I’m a Celeb star Hollie Arnold says Ant and Dec jokes made online abuse ‘worse’

Paralympic athlete Hollie Arnold has claimed that Ant and Dec’s jokes about her on I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! made online abuse about her “worse”.

The gold medal-winning javelin thrower became the first disabled contestant to appear on the show in 2020, when the series was filmed in Gwrych Castle in Wales.

After Arnold used her MBE title when introducing herself to her fellow campmates, her words were parodied by presenters Ant and Dec, with Ant referring to himself as “Ant McPartlin, MBE”.

Speaking to The Sun, Arnold said that she had been made to feel “ashamed” of her title and pressured into removing it from her social media profile.

“I received so much abuse and read all of this horrible nonsense online,” she said. “People thought I was above myself but I’m literally the most chilled and laidback person ever.

“Ant and Dec made that even worse and played on it, I got so much hate from people who didn’t know me.”

Asked if she had received an apologised from the presenters, Arnold said: “No, I haven’t. You know that you are ‘fair game’ on the show but it would have been better if they said, ‘She didn’t mean it like that.’

“Unfortunately, when you go on these shows you expose yourself and online trolls are very hurtful.”

The Independent has contacted ITV for comment.

Arnold, who won gold for Great Britain in javelin at the 2016 Paraplympic Games in Rio, was the first contestant eliminated from the reality show in 2020.

The show was filmed in Gwrych Castle in Wales for two years due to the pandemic, but has returned to the Australian jungle this month for the new series.

Mike Tindall, Boy George, Jill Scott and Matt Hancock are among the contestants, with the first eliminations taking place this week.

I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! airs Sunday to Friday at 9pm on ITV.