Liz Ellis reveals chats that made Kerri-Anne Kennerley quit I’m A Celeb

I’m A Celeb winner Liz Ellis has revealed what was happening at camp before Kerri-Anne Kennerley’s stoush with Dom saw her quit the show.

Kerri-Anne Kennerley’s early exit from I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! was a rare controversy in what was otherwise a very harmonious season of the reality show.

TV legend KAK lasted just three days on the show, dramatically quitting after a fiery clash with MAFS star Domenica Calarco, who vented her frustrations that Kennerley wasn’t participating in challenges.

As Kennerley told her campmates, it was Dom’s tirade that made her realise she needed to leave the show immediately.

“The abuse was quite overwhelming,” she announced.

“I’ve made a choice – and it was a hard choice, because I’d love to stay – but it’s never going to work. This just morphed into something that it shouldn’t have been.”

But speaking to news.com.au today, season winner Liz Ellis gave some more context to Kennerley’s departure, saying it in fact came about after several “long chats” at camp about what was expected of her.

KAK quit after this clash with Dom – but Liz Ellis says it was brewing before that. Picture: Channel 10

“I’ve known her for a long time, I had a couple of long chats with her, and I’m just not sure that she understood exactly what was required of her. As she started to figure out that she had to take part in these trials for us to get fed, she realised that if she didn’t do it, she’d have to leave,” Ellis revealed

While Kennerley mucked in for the first trial she appeared in on the show, when she was summoned for her second trial, she flat-out refused to participate. By the time she, Dom, Dicko and Woody were selected for another trial and Kennerley again refused to take part, patience among her hungry fellow contestants was wearing thin.

Then came the Dom tirade – only a portion of which was shown on screen, but which both Dicko and Woody have both since said lasted for around 10 minutes and included Dom calling the Gold Logie-winner the C-word.

A tearful Kerri-Anne said goodbye after just three days in the jungle. Picture: Channel 10

“It came to a head in a way I think both of them might regret – I would’ve liked for it to be handled by both of them a bit better,” said Ellis.

“I was sad to see Kerri-Anne go, because she’s a really fun personality, but at the end of the day, we’re all competing for food. At one of the trials, she just pulled the pin straight away, and then at the second trial it all went a bit pear-shaped … when she left, it was good for her and it was probably good for us, too,” said Ellis.

I sat down with Kennerley for an interview just two days before she entered camp and found her full of confidence about how she’d tackle the challenges on I’m A Celeb. As she saw it, several decades spent in daytime TV had been the perfect training ground: Name a dangerous animal, she’s held it. Name a zany stunt, she’s tried it.

I’m A Celeb’s final three (L-R) Aesha Scott, Harry Garside and Liz Ellis.

But Ellis said it seemed that only when Kennerley got into camp did the reality of her situation set in: If you don’t give it your all in challenges, we’ll all go hungry.

“It was interesting, and it wasn’t just me chatting to her, other people were too. I think she came to realise that if she wasn’t going to go hard in the trials, we weren’t going to eat,” she said.

“That’s unsustainable, and we made that very clear to her. When she pulled the pin, she’d had that blow-up with Dom, but … she also knew she’d be going back to some pretty hungry people at camp.”