I'm A Celebrity's brutal swipe at former host Chris Brown in premiere

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! kicked off its tenth season on Sunday night with Robert Irwin making his hosting debut alongside Julia Morris after longtime host Chris Brown quit the show last year.

The TV vet left Channel 10 in July to join rival network Seven, where he is set to host the upcoming season of Dancing With The Stars, the renovation series Dream Home, and a new animal series titled Once in a Lifetime.

To officially begin a new era of I’m A Celebrity, the show poked fun at Chris’ exit in the first few minutes of the premiere.

The episode began with a musical skit of Julia in tears as she knocks a framed photo of herself and Chris to the floor, uses a crumpled photo of him as a tissue, and throws away an action figure that looks eerily similar to the former 'Bondi Vet'.

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The comedian eventually receives a phone call about Robert joining the show before they meet up in South Africa and embrace.

While a majority of the montage was a sweet tribute to Chris and his impact on the show, it also featured a not-so-subtle swipe at his new gig in one very brief moment.

As Julia is shown running along a bridge to meet with Robert, a skeleton is on the floor wearing a blonde wig and a lanyard with the Channel Seven logo.

Fans applaud 'epic shade'

The brutal joke certainly didn’t go unnoticed by fans, with one viewer commenting on social media: “I love the skeleton Dr Chris with the Channel 7 lanyard.”

“That was hilarious,” another added, while a third replied, “Epic shade”.

“I noticed that too. Bold move!” someone else said, followed by a different user who joked, “Dr Chris is literally dead to her”.

“This was the best opening ever! I was laughing so much Julia is hilarious and Robert is killing it already,” another viewer wrote.

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Speaking to Yahoo Lifestyle before she flew to South Africa, Julia reflected on her co-host's departure and shared how she reacted when Chris broke the news he was leaving the show.

“I was shocked, I was angry, but I was also fine because it's what my friend needed to do. It was a super confusing time,” she said.

“But off he goes to renovate and travel, so that's gonna be amazing. I love him dearly though, we both do. We've all been mates for years.”

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