Brutal reality for stars who quit I’m A Celeb

Kerri-Anne Kennerley joins a small group of stars who’ve walked out on I’m A Celeb – and for some, the real battle starts after the show.

Kerri-Anne Kennerley turned down offers to appear on I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here every single year since the show started in 2015.

After her brief showing in the current season – which ended when she abruptly quit after three days in Thursday night’s episode – she might be wishing she had held her nerve.

Tearfully fleeing I’m A Celeb after a fiery clash with MAFS star Domenica Calarco, KAK now joins a small club of stars who’ve walked off the show during its nine seasons on-air.

Kennerley is only the fifth of the 100-plus contestants in the show’s Aussie history to quit:

Sport stars Anthony Mundine and Bernard Tomic both walked out of season four, comedian Mel Buttle exited in season seven and former rugby player Beau Ryan walked in season eight.

An emotional Kerri-Anne says her goodbyes at camp.

Several of those celebs found an even bigger problem waiting for them when they left the jungle: A public backlash.

Speaking to news.com.au in South Africa the day before this current season started filming, Ten’s head of entertainment Stephen Tate said it was a “massive disappointment” when contestants quit the show.

“In the early days we thought, ‘Oh, great drama, it’ll be fantastic to have a walkout.’ No: the audience don’t like it. The Australian audience don’t like quitters,” he said.

“Obviously we are never going to push somebody to the point where it’s damaging for their mental health … but walking out can be damaging too. So we need to make sure they’re absolutely sure before they do it.”

Kerri-Anne said her time on I’m A Celeb ‘was never going to work’.

Stephen Tate: ‘The audience don’t like quitters.’

A cursory glance at social media after last night’s episode shows Kennerley is copping a lot of heat, with viewers criticising her decision to quit and her refusal to participate in the show’s trials and challenges. Others pointed out her sudden exit had quashed any chance of scoring prize money and public awareness for her chosen charity, SpinalCare Australia.

Kennerley will attempt to redress the balance with her first sit-down interview on The Project tonight.

Weeping as she bid farewell to her fellow contestants in Thursday’s episode, she declared that her time on I’m A Celeb was “never going to work”.

“This just morphed into something that it shouldn’t have been,” she said.

“If they walk out, I can’t really manage their public perception,” Tate said of I’m A Celeb’s small club of quitters.

Buttle was arguably the only quitter to escape the show without any public backlash, with the comedian making a low-key exit from camp due to her intense snake phobia.

Tomic and Mundine both copped intense an intense backlash for walking out, with even the show’s own co-host Julia Morris labelling them “weak as p*ss” in an explosive interview with news.com.au.

“I hated them for turning their backs on it. Where’s your commitment? You’ve been left to have your own thoughts for the first time in your entire life, and you’re like, ‘I’m so special, I can just walk at any time?’” she said.

“It’s just someone who’s not willing to learn about themselves.”

Bernard Tomic said goodbye after three days. Picture: Channel 10

Beau Ryan tapped out on day 14.

Alongside Tomic and Buttle, Kennerley makes three out of the five I’m A Celeb quitters who’ve done so within their first four days.

Tate said those first few days seemed to separate the stayers from those who felt they’d made a big mistake in signing up.

“Day four is absolutely a wall that everybody hits. People start getting very hungry. Because in Western society now, we are never hungry unless we choose to be. In the jungle you are quite hungry quite quickly. That rhythm of being able to eat when you want is taken away from you,” he said.

With hunger comes intense fatigue, as the reality of life at camp – with little to do unless you’re selected to take part in a challenge – sets in.

“All of the adrenaline, all the excitement of actually walking into that camp starts to gradually fall away in increments. And then you realise the enormity of what you’ve signed up for and all these strange, dysfunctional new family members around you,” Tate said.

“And so day four is where people hit a fatigue wall, a hunger wall, they get cranky and they lose their sense of humour.”

Ultimately, Tate said most of the celebs who’ve quit the show have later expressed regret at their decision.

“They’ve all contacted me subsequently and said that they were disappointed in themselves that they did it. And nearly all of them have said they’d go back in.”

Time will tell if Kerri-Anne feels anything other than relief about making her hasty escape from a reality show she’d spent the past eight years turning down.

I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! continues 7.30pm Sunday on Ten

Nick Bond travelled to South Africa as a guest of Ten