ITV has taken animal cruelty and turned it into grotesque entertainment.
At the core of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here, one of the UK’s most popular reality TV series that launches this week, are the notorious Bushtucker Trials. Terrified celebs are forced to lay down in coffins full of snakes, caves of rats, and even eat live insects to win stars for their camp.
While people around the country squirm in their sofas at these uncomfortable challenges, what we are actually seeing is a complete disregard for the suffering of living, sentient beings used in these wildly irresponsible and unjustifiably cruel stunts.
Not only does this harm the animals involved, but it also normalises animal cruelty to audiences of millions, including young children.
This isn’t just a view shared by animal rights organisations such as Viva!, which has campaigned against the show since it began, celebrities such as Chris Packham and Lucy Watson have also voiced their opposition to the use of animals in the trials.
The public have raised their concerns about the show, too.
The horrific scene of celebrity Ferne McCann eating a live spider received a massive 1,500 viewer complaints, while in 2010 the show was fined by the RSPCA in Australia for killing and cooking a rat purely for entertainment.
The Bushtucker Trials epitomise a flippant disregard for non-human animal life which does not belong in this century. They need to end.
If the animals used in the show were socially valued animals such as cats or dogs, there would be an uproar at scenes of them being grabbed and flung by the neck, tossed around in overcrowded caves or having their body parts eaten on live TV.
The Bushtucker Trials epitomise a flippant disregard for non-human animal life which does not belong in this century. They need to end.
Sadly, the trials typify and strengthen the widely held belief that some animals are more deserving of compassion and respect than others.
Rats for instance are as intelligent, complex and emotional as dogs are. Using them in inhumane stunts like this, where they are treated as something to fear, further adds to the demonisation of these fascinating creatures.
Snakes, also widely feared and little understood animals, often lash out and bite in panic when they are thrown into pits or tanks with celebrities. They are sensitive to vibrations and naturally try to avoid human confrontation, so these situations are likely to be highly distressing for the animal.
Meanwhile, insects have been found to have complex behaviours and relationships comparable to any mammal. As Viva!’s latest environment campaign, Vegan Now, shows, they are also vital to the biodiversity and survival of the entire planet.
ITV is teaching people that some of the most important living beings on our planet are worth no more than being eaten alive for a cheap TV stunt.
What hope do we have of saving the world’s wildlife, as we enter our sixth mass extinction, if we treat certain species this way?
In a world that is becoming increasingly aware of the need to end animal exploitation, and the environmental imperative of reducing our animal consumption, these trials no longer have a place.
Viva! is calling on the public to petition ITV to drop the use of animals in the trials, and I would like to see more celebrities using their platforms to take a stand against animal cruelty.
Recent series have seen vegetarian and vegan celebrities take part, and celebrities need to take a stronger stance by refusing to be involved unless ITV stops abusing animals for entertainment.
There are plenty of physical and mental challenges that producers could set contestants, which don’t involve needless torture of other living beings.
Repeating these cruel challenges series after series is not only irresponsible, but lazy and unimaginative.
Times are changing and the UK public is waking up – ITV needs to give its audience more credit and include challenges suited to an increasingly progressive and compassionate Britain.
Until that happens, I’m afraid I’m out of here…
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