I’m A Celeb ratings dive as viewers slam Oldfields

THEIR campmates hate them — and judging by the ratings, viewers do too. Why were Lisa and David Oldfield sent into I’m A Celeb in the first place?

THE equilibrium of camp life on I’m A Celeb has been interrupted by the arrival of “Australia’s most dysfunctional couple,” Lisa and David Oldfield, this week.

But it appears viewers aren’t so keen on the drama the publicity-hungry pair are desperately whipping up at camp, with the fourth season’s already soft ratings falling further since their arrival.

Seventeen episodes in, I’m A Celeb is struggling compared to previous seasons, with five-city metro viewing figures in the past week typically hitting the 500 — 550k mark, compared to around 750-900k at the same point in last year’s season.

It didn’t help, of course, that the show lost two of its ‘big ticket’ celebrities with the unplanned exits of hot-headed tennis champ Bernard Tomic and controversial boxer Anthony Mundine in the early days of the season.

Lisa and David Oldfield. Picture: Jenny Evans

Former royal butler Paul Burrell and Geordie Shore’s Vicky Pattison provided some welcome fresh blood when they entered the show last week, but it was the arrival of Real Housewives of Sydney star Lisa and her former One Nation politician husband that really promised to stir things up.

The pair entered camp at the tail end of Monday night’s episode, immediately ruffling feathers among some of their fellow campmates, who branded them “both total idiots.”

Last night’s episode was the show’s first full, hour-long dose of Oldfields — and also the first time in four seasons of Aussie I’m A Celeb that the ratings have fallen below 500,000 people across the five metro cities.

Just 489,000 people tuned in last night, a stark contrast to the 988,000 watching My Kitchen Rules on Seven and the 1.23 million watching Married At First Sight at the same time.

The pair are known for their oversharing social media posts, like this “post-sex selfie” Lisa posted to her Instagram account.

While reality TV thrives on drama and conflict, the Oldfields made for especially divisive viewing as they seemed hellbent on creating tension among their campmates.

A passing question from Burrell about why the pair had chosen two have their two sons circumcised led to a prolonged speech from David, standing over the soft-spoken Brit and pummeling him with facts and figures in an attempt to prove his argument wrong.

It was just one of several flare-ups the abrasive pair had with their campmates, and viewers were quick to air their distaste:

Gotta give it to them, they came up with something worse than eating ostrich anus - Oldfields. #ImACelebrityAU

— Brett Osbourne (@brett_osbourne) February 19, 2018

Not the Oldfields! I'm a viewer, get me out of here! #ImACelebrityAU

— Ayal Tusia 😎 (@AyalTusia) February 18, 2018

The Oldfields are awful. Just awful. Why do 🇦🇺 TV producers keep giving platforms to these tools? We need to get rid of them. Him first, of course. 🙏🏻 #ImACelebrityAU

— 👑 Amy (@everythingtaboo) February 20, 2018

The Oldfields are 100% there for rage tv. Mundine vs Green failed so Plan B. Which coincidentally is what David's mum should have taken. #ImACelebrityAU

— 😇 Qld_Nurse 🍄 (@Nursey_Ally) February 20, 2018

What I think of the oldfields #ImACelebrityAU pic.twitter.com/gkCGw6WVvg

— Rachel McInerney (@Rachtrix) February 20, 2018

Fiona is just getting better each day. Her absolute disgust of David is wonderful to watch. Even better she doesn't hide it #ImACelebrityAU

— Kaye (@K_I_Am2U) February 20, 2018

.@VickyPattison handed David Oldfield a nipple from the Trial "because you've acted like a bit of a tit today Dave." #ImACelebrityAU pic.twitter.com/WTQpoHlUVb

— #ImACelebrityAU (@ImACelebrityAU) February 20, 2018

While their campmates — fellow Housewives alumni Jackie Gillies aside — couldn’t hide their disdain for the pair, neither could at least one of the hosts:

@Ladyjmo is not even trying to hide how much she hates the Oldfields and I live for it. #ImACelebrityAU

— Stop jerking it to Ayn Rand and go outside (@aspievamp) February 20, 2018

The long-married pair — who campmate Fiona O’Loughlin quietly suggested were in a “sham marriage” in last night’s episode, so icy is their relationship — were also seen scheming together outside camp, figuring out new ways to get under the skin of their “snowflake, social justice warrior” campmates.

While I’m A Celeb may have been low on drama this season after Tomic and Mundine’s hasty exits, the show has settled into an enjoyable rhythm in recent weeks, with the hilarious rapport between comedians O’Loughlin and Peter Rowsthorn making this perhaps the funniest season yet.

To go from that to two moustache-twirling villains secretly plotting ways to destroy their fellow campmates was ... quite the adjustment.

LOL. The Oldfields think they're in real life House of Cards and give each other hilarious pep talks in which they tell each other they're smarter and better than all the snowflake hater cucks. They are the most ridiculous humans alive. #ImACelebrityAU

— Scott Keenan (@scottkeenan) February 20, 2018

Annnnnd whoever suggested the Oldfields need to be fired 😒 what a pair of twats. Bring back the happy joking camp please #ImACelebrityAU 😭😭😭 https://t.co/bj7vP4tCdw

— Hailey. (@HAILEY_wood) February 20, 2018

When contacted by news.com.au, Ten pointed to this season’s strong catch-up figures and online following as other measures of its success.

“I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! is one of the most talked about television shows in 2018 and has enjoyed an average total audience of 864,000 capital city viewers this year. I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! is also a hit online, with online catch-up viewers up 77 per cent on its 2017 series average and up 72 per cent on the same point last year,” said a Network Ten spokesperson.

Speaking to news.com.au today, broadcaster Steve Price — who finished fifth in last year’s season — but argued the show was still a better alternative to the reality TV titans it was up against.

“I think the reason the show rated as well as it did last year and previously was ... I think that whole Married At First Sight concept is quite distasteful. I wouldn’t want my children watching that. My Kitchen Rules, they can’t cook,” he said.

Last year’s contestant Steve Price: “I wouldn’t want my children watching Married At First Sight.” Picture: Dylan Robinson

However, he conceded there may have been some casting missteps this season.

“Casting’s always hard. Maybe there’s a couple of people this year that went in there that people didn’t warm to. I mean, who loves Bernard Tomic and who loves Anthony Mundine? No one,” Price said.

“I can understand why the producers wanted to give them a crack but I can also understand why they got booted out in record time because I don’t want to sit at home and watch Anthony Mundine spew on about gay people on the TV, it’s just not what I want to do.

“The people they’ve got there now, possibly with the exceptions of the Oldfields who have obviously been sent in there to stir everyone up, I think everyone else in there has a story to tell.”

I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here airs 7:30pm Sundays — Thursdays on Ten.