I’m A Celebrity viewers were left a bit worried about Ant McPartlin last night after he sounded as though he was hanging on to the last scraps of his voice.
Ant appears to be the latest TV name to come down with whatever throat-bug is sweeping through the production. Two stars from the spin-off show Unpacked have reportedly been hit with the same painful symptoms, so it seems the jungle lurgy is doing the rounds.
Midway through Sunday night’s episode, Ant was forced to apologise to fans as he croaked his way through a link with Dec. After the first ad break, he rasped: “Welcome back to I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here. Back to yesterday now when your votes meant that Lisa Riley was taking on the next trial, Mine of Misery.”
Dec couldn’t resist giving him a few hearty pats on the back, joking: “Cough it up, son.” Ant quickly fired back with a snort: “Sympathetic or what?!”
I’m A Celebrity fans fear for Ant McPartlin’s voice
In a second advert link, Ant added: “So much has happened in the last nine minutes since we spoke to you. And since I’ve got a sore throat, Dec, would you mind giving us all a recap?”
Dec proceeded to fill viewers in. But writing on X, fans were more concerned about Ant’s throat than the jungle antics.
One viewer commented: “Awww Ant sounds like he has a sore throat, someone get him some strepsils man!” Another added: “Aw Ant got a sore throat bless him!”
A third wrote: “Aww poor Ant has lost his voice.”
But it’s also having another effect on viewers. One person wrote: “Ant’s husky voice is sexy.”
While someone else admitted: “Never ever fancied Ant in my life but with this husky voice tonight well its a different story.”
Viewers have every reason to worry, as Ant is the third star to be struck down since this year’s I’m A Celebrity began.
Ant joins I’m A Celebrity stars in falling ill
During the first week of the 2025 series, Alison Hammond appeared as a panelist on spin-off show, I’m A Celebrity: Unpacked. But throughout the week, her voice noticeably became weaker and more hoarse.
Alison is now back in England. But she addressed her I’m A Celebrity illness to co-star Dermot O’Leary on This Morning last week. She said: “Do you know what? I wasn’t actually very well, I don’t know if you can hear, it’s still there?”
Alison added: “I got something on the plane, I don’t know, there was an eye infection!”
Former Queen of Jungle, Jill Scott, also appeared to be suffering. The former Lioness was on last week’s I’m A Celebrity: Unpacked and was clearly struggling with her throat, too.
Over on Unpacked, Jill wasn’t faring much better. Chatting to Joel Dommett and Kemi Rodgers, she pushed through with a croaky, painful-sounding voice that had viewers wincing in sympathy. Whatever bug is doing the rounds, it’s clearly making its way through the I’m A Celebrity family.
And while the lurgy spreads, the eliminations keep coming. Another celebrity will be shown the jungle exit tonight, following Alex Scott and Eddie Kadi’s departures.
Ten campmates remain, and every one of them is at risk: Ruby Wax, Martin Kemp, Kelly Brook, Jack Osbourne, Shona McGarty, Aitch, Angry Ginge, Vogue Williams, Tom Read Wilson and Lisa Riley are all bracing for the next name to be called.
But who’ll be next to go? Whoever it is, they might want to steer clear of Ant until his voice makes a full comeback!
Read more: ITV flooded with complaints as I’m A Celebrity viewers given a ‘scare’ over awkward glitch
I’m A Celebrity continues at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX on Monday December 1, 2025.
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