The row between Fred Sirieix and Nella Rose on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here should be taken with “a pinch of salt”, according to the YouTuber’s friend Indiyah Polack.
Rose and the First Dates star clashed in the jungle on Tuesday’s episode after Sirieix remarked he was old enough to be Rose’s father.
Rose, who has lost both her parents, did not say anything at the time but later confronted Sirieix, saying: “Don’t bring up my dead parents, are you stupid?”
She said she no longer wanted to speak to him and would not eat any food he has prepared.
‘I accept your apology but let’s not be friends, how about that?’ #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/3iVdTs9W13
— I'm A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 21, 2023
After Sirieix apologised, she told him: “‘I accept your apology but let’s not be friends, how about that?”
In the Bush Telegraph, she said: “If I don’t like somebody, I’m not going to force myself to speak to them. This is not the kind of person I want to be around. These are not the kind of comments I want to be subject to.”
Love Island star Polack told ITV’s Lorraine: “I don’t think Fred had any malicious intent but none of us are Nella, we’re not in a sweaty jungle… getting bitten by green ants and eating rice and beans.
“I feel like in that environment it’s very easy for things to be blown out or taken the wrong way. I do hope they can get over it…they’ll talk about it, maybe have couple of days rest and they’ll be back.”
She added: “The whole situation can be taken with a grain of salt, a pinch of salt. But even with that, with all of us knowing that Nella’s dad has passed away, maybe it was something Fred could have thought about, maybe this could be taken out of proportion. You just never know.”
Former I’m A Celebrity champion Tony Blackburn has come to the defence of Sirieix saying he thought the argument was “stupid” and he believes the maitre d’ is a “kind man.”
What a stupid argument last night between Nella and Fred. He said he was old enough to be her father. I know sadly she has recently lost her father but surely hasn’t she ever heard of the expression “I’m old enough to be your father” He didn’t mean any harm, he seems a very kind… pic.twitter.com/jiC2P5YYqb
— Tony Blackburn (@tonyblackburn) November 22, 2023
He wrote on Twitter: “What a stupid argument last night between Nella and Fred. He said he was old enough to be her father.
“I know sadly she has recently lost her father but surely hasn’t she ever heard of the expression ‘I’m old enough to be your father’ He didn’t mean any harm, he seems a very kind man.”
Later in the episode, Rose became the first contestant to shout “I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!” after she suffered an electric shock while completing a trial.
The public voted for the YouTuber, 26, to do the latest trial on Tuesday’s episode, which saw her take on the role of a secret agent who had to find stars in an underground lair filled with insects.
In the trial, titled No Time To Cry, she had to unlock stars protected behind glass by using a magnetic watch to bounce laser beams away from the prize.
After collecting three stars, she was given an electric shock through the watch while attempting to get a fourth.
The insects and shocks became too much for Rose who eventually chose to leave the trial early by shouting “I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!”