In a jaw-dropping moment that’s got fans buzzing, Ant McPartlin finally addressed the long-simmering rumors of a feud with Kelly Brook during the *I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!* aftershow, *Unpacked*. The hosting duo, Ant and Dec (Declan Donnelly), turned what could have been a lighthearted chat into a revealing peek behind the curtain of one of TV’s most infamous rivalries. With Brook now braving the jungle as a 2025 campmate, the timing couldn’t be more electric. Here’s everything Ant spilled – and why this 15-year-old drama is still making headlines.
It all kicked off over the weekend on *Unpacked*, where Ant and Dec were dissecting the latest antics from the main show alongside hosts Joel Dommett and Kemi Rodgers. The conversation veered into the camp’s less-than-stellar meals, particularly a botched octopus dish that left everyone grimacing. “What they’ve got given hasn’t been awful, has it?” Ant quipped. “Even octopus, if you cook it right, it’s nice. They just cooked it badly.”
Rodgers quickly pointed out that the culinary culprits were none other than camp cooks Martin Kemp and Kelly Brook. That’s when Dec burst into laughter, teasing his co-host: “What’s your problem with Kelly Brook?” Ant, feigning innocence, pointed back at Dec and fired back, “Don’t you start! I don’t have a problem with Kelly Brook, thank you.” The exchange was playful on the surface, but it cracked open the door to a backstory that’s been whispered about for years – one that dates back to Brook’s ill-fated stint on *Britain’s Got Talent* in 2009.
For those not in the know, Brook parachuted into the *I’m a Celeb* jungle on November 16, 2025, looking every bit the glamorous model and radio DJ. But her arrival stirred up old memories among viewers, who couldn’t forget her explosive clash with Ant and Dec over a decade ago. Hired as a fourth judge on *BGT* alongside Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan, and Amanda Holden, Brook’s time on the panel was shockingly short-lived – just one week before she was unceremoniously dropped.
The official line? Adding a fourth judge made things “too complicated.” But Brook has long hinted at a deeper rift, claiming she ruffled feathers by innocently questioning Ant and Dec’s role on the show. In their 2010 memoir, *Ooh! What a Lovely Pair: Our Story*, Dec didn’t hold back on the awkward encounter. Recalling Brook’s first day on set, he wrote: “Kelly looked nervous, so I told her it was going to be great fun and to just relax. She nodded, then looked at me and said, ‘And what do you do on the show?'”
Dec continued, sharing how Simon Cowell jumped in: “Kelly, you have seen the show, haven’t you?” To which Brook replied, “Yeah… well, bits.” Dec likened the moment to meeting the Queen, adding, “I don’t want to sound like an egomaniac, but the last person who said, ‘And what do you do?’ was the Queen when I met her at the party for ITV’s 50th anniversary.”
The duo’s frustration ran deeper. Dec admitted they were “annoyed” about Brook’s hiring from the start, questioning, “We had two questions: ‘Why is there a fourth judge?’ and ‘Why is it Kelly Brook?’ None of them could answer us.” They felt blindsided by Cowell’s unilateral decision, explaining, “Obviously, as hosts of the show, we have to justify that kind of thing to the audience, and no one could give us a good reason why Kelly was on board. The simple answer was that Simon, without talking to anyone, had decided it was a good idea. We didn’t agree.”
From Brook’s perspective, the fallout was brutal. She accused Ant and Dec of not wanting her on *BGT* at all, despite being “never anything but pleasant” to her face. “Their egos are such that they were saying to themselves: ‘How dare she think she can come on to our show?’ and since then they’ve been very vocal about their displeasure at me being there,” she once revealed. Post-firing, Brook claimed her career hit a wall: “There was nothing I could do in this country… the people at ITV were telling me that I had upset Ant and Dec and that was it.”
Piers Morgan, who was right in the thick of it as a fellow *BGT* judge, backed up the tension in a recent Instagram post just after *I’m a Celeb* kicked off. “As Kelly Brook goes into the *I’m a Celebrity* jungle, a throwback to when she very briefly appeared as a judge on *Britain’s Got Talent*… for just two disastrous days!” he wrote. “Be interesting to see how she interacts with Ant and Dec given she still blames them for being fired so fast and ruthlessly… which isn’t far from the truth.”
Morgan added fuel to the fire: “They weren’t happy they hadn’t been consulted by Simon Cowell about Kelly’s sudden hiring – and even less happy when she asked them what they did on the show…”
Now, with Brook facing Bushtucker Trials and camp life alongside nine other celebs, all eyes are on whether this old beef will resurface in the jungle. Ant’s on-air denial might have been laced with humor, but it feels like the first crack in years of silence. Could this be the start of a reconciliation – or more fireworks? As *I’m a Celeb* unfolds, one thing’s for sure: the drama off-screen is just as juicy as what’s happening in camp. Stay tuned!