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Maura Higgins and Barry McGuigan have become the latest contestants to be evicted from I’m A Celeb just days before the final.
It was a double eviction during Thursday’s episode after celebrities had the chance to win immunity and go straight through to the final and the famous Cyclone challenge in a new twist which debuted this series.
After the contestants went head to head in Wednesday’s trial, winners Maura Higgins, Oti Mabuse, Coleen Rooney and Danny Jones battled it out for immunity in a final challenge at the Arcade of Agony.
However the immunity twist has left the show embroiled in fix rows as fans took to Twitter to share their disappointment that they didn’t have full autonomy over the votes.
They wrote: ‘Anyone else feeling like the Golden ticket to Cyclone has taken something away from us as the viewers?
Maura Higgins and Barry McGuigan are the latest contestants to be evicted from the camp just days before the final as show becomes embroiled in ‘fix’ row following immunity twist
It was a double eviction during Thursday’s episode after celebrities had the chance to win immunity and go straight through to the final in a new twist which debuted this series
‘One of the biggest parts of this show is us voting to see our faves in this iconic trial. (No hate to Oti intended, love her. Just a thought and not that serious.)’;
‘This feels like a fix. I reckon Oti was low in the voting and she somehow had a ‘technique’ that helped her win?’;
‘For a bit, it felt like producers may have been trying to rig it for either Maura and Coleen to get through but didn’t expect Oti to be smarter at figuring it out’.
However others were overjoyed that Oti had won as they added: ‘I am so glad Oti won the golden ticket, she really deserves that’.
Meanwhile Maura was met by her friend Talia off the bridge because her ‘Mammy’ Sharon was unable to make the 22-hour flight Down Under.
A late arrival alongside the Reverend Richard Coles, 63, the pair struck up an unlikely friendship when they were tasked with being the ‘villains’ of the camp by staying in the luxury Jungle junkyard.
So entertaining is their partnership, that fans have since called for the pair to have their own television show when the Reverend comes out of the Jungle.
Admitting she had a ‘gut feeling’ she told Ant and Dec in her exit interview: ‘I’m really happy. I said it this morning it’s my time, I had a gut feeling and they’re never wrong.
Oti Mabuse won immunity ahead of the final as she received a ‘golden ticket’ through to the Cyclone trial after battling it out with Coleen Rooney, Danny Jones and Maura Higgins
However the immunity twist has left the show embroiled in fix rows as fans took to Twitter to share their disappointment that they didn’t have full autonomy over the votes
However others were overjoyed that Oti had won as they added: ‘I am so glad Oti won the golden ticket, she really deserves that’
Barry captured the nation after he opened up about the death of his daughter, Danika, who died aged 33 from bowel cancer in 2019 after a shock diagnosis
‘I didn’t think I would embrace it as much as i have and I loved every single second. It’s mad how it changes you.’
Sharing her love for the Richard she revealed he is her winner as she continued: ‘I absolutely love Reverend Coles, he is so hilarious the things he comes out with shocks me and I don’t get shocked much’
The star added: ‘One thing I said when I came in was I do not want to say “I’m a Celebrity Ge tme out of here” and I still don’t know how I did that trial with spiders. I’m much tougher than I ever thought.’
Later on I’m A Celebrity Unpacked she joked: ‘I take the Lord’s name in vain quite a lot and of course I was put in there with a Reverend of all people, but we just clicked.’
Maura also admitted: ‘I missed my Mammy, I’ve just been on facetime with her.’
Also eliminated, Barry was reunited with his wife of 40 years, Sandra, after two weeks in the Australian jungle as she met him off the bridge.
Speaking with hosts Ant and Dec he said: ‘I’m the original cyclone, so I’m disappointed that I’m not slipping and looking like a clown in it.
‘The Jungle was much tougher than I expected, the food was the toughest part, everything tasted bland and ridiculous.’
The boxing legend also opened up on his sweet bond with McFly’s Danny Jones, as he added: ‘I think he’s going to be the King, he’s a great fella. We have a lot in common because my dad was a musician and I loved his creativity.’
A late arrival alongside the Reverend Richard Coles, 63, the pair struck up an unlikely friendship and are in talks to front their own show
Barry was reunited with his wife of 40 years, Sandra, after two weeks in the Australian jungle as she met him off the bridge
He also told Sam on the spin off show: ‘I knew as son as I saw Danny we were going to get on because he has the same humour as my sons.
‘He is so talented and hilariously funny. He hasn’t had a great relationship with his Dad and I said: “I’ll be your Dad”. He’s a great fella and I truly think we’ll be friends for life.’
The former sportsman also gushed about his family as he added: ‘I’m madly in love with my wife, we’ve been together since 1981 and I can’t wait to see my grandchildren.’
The father-of-four captured the nation after he opened up about the death of his daughter, Danika, who died aged 33 from bowel cancer in 2019 after a shock diagnosis.
Struggling with her health at an early age, the award-winning Philomena actress was diagnosed with Leukaemia when she was 11 years old.
And in what has come to be known as the most emotional moment in I’m A Celebrity’s 22-year run, the Northern Irish boxing champion told his campmates about his relenting grief.
Maura was met by her friend Talia off the bridge because her ‘Mammy’ Sharon was unable to make the 22-hour flight Down Under
Later on I’m A Celebrity Unpacked she joked: ‘I take the Lord’s name in vain quite a lot and of course I was put in there with a Reverend of all people, but we just clicked’
He said: ‘[Danika] had leukaemia when I was making The Boxer with Daniel Day-Lewis.
‘Three weeks from the end I had to leave because she’d been diagnosed with leukaemia.
‘They thought she wasn’t going to get better but she fought back and she won it. She had two years of chemo.’
As he began to cry campmates gathered around with McFly frontman Danny Jones and NDubz’s Tulisa Contostavlos offering a hug, as Barry gushed: ‘Thank you, you’re all so lovely, I really appreciate it.’
Later going to tell Loose Women’s Jane Moore about Danika’s second and final bout with cancer, he said: ‘She had pains in her tummy but she was making the movie, she put it off and went to the doctor, called us all in.
‘Stage 4 bowel cancer, 5 weeks, 5 weeks she died.’
Meanwhile during her time in the Jungle, Maura lifted the lid about her rumoured relationship with the Strictly star, Pete Wicks, and revealed they had been dating and she missed him.
Admitting she had a ‘gut feeling’ she told Ant and Dec in her exit interview: ‘I’m really happy. I said it this morning it’s my time, I had a gut feeling and they’re never wrong’
Sharing her love for the Richard she revealed he is her winner as she continued: ‘I absolutely love Reverend Coles, he is so hilarious the things he comes out with shocks me and I don’t get shocked much’
Meanwhile during her time in the Jungle, Maura lifted the lid about her rumoured relationship with the Strictly star, Pete Wicks, and revealed they had been dating and she missed him
She said: ‘I am single but I was dating someone before I came out here.’
When asked if she and the TOWIE, 39, were exclusively dating, she revealed she didn’t know but this relationship felt ‘different because we’ve known each other for so long’.
Later on the spin off show Sam Thompson, who is Pete Wicks’s best friend, teased: ‘Just say Pete, we all know that’s who you’ve missed most. We’ve all been talking about it. All I can say is, welcome to the family.’
It came as sources close to Wicks told the Mail on Sunday that he had ended his ‘fling’ with his Strictly partner, Jowita Przystal, to ‘try and win Maura back’ who he is ‘smitten’ about.
A friend said: ‘Before Maura entered the jungle, Pete wanted to make their relationship exclusive but Maura, aware of Pete’s reputation and his close bond with Jowita, decided to slow things down. She gave him an ultimatum: either commit to her or let it go and she went to the Jungle as a single woman.’
Since then, the reality TV lothario has gone all-in, openly expressing his feelings to anyone who’ll listen and is showing his support for her on his Instagram page by asking people to vote for Maura.
Meanwhile, her mother Sharon, who Maura has called her ‘therapist’, said she ‘didn’t know anything’ about Pete and that he was ‘just some friend of Maura’s’.