I’m A Celeb star Dicko spills on Kerri-Anne Kennerley’s exit

I’m A Celeb star Dicko had a front-row seat to the “absurd” blow-up that made Kerri-Anne quit the show. Here’s how it really went down.

I’m A Celeb evictee Ian “Dicko” Dickson has spilled some behind the scenes gossip about this season’s biggest controversy: The fiery blow-up that made Kerri-Anne Kennerley quit the show after just three days.

Dicko, Kennerley, MAFS star Domenica Calarco and radio host Woody Whitelaw were taking part in one of I’m A Celeb’s gross-out food challenges when KAK staunchly refused to participate.

Her continued refusal to take part in challenges – in which contestants win stars, translating to meals for their hungry campmates – was too much for Dom, who declared she had “never met anyone so selfish,” and insisted KAK had “literally no decency or respect.”

Speaking on-air on Kyle and Jackie O this morning, Dicko revealed that viewers didn’t see the worst of the fight: He said that Dom flung the c-word at Kerri-Anne, who was “all class” in response.

Dom went in on KAK … Picture: Channel 10

… who immediately quit.

Speaking to news.com.au hours after he was voted out of camp, Dicko today said that while he couldn’t condone “how easily Dom went from nought to Gremlin in five seconds,” he shared her frustrations with Kennerley.

“I did keep slapping my forehead every time she’d intimate that she wasn’t going to get involved in any of the challenges in any meaningful way,” he said.

“She wasn’t going to do this or that – well, why are you here? It’s not actually a camping trip. The only way we get fed is with these stars, and if you’re not prepared to have a crack, we’re going to go hungry.

“I honestly think she hadn’t truly grasped that, which is so confusing. She’s a smart woman, you’d presume she’s got management … I don’t understand how they didn’t know what she was stepping into.”

And while the stoush was so severe it made Kennerley immediately quit the show after just three days, Dicko admitted he had trouble taking it seriously at the time.

Not a great poker face, Dicko.

“If I’m really honest, myself and Woody were off to one side laughing our tits off. I probably should’ve been a bit more grown up, but watching Australian TV royalty duke it out with a gnarly upstart was just precious – and I had a front-row seat,” he confessed.

Dicko labelled it a “truly, truly absurd TV moment” – made all the weirder by Whitelaw “chomping down on a kudu testicle” as he watched the confrontation play out. He also found himself glued to hosts Julia Morris and Chris Brown, who both had “wavy lined smiles like the ABC logo, and probably a thousand voices in their head from the control room.”

“I’d like to be the grown-up in the room and say, ‘This shouldn’t have happened, it’s dragged TV through the mud,’ but I laughed like a drain for two days afterwards I’m afraid. I kind of enjoyed it.”

Chris Brown and Julia Morris, wondering when they became MAFS hosts.

It was truly bizarre television: It felt like Logie-winning legend Kennerley had accidentally wandered into a particularly explosive MAFS dinner party, where the only thing on the menu was animal testicles. It seemed as though Kennerley checked out as soon as Dom went “full MAFS” on her.

“That was the subliminal narrative playing out: It was the privileged old guard stepping aside, the gates were open and the unclean hordes were rushing through to claim their title. It was that stark – and it was beautiful,” said Dicko.

“I didn’t want KAK to get upset, because she’s a friend of mine. But she’s a tough bird, and it would take more than a mouthy MAFS contestant to knock her off her golf game.”

Maybe so, but Dicko also revealed that relations between Dom and Kerri-Anne were so bad they weren’t allowed to travel back to camp together, with Kerri-Anne going on ahead to announce her immediate departure to the rest of the contestants.

A tearful Kerri-Anne announced her departure to the rest of the contestants. Picture: Channel 10

Dicko said that, that blow-up aside, there had largely been a “beautiful harmony” among the contestants at camp this season. He did, however, continuously clash with one person: Dom.

“It started pretty early on and it never stopped. People were really uncomfortable about us arguing, but every time we had a battle we talked it out and hugged it out,” he explained.

“There were people in the camp who really couldn’t handle conflict. They’d just freeze. We’d say, ‘It’s OK, daddy and daughter are just having a little fight.’”

Dicko – who lost 6.5kg during his 20 days at camp – also gave some insight into just how important it was for contestants to bring home those much-needed stars when they were sent off to participate in trials and challenges. With contestants at times “light-headed from hunger,” boxer Harry Garside was so weak he had to pause his daily Olympic training regimen.

“One of our Olympians had to stop his training routine because he didn’t have enough food. Not to be dramatic, but that’s what these stars mean,” he said.

“If you’re not going to compete for stars, you’re letting the side down, no matter who you are.”

I’m A Celeb continues 7:30pm Thursday on Ten.