‘I’m sorry Stewart. I am going to have to send you home’.

I watched on as Harry Redknapp nervously called Seann Walsh by the wrong name when announcing his vote to the group on last night’s episode of I’m A Celebrity… South Africa.

The comedian became the first campmate to be eliminated, and the decision was put solely on Harry Redknapp, who joined the camp late in the game.

As leader of Team Lion, who lost to Team Rhino after a series of challenges throughout the week, he had to sacrifice one of his own.

With Seann’s terrible track record in trials, the sword fell on him. And it made for an anti-climatic moment.

But unlike the main series – I’m A Celebrity… South Africa is pre-recorded, which is easy to forget. Ant and Dec aren’t in the jungle, there’s no voting, and no live eliminations.

This time there was no drama; Harry didn’t even seem too fazed by the decision.

I have no qualms about Harry’s decision; Seann Walsh was the obvious choice.

He went into his first series of I’m A Celebrity with a lot to prove after tarnishing his public image when in 2018, he snogged his Strictly Come Dancing partner Katya Jones while his girlfriend sat at home alone on her birthday.

The public instantly turned against him, accusing him of gaslighting his ex.

But despite this, eight years later, he was a huge success in the, and he’ll only have boosted his popularity again in the bush. He’s brought nothing but good energy and a banter with Gemma Collins that will be sorely missed.

However, Seann was bad at challenges and he missed his kids – the logic makes total sense.

Of course, David Haye approved of Harry’s decision. ‘Seann is the weakest member of the team, statistically,’ he said.

‘The David Haye show’ is becoming increasingly unbearable to watch, as his awful behaviour casts a cloud over everything else that makes I’m A Celebrity… South Africa fun.

Should he stay much longer, I fear my interest will start to wear off.

Regardless of Harry’s decision, Seann’s exit felt like a cruel and, more importantly, wasted opportunity.

It was so dissatisfying, that minutes later I’d forgotten it had even happened until Beverley Callard was told the news and burst into tears after missing Seann’s goodbye completely – even though she didn’t miss much.

Harry returned to a half-empty camp to tell David Haye, Ashley Roberts, Scarlett Moffatt, Sir Mo Farah and Seann that one of them would be going home. It felt like such a throwaway moment – Harry claims he became so nervous, he accidentally called Seann ‘Stewart’. 

It was like watching a sad child being picked last for PE: unfortunate, but completely unremarkable.

If the public can’t vote to save their favourites, then at the very least we should be able to watch the camp vote face-to-face. 

I would love to see them crank up the drama and give viewers the satisfaction of one day seeing David Haye being told by his campmates, one by one, that his attitude is absolutely appalling.

Despite all this, I’ve been surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed this series of I’m A Celebrity… South Africa.

I wouldn’t dream of missing a single episode – it’s an incredible cast, the trials are far more enthralling than anything we’ve seen for a long time in the jungle and there’s – except for the eliminations – a healthy balance of tension and fun.

We’ll never know if David Haye would have left had the public voted – I wouldn’t have been surprised if Seann was still sent packing.

To me, David Haye is proving more unbearable than Matt Hancock or even Nigel Farage, but he’s by far the biggest character there. If this series is remembered for one thing, for better or worse, it will be him – after all, big characters bring viewers, whether we like them or not.

But the payoff could have been better getting the campmates to vote, particularly for the very first elimination. The success of the Traitors proves that plonking contestants in a circle to vote each other off is the peak of reality television.

As it stands, there are still eleven campmates left. I hope a face-to-face vote or a much more explosive elimination is looming before we finally go live next Friday to crown the winner.

But for Seann to leave the bush first – and in such a throwaway moment – feels like a strange and unnecessarily mean way to go.

David Haye shouldn’t be the only one carrying the show’s drama with his controversies.

The next elimination will have to bring so much more than what we saw last night.

Otherwise it risks losing its viewers.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.

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