Ant McPartlin appears to use ‘racist slang’ on I’m A Celeb

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! has become renowned for the comedic skits between hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly.

But one ‘joke’ in particular left a bad taste in several viewers’ mouths on Friday night’s episode, after Ant appeared to drop a racial slur.

Speaking about the blue jackets the celebrities in the jungle had to wear for a recent task, Dec said that they were being donated to ‘underprivileged Australians who suffer terrible working conditions’.

The camera then cut to the crew of the show, all wearing the blue tops. Ant appeared to then say: ‘Poor souls, they get paid in abos.’

The term ‘abo’ is defined as ‘a contemptuous term used to refer to an Australian Aborigine’ – and viewers picking up on it flocked to Twitter to express their dismay. MailOnline has contacted a rep for the show for comment. 

‘Did he say “they get paid in Abos”?’ one person asked on Twitter, as another posted: ‘Paid in Abos!! Little racist there.’

A third wrote: ‘Is it OK for Ant to refer to “Abbos” on #ImACelebrity I’m not so sure. Could be wrong. But it sounded wrong. I didn’t like hearing it.’ 

Not amused: The term ‘abo’ is defined as ‘a contemptuous term used to refer to an Australian Aborigine’ – and viewers picking up on it flocked to Twitter to express their dismay

Replying to this, someone posted: ‘I thought I must have misheard! He can’t say that! Bye bye Ant.’

Another person typed ‘@imacelebrity can you just clarify what @Ant_McPartlin said that the Aussie #ImACelebrity2017 crew were paid in please?! I am reeling from the potential racist term it sounded like…’ tagging the official Twitter account for the show, looking for answers.

Did he, didn’t he? Some of the tweets received replies from viewers claiming that Ant had actually said ‘avos’ [referring to avocados] or ‘eyeballs’ [which is what the subtitles allegedly said]

Say what? ‘Did Ant McPartlin just say the Australian Crew get paid in Aborigines?’ someone else asked

‘Did he say they pay Aussies with Abos? Please tell me he didn’t,’ came another questioning tweeter.

‘Did Ant McPartlin just say the Australian Crew get paid in Aborigines?’ someone else asked.

Some of the tweets received replies from viewers claiming that Ant had actually said ‘avos’ [referring to avocados] or ‘eyeballs’ [which is what the subtitles allegedly said].