Jungle show ‘wrong to use star’s child in trial’

Hit show I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! breached the broadcasting code by offending viewers when it placed contestant Charlie Brooks’s seven-year-old daughter in a position which “could be characterised as a form of a prize”, watchdog Ofcom has ruled.

Last year’s ITV series sparked 66 complaints when EastEnders’ star Brooks, who would later be crowned jungle queen, was left heartbroken after she and her daughter Kiki missed out on seeing each other in a trial.

Ofcom ruled that the show, presented by Ant and Dec, had taken due care of Kiki’s “emotional welfare” and that there was no evidence that it had caused her “unnecessary distress or anxiety”.

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But it stated that the 12th series of the show did flout a rule on material which may cause offence being justified by the context.

Ofcom said that it had “serious concerns about Kiki’s appearance in the programme”.

It said that “a significant level of offence would... have been caused by the editorial decision to place a seven-year-old child in a situation whereby that child was being used as what could be characterised as a form of prize in an adult ‘reality’ programme”.

It added: “We considered the editorial premise of this challenge would have been potentially offensive to viewers: in effect a
seven-year-old child was being
offered as a prize in a competition.”

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In the Door To Door challenge, Brooks, who plays Janine in the BBC1 soap, and darts ace Eric Bristow had to choose from a selection of doors that had treats behind them.

The actress did not know that Kiki, who had not seen her mother for 18 days, was behind one of the doors. When she discovered that she had missed out on seeing her child after picking the wrong door, viewers saw Brooks, who later criticised the stunt and said it had been “heartbreaking”, become visibly upset.

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