I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here has already been hit with Ofcom complaints over a ‘joke’ made in the first episode.
The 2021 series kicked off on Sunday night, with 10 new celeb campmates heading to Gwrych Castle in Wales.
According to The Sun, broadcasting watchdog Ofcom received 59 complaints over a comment made by former Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips during the new season premiere.
While on route to the caste, the 78-year-old said: “I cannot live with dirt. I am completely OCD about everything in my life being organised, clean, neat and tidy.”
Viewers took to Twitter to criticise Arlene for her comment about obsessive compulsive disorder, with one tweeting: “No, Arlene, you are not ‘OCD’ about cleaning. OCD is a terrifying, life-changing illness and we need people to stop throwing the term around #ImACeleb.”
Another wrote: “Someone really needs to teach Arlene Phillips what OCD is. It’s a serious condition which shouldn’t be branded about as a joke. #ImACeleb.”
No, Arlene, you are not “OCD” about cleaning. OCD is a terrifying, life-changing illness and we need people to stop throwing the term around #ImACeleb
— Hollie-Anne Brooks ♿️ (She/her) (@HollieAnneB) November 21, 2021
Someone really needs to teach Arlene Phillips what OCD is. It’s a serious condition which shouldn’t be branded about as a joke. #ImACeleb
— John B (@obi_john_kanobi) November 21, 2021
A third penned: “nice to see arlene phillips on i’m a celeb using OCD as a silly and goofy term because she likes her house tidy. once again a severe mental illness i suffer with is used as a quirky personality trait.”
“i cry at mess in my house and have a panic attack if i can’t do things in multiples of four but sure, you go on the telly and chuck around OCD as a casual term. f***ing pisstake man.”
Charity OCD-UK tweeted: “Not for the first time @ITV have left an unhelpful and inappropriate reference to OCD in an @antanddec #ImACeleb episode. Pre-Recorded so could easily have been edited out so not to add to misconceptions/ stigma.”
“We have today written to @ITV and urged a proactive approach to how the channel talks about OCD across their programmes. Hopefully somebody will listen and respond in due course.”
No, Arlene, you are not “OCD” about cleaning. OCD is a terrifying, life-changing illness and we need people to stop throwing the term around #ImACeleb
— Hollie-Anne Brooks ♿️ (She/her) (@HollieAnneB) November 21, 2021
i cry at mess in my house and have a panic attack if i can’t do things in multiples of four but sure, you go on the telly and chuck around OCD as a casual term. fucking pisstake man
— tayla🎄☃️ (@taylaxkate) November 24, 2021
We have today written to @ITV and urged a proactive approach to how the channel talks about OCD across their programmes. Hopefully somebody will listen and respond in due course. https://t.co/eHjPppEJVd
— OCD-UK (@OCDUK) November 22, 2021