I'm A Celeb star hits out at Ant & Dec for never apologising over 'merciless trolling'

I'm a Celeb is well underway, with this year's campmates up to their necks in arseholes and eyeballs.

The long-running series is known for being pretty brutal, both in the nature of the bushtuckers trials contestants have to take on and the ribbing they receive from hosts Ant and Dec.

But with it being the biggest show on television, it can also come with some fairly unsavoury side effects: trolls.

Some viewers might watch the series and see it as a true reflection of the contestants' real personalities, when often it's anything but.

Hollie Arnold took part in the show back in 2020 when it took place at Gwrych Castle in Wales due to lockdown restrictions.

The Paralympian said her experience was ruined due to the hurtful comments and messages she's received since the show aired.

Hollie said the problems stemmed from her using her MBE title when introducing herself to the fellow campmates - something Ant and Dec picked up on and make a joke of.

At one point, Ant insisted that he wanted to be referred to as 'Ant McPartlin OBE'.

ITV

Hollie said it left people thinking she was arrogant, which she argued couldn't be further from the truth.

It got to the point that she even decided to remove her MBE title from her Instagram bio.

Speaking to The Sun about the series, the 28-year-old said: "I received so much abuse and read all of this horrible nonsense online. People thought I was above myself but I'm literally the most chilled and laidback person ever.

"Ant and Dec made that even worse and played on it, I got so much hate from people who didn't know me. It got to the point where I took my MBE title off Instagram because it made me feel so ashamed.

"For the time being I'm using PLY - for Paralympian - but I shouldn't have to, I should feel proud of what I have achieved."

When asked if she had received an apology from the I'm A Celeb hosts, Hollie said: "No, I haven't.

ITV

"You know that you are 'fair game' on the show but it would have been better if they said, 'She didn't mean it like that'.

"Unfortunately, when you go on these shows you expose yourself and online trolls are very hurtful."

But Hollie claimed that the whole problem started because she was allegedly told by the production team to mention her title whenever she introduced herself to someone.

"Whenever we were filming I was told to introduce myself with my title," she said.

"Because I had never been on a TV show before, I thought I had to say it again.

"It made me look like I go around flaunting my MBE, which I don’t. It was completely taken out of perspective."

LADbible has reached out to ITV for a comment.