I’m a celebrity. 2023 couldn’t be worse

This year’s series I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! was an absolute disaster on many levels. It lost an average of about two million viewers in the ratings compared to last year, which was won by former Lioness Jill Scott. It makes sense that it was a disaster, as two housemates – Jamie Lynn Spears and Grace Dent – left the jungle early for “medical reasons”.

Culturally it was even worse. Nigel Farage’s roommate status only served to irritate the audience (rather than pander to their schadenfreude), and the misogyny that Nelle Rose had to endure was unpleasant to watch, to say the least. All in all, it was a controversial show—and not in the good, must-see style of a car crash TV series.

It’s hard to understand how I’m a celebrity How soon will the jewel in the ITV reality show’s crown ever appear again, let alone return to its former glory.

When it launched over twenty years ago, in 2002, the television landscape was unrecognizable. Top gear has just been rebooted under the direction of Jeremy Clarkson and company, the ultimate reality series Older brother was only in the third series – won by Kate Lawler – and Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway has just been released (2002 was obviously a good year for the Geordie duo). Celebrity under duress was not yet a genre in its own right.

Its appeal was broad; Parents who will never watch Island of love or Older brother sat next to their children to see what sweet young Ant and Dec could throw at the poor celebrities who, at least for the first few episodes, had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

Fast forward to time, and the shock of seeing a former MP, ex-model or former TV star choking on a camel’s penis has long since worn off. Meanwhile, we saw celebrities fly off the diving board. SquirtYou risk serious injury on the ski slopes. Bounce this year too fear of the dark, Go eight full days without light. There seems to be no end to the ways in which famous people can try (and often fail) to improve their careers or revive their tarnished reputations.

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The biggest reality show right now Game “Squid”: challenge. I have no idea how disgusting I think this series is, but I also understand why it’s popular (not to mention that it’s based on an excellent and phenomenally popular drama). It’s populated by ordinary people, each striving for a better life, and the stakes are incredibly high: the winner will take home a life-changing $4.56 million.

Eating insects and staying underground with several rats for ten minutes cannot be compared to a competition in which we must assume that the participants will be killed.

As reality TV has gotten bigger, bolder and in many cases more disturbing, the grosser elements I’m a celebrity – once its bread and butter, its unique selling point – has begun to look boring. There’s a problem ITV1 faces: the Bush Tucker trials can no longer up the ante without effectively torturing their celebrities. There is a limit to how far this concept can go.

The character of the “celebrity” has also changed. Bye I’m a celebrity Where once it was a chance to see who famous people “really are,” now we see their real selves (or at least a carefully filtered and staged version of their real selves) on social media every day. The advantage of authenticity has disappeared.

Paying for controversial “celebrities” – Matt Hancock, Caitlyn Jenner, Seann Walsh and many others from recent series – distracted us for a while from how tired the format was. But even those tactics are now starting to wane, and Farage’s inclusion in this year’s line-up was a step too far for many former fans, myself included.

There is an anomaly: Traitors. Claudia Winkleman’s campy and ironic The Killing captured national attention late last year thanks to its surprisingly straightforward twists and impressive cast of ordinary people. If I’m a celebrity can reproduce just a spark of its magic (it returns in January) and then rise from the ashes. But it will be a completely different program.

I’m a celebrity will not return from this year’s series. It will never be as big as it was before; In fact, every reality show has its own form(Celebrity SAS: He who dares wins, Island of love, Nonsense 4 channels rise and fall) will struggle to get Britain’s attention again. That’s probably good.