His time in the jungle was mired in accusations from viewers that campmates Dennis Wise, Jamie Lomas, Amir Khan, and Rebekah Vardy had bullied him.
And Iain Lee has slammed opinions he was bullied on I’m A Celebrity, but said he was ‘ostracised and intimidated’ by his fellow co-stars.
The 44-year-old comedian, who openly struggled with his mental health issues during the show, blamed ‘hunger’ and ‘heightened emotions’ for the rising tensions in camp.
Left out: Iain Lee has slammed opinions he was bullied on I’m A Celebrity, but said he was ‘ostracised and intimidated’ by his fellow co-stars.
‘Bullying is a big word, and I was categorically not bullied in the jungle,’ he told The Telegraph.
‘Having said that, I was ostracised, made to feel horrendously awkward and intimidated.’
He added: ‘Look, I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! is surreal to begin with, emotions are heightened, everyone’s ‘hangry’, which is to say ‘hungry and angry’ and the pressure is immense.’
Rising tensions: The 44-year-old, who openly struggled with his mental health issues during the show, blamed ‘hunger’ and ‘heightened emotions’ for the rising tensions in camp
Denial: ‘Bullying is a big word, and I was categorically not bullied in the jungle,’ he told The Telegraph
Allegations: Social media users claimed that Amir Khan, Jamie Lomas and Dennis Wise were ‘bullying’ Iain, which was denied by all
Despite insisting he wasn’t bullied, he went on to reveal his regrets of not standing up for himself more.
But he said his 6ft5ins stature would have been intimidating to others if he started shouting, saying ‘it would have made things a lot worse and I would have been even more isolated’.
Earlier in the week, the father-of-two admitted he was ‘disappointed’ by boxer Amir Khan’s ‘lying’ as he assumed they were close during his appearance on Loose Women.
He said: ‘I was really disappointed that people had been saying things behind my back about a “game plan” and that I wasn’t trying hard enough. But when you’re in there you do go a bit nuts. Everyone’s hungry. You get so bored. You can have days of doing nothing.
‘I have spoken to Becky [Vardy] since, I’ve been speaking to Becky a lot on WhatsApp. I’ve been speaking to Dennis [Wise]. I haven’t’ spoken to Jamie [Lomas] but we got quite close,’ he explained.
Tears: During the show, Vardy vehemently denied the bullying claims and sobbed as she insisted she hadn’t targeted the broadcaster as part of a gang
During the show, Rebekah declared that she wasn’t a ‘ringleader’ – but was slammed by fans who caught her sharing a covert handshake with Amir Khan and Dennis Wise after Iain was voted out.
The Coming Out show captured the moments after the celebrities left the Australia outback – including their reaction to fans’ comments about them.
Rebekah emerged after the third vote off and the topic of Iain Lee was the first on the agenda.
Her father Carlos told her: ‘You’re right about lain, I know what you mean.’
Hmm: The WAG declared that she wasn’t a ‘ringleader’ – but was slammed by fans who caught her sharing a covert handshake with Amir Khan after Iain was voted out
Secret: Amir then turned to Dennis and shook hands with him as they watched the radio host leave the jungle
Rebekah replied: ‘He can cut the mood in camp in seconds. It’s a shame that he feels he has to be like that, but who knows what hes going through, it’s hard to speculate.
Shrugging, she looked away and added: ‘I don’t care anyway.’
When a phone call to her management team revealed she’d been accused of ganging up against him, she was brought to tears in the arms of her father.
Surprised, she said: ‘You know what, I was the one that was being the most supportive of him. A bully? I’ve never been a bully in my whole entire life.’
Not having it: Iain was quick to set the record straight upon leaving, saying: ‘There was no bullying going on. Let’s quash this rumour once and for all’
Iain was quick to set the record straight upon leaving: ‘There was no bullying going on. Let’s quash this rumour once and for all. Bullying is a very serious thing. It’s a huge word. There was no bullying whatsoever. ‘
He added: ‘I always got on with Becky, I always thought she had a deliciously dark humour.
‘The only argument was with Dennis and that lasted about 30 seconds before we hugged.’
Fan favourite: The 44-year-old star rose to fame presenting TV hit the 11 O’Clock show
Final three: Iain won over the public and ended up taking third place in the show