24 April 2026, 11:05 | Updated: 24 April 2026, 11:10
I’m A Celeb’s David Haye after the jungle.
Picture:
ITV
David Haye has revealed how much the celebrities were actually getting paid for I’m A Celebrity South Africa.
The second-ever I’m A Celebrity South Africa has been full of high-stake Bushtucker trials, controversial chats and unexpected fueds.
One ‘feud’ that has been making headlines is the discourse between former boxer David Haye and soap star Adam Thomas. Adam has opened up about how their altercations severely impacted him to the point that he is now in therapy.
When David left the jungle, he defended himself by saying that he was calling Adam out for complaining in camp because of how well they were being paid to do the show. He said: “I won the world heavyweight championship against a seven-foot Russian giant.
“So when a grown man tells me that a fun TV show – where we’re being paid handsomely every single day – is the hardest thing he’s ever been through, it’s just not a frequency I recognise.”
In a new interview, David has shared just how “handsomely” they were being paid.
I’m A Celebrity’s David Haye said they were being paid “handsomely” for the show.
Picture:
ITV
In a chat with the tabloids David shared he had absolutely no regrets about doing the show, despite receiving backlash. He revealed: “It’s probably £20,000-25,000 per day for being in that jungle.
“So to get up and do some trial or doing whatever… How is that hard? It’s not hard. I’ve had really hard fights for no money whatsoever.”
David was on the show for 11 days which means he must have been paid between £220,000 and £275,000 to appear on the show.
Adam Thomas has revealed he is in therapy after filming I’m A Celebrity South Africa.
Picture:
ITV
That’s a pretty decent pay day but David added that ITV upped the challenges this year and had all the celebs working a little bit harder.
He said: “They cranked the trials up in terms of how tough they were and the amount of cockroaches they’d pour over your head or the questions they’d ask you.
“It was all a lot harder than I remember – It was the questions. Any trial that requires me knowing any sort of trivial Adele song, spinning me round and round in a machine, asking me about Adele songs, I couldn’t think of one now.”
Adam explodes after Jimmy Bullard blows trial
While David has claimed the pay was between £20-25K a day, usually the celebrities on I’m A Celeb get paid different rates. This means some of the campmates could have been paid less or even more than he was.
There were reports ahead of the show that former Premier League player Jimmy Bullard was “furious” after finding out Harry Redknapp was being paid more than him to do the show.
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