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Former I’m A Celebrity star’s shock ‘rigged’ claims: ‘Doing it for money’
Ajay Rochester competed on I'm A Celebrity in 2019.
Former I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here star Ajay Rochester has taken a brutal swipe at Channel Ten on TikTok. In a series of short videos, she answered fan questions about producers’ involvement in the show, and made a shock claim that the competition show is “rigged”.
The former The Biggest Loser host was the first to be eliminated from her season in 2019, and she has alleged that there is a disclaimer in the talent contracts saying the network can pick a winner.
“In the contract, it says in very tiny, little writing right at the end that Channel Ten can choose to elect a winner, regardless of the votes,” she claimed. “It also says that Channel Ten can decide when the contestants are eliminated with or without the voting.”
She also suggested that the network uses the show to push their own talent, with The Bachelor’s Abbie Chatfield and former Channel Ten’s Video Hits host Dylan Lewis winning their respective seasons.
“It’s television, of course they rig things. There’s no prize money involved so they’re allowed to rig it,” she alleged. “If it’s a competition…it can’t be rigged, there’s very strict rules. But this isn’t a competition — every celebrity is getting paid…they're not doing it for charity, they're doing it for money."
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In a follow-up video, she told fans she didn’t want them to take her comments the wrong way as she “loves” Abbie, and believes that she deserved to win her season.
“I do think that the voting at the end is the real winner, I really do, I think that by that far in the game they let whoever has the most votes win. And again…I absolutely love Abbie and I 100 per cent think she should have won, because she was awesome,” she added.
The US-based star went on to discuss different parts of the show she believes is “manipulated” by the network, including how people are picked for trials and why celebrity chefs often make it quite far.
According to Ajay, fellow season five contestants Angie Kent and Justin Lacko were chosen for one important reason — they were tipped to be the next Bachelorette and Bachelor. While Gogglebox’s Angie did become The Bachelorette, Justin wasn't picked by Ten.
“Wasn’t it kind of [a] coincidence that Ange and…Justin got all the tucker trials?” she asked.
She also pointed out that it’s important for celebrity chefs to stay on the show, because they’re usually the ones cooking for all the contestants.
This theory could be backed up by The Living Room’s chef Miguel Maestre winning season six, while chef Colin Fassnidge made it to the end of season seven before coming fourth. However, this year’s celebrity chef Anna Polyviou was eliminated first.
Angie commented on Ajay’s TikTok and said she was enjoying all the information being shared.
“Living for these truth bombs! But girl I got one tucker trial. To be fair I didn’t do many at all for the airtime I got,” she quipped, alongside a laughing emoji.
Fans went wild for the theories Ajay was suggesting, with many thanking her for speaking out.
“I love it. It’s refreshing hearing the truth and not glossy crap,” one fan wrote.
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“It makes sense because I always wonder why they claim the public has voted for some English reality random to do a trial,” another added.
“Bet Domenica makes it to top three and is the next Bachelorette!” a third guessed.
“When I saw Honey Badger I said to my mum that they were vetting/hazing him for a bigger contract. Straight into the trial, just cemented it for me,” another remarked.
Yahoo Lifestyle has reached out to Channel Ten for comment.
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