's crew, but Ant chimed in and said: "Poor souls, they get paid in avos."
Some people (albeit with terrible hearing) thought they heard the 42-year-old say the derogatory word for Indigenous people, 'Abo'. I genuinely don't know how that managed to hear that - they must've had the cooking on or weren't properly listening, because McPartlin quite clearly says 'avos' - which is abbreviated from avocados.
One person wrote: "Paid in Abos!! Little racist there."
Another added: "Did Declan just say "they get paid in Abos?"
While most networks wouldn't get drawn into something like this, ITV has assured viewers that Ant meant no ill will when he said the phrase. Show bosses have told the Sun: "Ant said on tonight's show that the crew were paid in Avo's which is short for avocados and a commonly used abbreviation in Aus."
Thankfully, plenty of people chimed in to tell the haters to back off. This user wrote: "People losing their shit at Ant saying 'Abos' need to chill.
"They referred to themselves as Abos until the 1950's. They are also happy to be known as 'black-fella's', But not an abbreviation of a common name? They are rubbish at pulling the racist card. Need to sort that."
That's not 100 percent true and varies depending on where in Australia you're talking about.
Nevertheless, the ITV programme has already faced its fair share of racist drama with YouTuber Jack Maynard. The youngster was unceremoniously kicked off the show after just three days when people found tweets from 2011 to 2013 where he used the N word and also used a homophobic phrase.
Comedian Shappi Khorsandi has become the first contestant to properly leave the camp. When asked what was the hardest part about the experience, the 44-year-old said the food: "It messes with your head, it messes with your mood."
Featured Image Credit: ITV/I'm a CelebTopics: Reality TV, TV and Film, I'm A Celebrity..., Ant McPartlin, Declan Donnelly, ITV, ImaCeleb
