Harry Redknapp opens up on ‘nightmare’ I’m A Celeb final as unseen David Haye moment emerges
Harry Redknapp has described the I'm A Celebrity live final as a 'nightmare' in his first comments about the heated row between David Haye, Jimmy Bullard and winner Adam Thomas.
Thomas was crowned as this year's I'm A Celebrity Legend after winning the live final, which was held in London in front of a studio audience on Friday evening.
The show was entirely pre-recorded late last year prior to the final and, in footage that aired on Tuesday evening, Thomas and Bullard had a blazing row after the former Premier League midfielder had decided to quit a team Bushtucker Trial.
Bullard said the phrase 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here' during the trial, for which he had teamed up with Thomas.
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As per the trial stipulation, both men were therefore eliminated, with Thomas left furious and calling Bullard a 'p***k' and a 'c**t' as the row boiled over.
Fellow campmate Craig Charles, who reached the final and finished fourth, told ITV's This Morning on Friday that the actual footage was 'unbroadcastable', and defended himself and other finalist Redknapp after they were accused on social media of playing down the row shortly after it happened.
"Mine and Harry's response to that was because of what we'd really seen," he said.
"They [ITV] had to water it down [what was broadcast], but they didn't water down our responses. So people are kind of thinking, it wasn't that bad. We weren't picking on Adam at all."
Fast forward to Friday night, and the live final erupted when all 12 celebrities were jointly interviewed by presenters Ant and Dec about their experiences in South Africa.
Tensions had already flared earlier in the night when former British boxer Haye, who had been accused of 'bullying' Thomas during the show, interrupted Ant and Dec to publicly ask them to quiz Bullard over whether Thomas deserved to win.
After Bullard gave his version of events in the joint interview, he accused Thomas of being 'abusive, aggressive and intimidating' - something which Ant denied.
"What I've seen is a lot of editing to make this poor guy [Thomas] the victim," Haye chimed in.
"David, you were gone. You weren't even there," Dec replied.
American-British singer and actress Sinitta, who placed sixth on the show, then walked off the stage before remonstrating with members of the audience: "You weren't there. It was abusive and aggressive."
And Gemma Collins, who was 10th, also walked away while muttering: "Their behaviour's disgusting." Former TOWIE star Collins had earlier defended Thomas.
There are various accounts over what happened next - several of which have been debunked by ITV - but photos showed Bullard confronting Ant outside the venue after the final had gone off-air, prompting security to intervene.
During his live interview on Friday, Bullard asked campmates if Thomas had been 'aggressive and intimidating', with Redknapp seemingly not wanting to get involved.
The former Tottenham and Portsmouth manager was asked about the row during an appearance on talkSPORT Breakfast on Monday - and made his feelings perfectly clear about the whole situation.
"I thought I'd gone to the wrong show," he told hosts Ally McCoist and Andy Townsend. "I thought it was The Jeremy Kyle Show!
"I'd never seen so much aggravation. I thought, 'I'm in the wrong studio here'.
"All the crowd are shouting things... oh, it was a nightmare. 'I'm Not A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here', that's what I was gonna say.
"David, he was in good form, David Haye. But listen, we've been brought up in dressing rooms. You two guys have been around football all of your lives. Banter.
"This wasn't strong banter, compared to what you've had in dressing rooms over the years, you just get on with it, don't you?
"It all got out of hand. People couldn't take a bit of banter, and it became a big issue."
Unseen David Haye and Adam Thomas moment from I'm A Celeb final
Since the final, a number of eye-witness accounts from the audience have emerged surrounding what really happened between Haye, Thomas and Bullard.
Former Apprentice contestant Emma Rothwell, who runs the Instagram page Quirky Giraffe Gifts, posted a reel to her page explaining what happened during the advert breaks.
She claims that, after Haye had 'heckled' Thomas from the audience during the first segment of the final, the former boxer walked down to the stage during the break and attempted to shake the hands of the four finalists.
However, that didn't appear to go down well with Thomas, who currently plays Donte Charles on Waterloo Road.
"After the first time David was heckling Adam, during the ad break David went over to all the final four on the sofa to shake their hand and say 'Hi'," she claimed.
"And Adam just point-blank refused, and was like, 'No, I'm not having this'.
"The massive kick-off on the sofa, it was like something from Jerry Springer. Even Craig [Charles] made a joke about it in one of the breaks, being like, 'Jerry, Jerry!'"
Haye spoke publicly after the final to deny claims that he was a misogynist following comments made about women during the series.
On accusations that he had been bullying Thomas, he told iFL TV: "The narrative of the show is he gets bullied, so what people saw was him getting bullied.
"From my point of view, and I think his point of view, it wasn't as bad but it made a good story for the TV show.
"Someone's got to be the villain. I'll be the villain. I don't really care to be honest."
Bullard has yet to comment.
Topics: David Haye, Harry Redknapp, Im a Celebrity
Ryan Smart