I'm a Celebrity pair may face 3 years' jail

Published on Monday 7 December 2009 00:29

QUESTIONS have been raised about the future of reality TV show I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! after two of its contestants were charged with animal cruelty.

The programme's winner, Gino D'Acampo, and fellow contestant Stuart Manning face criminal charges alleging animal cruelty after cooking and eating a rat.

The maximum sentence is three years in prison.

Yesterday, media experts suggested the charges could deter stars from appearing on such shows, which have suffered dwindling audiences.

D'Acampo and Manning were part of a group in "exile" for part of the series, which meant meagre rations of rice and beans. A lack of meat prompted them to apparently catch, kill and eat a rat.

D'Acampo, 33, said in the show's video diary, the Bush Telegraph: "I saw one of these rats running around. I got a knife, I got its throat, I picked it up."

The group, including 30-year-old Manning, ate the rat and enjoyed the meal.

Chief Inspector David Oshannessy, from the Australian RSPCA in New South Wales, said: "There is a code of conduct in New South Wales that dictates how animals can be used. The killing of a rat for a performance is not acceptable."

A spokesman for the New South Wales authorities said: "Police from Murwillumbah yesterday issued field court attendance notices to two men aged 30 and 33 for the offence of animal cruelty. They are due to attend Murwillumbah local court on 3 February."

Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson who appeared on I'm a Celebrity… in 2003, said the show's producers should take some responsibility for the incident. "Maybe the producers are at fault for not warning them," he said."

Alan Stevens, a media commentator and PR expert, said in future the show's producers would have to be more careful in the guidance they gave to celebrities.

But he said the threat of legal action could make some stars think twice about going on the show.

"It is getting more difficult for these shows to get celebrities to go on them," he said. "I think I'm a Celebrity… is on its last legs. The public has become less interested in watching D-list celebrities humiliating themselves."

Caroline Weintz, of Glasgow-based Fan Hitter PR, said:

"There's a very fine balance between getting exposure and good PR. I think that many celebrities rush into these shows without much thought about how it could affect their reputation."

The latest series of I'm a Celebrity… has also been criticised for its Bush Tucker Trials, where the stars eat insects and grubs. Wildlife expert Chris Packham spoke out against the "abuse" of animals on the show. He said: "The people working on I'm a Celebrity… have no regard for creatures' lives."