I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! faced a massive blow during their 2023 final as the normally hugely-popular reality TV series was millions of viewers down compared to last year.

The reveal came after weeks of controversy surrounding politician Nigel Farage being announced to take part in the series.

On hearing of his arrival in Australia, many fans threatened to boycott the series due to the Brexiteer's involvement in camp.

Despite that, the 59-year-old former MEP finished third, with former champion boxer Tony Bellew, 41, in second and Made in Chelsea favourite Sam Thompson, 31, – whose next move has already been revealed – crowned king of the jungle.

With the overnight ratings now released, they suggest the show suffered dramatically in comparison to last year's final – in which Lioness Jill Scott emerged victorious.

The 2023 live final only managed to draw an average audience of 6.6 million people, with a peak of 7.5 million.

Last year, a whopping 10.1 million people watched the moment footballer Jill was crowned the queen of the jungle, beating Owen Warner and Matt Hancock to the top spot.

Rugby ace and Royal family member Mike Tindall came fourth in the show, and had built a strong bond with Jill during their time in the camp.

Last year saw similar complaints over the addition of former Health Secretary Matt, but it's unclear if it had an affect on the overall numbers.

The viewing figures for Sunday night's final on 10 December are expected to rise over the next few days with people watching the show on the ITVX catch-up service.

Despite this, the show's decline in viewership has been palpable with the final watched by four million less people than 2022.

Love Island commentator and podcast host Sam won 43.35 per cent of the final public vote during the battle for third place, while his new best pal Tony received 30.87 per cent.

Nigel was knocked out at the final hurdle with 25.78 per cent of the vote.

In the final vote between the Made in Chelsea star and boxer Tony, Sam received a whopping 56.64 per cent majority. As fans waited with baited breath to see who Ant and Dec would announce as winner, the Liverpudlian Everton fan said he'd already guessed 10 days ago.

Tony insisted that during a coffin trial that saw him, Sam, Nigel and Nick Pickard trying to win stars while facing their critter fears, it was clear who was the "favourite".

While the others were faced with snakes and creepy crawlies, Sam had to deal with a large number of frogs instead – a creature Tony declared was the "easiest" of the bunch.

I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! is expected to return to ITV and ITVX next year

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