ITV I'm A Celebrity's Ant McPartlin told to 'rein it in' as he admits 'I was unprofessional'

Ant McPartlin has been told to 'reign it in' by I'm A Celebrity viewers after acting 'unprofessionally' towards one of this year's campmates.

During last night's Lethal Lab trial, Radio 1 star Dean McCullough had to win stars for camp by undertaking tasks in the jungle’s scientific research facility. The DJ had to poke his head into boxes that had different critters in to retrieve the stars but begged hosts Ant and Dec not to tell him what creepy crawlies would be joining him.

Dean successfully collected four stars, having faced snakes and a spider which perched on top of his head, but he shouted 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here' and packed the trial in when some fish guts touched the back of his neck.

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Ant looked frustrated by Dean's decision to quit and told him if he had let them tell him that it was just fish guts in the box with him, he may have stuck with the trial longer. Dean admitted that might be the case but seemed pleased with his four stars regardless - which was more than he'd managed to collect during his two previous trials.

Back at camp, Dean's four stars were celebrated by the hungry camp and his fellow campmates ran him a bubble bath to thank him for his effort, with McFly star Danny Jones treating him to a head massage.

Later in the show Ant and Dec returned to camp to let the celebrities know who would be taking on the next bushtucker trial. To Dean's surprise, he learned he would be taking on his fourth consecutive trial but would this time be facing it with campmate Danny by his side.

Ant and Dec then headed back to the studio for an appearance on spin-off show Unpacked to discuss the latest camp antics with presenters Joel Dommett, Sam Thompson and Kemi Rodgers. It wasn't long before Dean's disastrous trial was brought up with Ant joking to Sam he had requested that they don't speak about the fish guts incident.

Addressing his frustration, Ant held his hands up and admitted: "My annoyance came across on screen. I was quite unprofessional. I'm not happy about it." Giving him the side-eye, Dec chipped in: "I think you hid it quite well Ant."

Explaining why he got so angry, Ant said: "You get to a point where you're just like what are you doing?". Joel joked that Ant had abruptly answered a question from Dean about whether he had been to Benidorm with a flat "no". "I'm not making small talk anymore," Ant quipped, before vowing that he would try to be "kinder" to Dean during the next trial.

Later in the show, Sam, who won the show last year, suggested Dean's performance in the trials might be part of a 'game plan' to get more time on air. He said Dean freaking out over fish guts but not spiders and snakes "didn't make sense".

But Joel said he thought Dean was a "brilliant campmate" who knew how to make "great TV" and thought it was funny that Dean has managed to convince his campmates that taking home four stars was a good achievement. "He's great. It is calculated what he's doing, but I don't mean that in a negative way," he said.

Fans seem to be just as divided when it comes to Dean, and especially Ant's treatment of him. While some argued his anger was justified, others said they felt sorry for Dean and called on Ant to 'rein it in'.

Plenty of viewers found Ant's clear frustration to be entertaining. One said: "Dean absolutely gets on Ant’s nerves, I love it," while another added: "Ant hating dean is the greatest thing ever."

Others were concerned things will only get worse for the presenter as Dean takes on another trial tonight. "If Dean is constantly chosen, I swear Ant will 'I’m a celebrity get me out of here'," one said. Another suggested: "Can we all collectively agree to vote dean off first before Ant has a mental breakdown. Somebody else suggested Ant would be "writing his resignation" if Dean gets picked again.

Some viewers agreed with Ant and could see why he was so annoyed. "I feel like Ant is annoyed at Dean cos of all the effort that goes into creating a trial but gets wasted cos he can’t complete it," one viewer said, adding: "Hope they reuse some later in the show."

Another wrote: "I'm with Ant, the way the camp celebrated the mediocrity of Dean's trial performance was unbelievable. I'd have been raging that he tapped out, again."

But other fans had more sympathy for Dean and suggested Ant needed to cut him some slack. "Feel like i’m the only one that acc feels sorry for dean being so obviously hated by ant," one person said. Another added: "Do Ant & Dec have a problem with Dean? He did his best tonight but they still were rude? Would they have done better?! Would love to see them try!"

A third commented: "Actually feel for dean I know it's annoying when he don't complete the trials but ant is being a right p***k to him!" A fourth wrote: "Ant needs to rein it in and leave Dean alone … I’d like to see how he reacts to the trials Dean has been doing … nobody can help their absolute fears."