The NESSENTIALS

Recap

Dispensing with the usual champagne brunch welcome, I’m a Celebrity launches the competitors into the action right away, with Nigel Farage, Josie Gibson, and Nella Rose driving into the outback. On the other hand, Sam Thompson, Grace Dent, Fred Sirieix and Danielle Harold take individual helicopters to the familiar tower block on the Gold Coast – for a variation on the usual heights challenge.

Nigel, Josie, and Nella must either stick their faces into barrels of muck or boxes in a van with spiders to find disks that convert into minutes for the contestants on the high-rise, who must climb down onto the metal rig, then shimmy along a pole with their star, unlocking carabiners that block the way.

The disk-hunters manage to secure 6 disks, let down by the squeamishness of Nella, who didn’t contribute any disks. With two poles to shimmy along, that gives the high-rise team 3 minutes each. Fred and Danielle clinch it in the first of the heats, and Grace and Sam follow up competently.

Finally, we meet the remaining contestants: Marvin Humes, Nick Pickard, and Jamie Lynn Spears are driven to a helicopter to skydive (which Marvin had forecast by mentioning he had skipped out on one with his JLS colleagues on the ride).

The drivers have moved on to their next location, with Nigel and Nella mucking through a pick-up truck’s pan, and Josie rooting through critters in the driver and passenger seat for more disks: this yields 7 disks, with more equal efforts.

The skydivers have 7 minutes for Marvin and Jamie Lynn to find jungle-related words surrounded by green ants on rotating letters in the “Temple of Doom”, while Nick is strapped to a rotating disk trying to catch stars with his mouth, which are release by successful word search reveals, as critters are spilled on him continuously. All 6 stars are captured, for a total of 10 portions at camp.

The Jungle Pizzeria is previewed as the next challenge for viewers to vote on – our prediction is Nigel and Nella will be nominated, him as the initial posh political punching bag in the vein of Matt Hancock, her as the squealing squeamish social media non-traditional celebrity.

The high-rise group are the first arrivals at camp, and start a fire after exploring the phonebooth and bath tub. The skydivers join next, as the sun sets, while the drivers join after nightfall.

The stars have earned kangaroo hind meat, with potatoes and red cabbage. Fred takes charge of the dinner, as the other campmates get to know each other. Josie fills Jamie Lynn in on the backgrounds of all other campmates, though Jamie Lynn seems to struggle remembering names, confusing Nigel for Grace, and even Josie herself.

The next day, Ant and Dec reveal that Grace is safe, it might be Nella, Marvin is safe, Fred is safe, Danielle is safe, Nick is safe, Josie is safe, Sam is safe, Jamie Lynn is safe, and that it might be Nigel. Based on the previous introduction of the challenge, both have to face the Jungle Pizzeria. Our prediction was spot on!

Nessential Power Ranking

This is based on my impression of how competently they completed their challenges and tasks. As we progress to eliminations, my bottom will be my pick to be voted off.

1. Fred Sirieix – while not comfortable with heights, his humorous commentary will narrate the series, and taking charge of camp will make him a leadership figure
2. Nigel Farage – he has a clear PR objective for his appearance, to appear competent and crack on with the job, and to be honest this was the case
3. Josie Gibson – she went through the muck without hesitation or hysteria, and she is working on building relationships in the camp
4. Danielle Harold – she seemed less fazed by the heights compared to the other members of the high-rise team, but cut it close releasing her star
5. Jamie Lynn Spears – playing a strong social game (to borrow from Survivor), she portrays herself naive, while not pushed to her “redneck” limits
6. Marvin Humes – he was mentally prepared for a skydive, and the green ants aren’t the worst the jungle has to throw at him
7. Grace Dent – while terrified of heights, she got on with the job. She still seems a bit taken aback by the realities of the jungle
8. Sam Thompson – coming across as a fanboy, and perhaps a little… workshy? He may rely on the other campmates for motivation when times get tough
9. Nick Pickard – another person who wasn’t fazed for a skydive, he really struggled to release the stars only using his mouth, a common challenge
10. Nella Rose – hysterical about the very predictable snakes in a box, and completely unable to complete that task, she has a lot to overcome