Poll: Is 'I'm a Celebrity . . .' cruel to animals?
After TV presenter Chris Packham penned an open letter to Ant and Dec calling for the pair to end the "abuse of animals" on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, what do you think?
The ITV jungle show returns on Sunday with a new line-up of celebrities, including Allo Allo! actress Vicki Michelle and former motorcycle world champion Carl Fogarty, facing spiders, snakes and cockroaches in the bushtucker trials.
Springwatch host Packham, 53, described the trials as "barbaric" and "silly" and said that the hit show was undoing the work of natural history programmes.
In the open letter, published in Radio Times magazine, he said that teaching young viewers that killing for "exploitative 'entertainment' is acceptable" is "a shame that I imagine neither of you will want to take to your graves".
Is 'I'm a Celebrity . . .' cruel to animals? Vote in our poll and have your say in the comment box below.
Packham wrote: "Could I please ask you to reconsider the use/abuse of animals in your popular and otherwise entertaining show, I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!?"
The presenter said that the trials "undermined a respect for life, which ... impacts negatively upon conservation ... and ... spoils the show because it's simply out of date, some would say barbaric."
ITV responded to Radio Times, saying: "Ant and Dec are the presenters of the show, and as such are not involved with the formatting of the trials, which are devised by the show's producers.
"ITV takes animal welfare very seriously and expert handlers are on hand at all times."
