Star begged Ch 10 boss for TV gig

OSTN Staff

Symon Lovett, best known for appearing on Gogglebox from 2015-2019, entered the reality show as an intruder with his best mate Adam Densten.Recently, it was claimed on the TV gossip podcast So Dramatic that Adam and Symon turned down an offer to appear on I’m A Celeb which was prerecorded late last year.“Their manager forced them to do the show,” a source told the So Dramatic podcast. “When they left Gogglebox they told everyone they were never doing reality TV again. Their exact words were: ‘Reality TV is the devil. Go f**k yourselves! We’re above it and not doing it ever again!’

“Their manager basically forced them to do the show, telling them, ‘You’re too precious. Your career is over. You need to do the jungle. It will give you the exposure you need to launch your other projects.’”Speaking to news.com.au, Symon responded to the claims by laughing and revealed that he landed a spot on the reality show by reaching out to Beverley McGarvey, chief content officer and EVP of ViacomCBS Australia and New Zealand.“It was actually us who emailed the head of Channel 10,” Symon said. “We met Bev at the Formula One. We sent her an email saying, ‘If you’re looking for any hosts we know a couple of guys.’ She wrote back and said, ‘How would you like a jungle experience?’ “We jumped at it,” Symon told news.com.au.

FROSTY RECEPTION IN CAMP
Adam and Symon didn’t receive the warmest of welcomes from some of the camp mates when they entered the jungle as intruders halfway through the series.The boys received the frostiest reception from Toni Pearen who turned to Jess Eva after the pair walked in and said: “What the f**k is going on?”Toni later burst into tears and told Colin Fassnidge: “I can’t handle any more people.”Speaking to the camera later in the episode, Toni said her “brain exploded” when she saw Adam and Symon enter.“I was seriously lost for words,” she said. “I just didn’t think that this late in the game, two more people would be introduced to the camp.“We’ve got our thing … (But now) we’ve got these two new people who haven’t lived it like we’ve lived it,” she said.

RELATED: Alli Simpson reacts to claims Adam and Symon were bullied
Speaking to news.com.au, Symon said the reception was “definitely weird” but added the celebs treated him well after that.“I don’t think it was hate, I think it was more just confusion,” Symon said. “When Jack (Vidgen) went home naturally they thought, ‘Well this must be it, there’ll be eliminations until the end.’ Then new people came in and I think it just blew a few minds.“I actually sent Toni a text because when we went in she got pretty smashed in the media and everyone said she kind of misbehaved,” Symon continued. “I sent her a text and just reminded her of some really good moments we had in there with her. Toni looked out for me in there and made sure I was doing OK. “I think it was just that initial shock and she didn’t know how to handle it but after that they were all really welcoming.”There are 10 celebrities left on the show with the live finale set to air this Sunday night.
I’m A Celeb continues tonight on Channel 10 at 7.30pm

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