I’M A Celebrity star Dean McCullough’s mum proved she was his biggest cheerleader as she gave a thumbs-up and cheery smile after landing Down Under.
Yet her grin hid a warning – as the 55-year-old dished out a telling-off for ITV presenter Ant McPartlin, 49, and spoke out on Dean’s “feud” with campmate Alan Halsall exclusively to The Sun.
Ann headed on the long-haul flight from the UK to Australia‘s Brisbane Airport clad in a T-Shirt with the BBC Radio 1 DJ‘s face emblazoned on the front.
Laden with huge blue suitcases and a couple of shoulder bags, she took time from pushing her luggage around in a trolley to pose for a picture.
She threw her denim jacket on the top and gave the positive gesture as she stood in the Arrivals lounge.
Yet she had some stark words for I’m A Celeb host presenter Ant in a chat with The Sun.
Ann hit back at Ant’s criticism of Dean and exclusively told us: “I think Ant’s been a wee bit hard on him.
“I’m gonna have to have a wee word with Ant about that, maybe later.”
Ann said: “He has been game for anything.
“He’s just been himself, and we’re all so, so proud.”
Ann will no doubt be a welcome sight for Dean after he was voted by the public to tackle numerous challenges.
Yet his sheer amount of airtime bagged by the broadcaster is said to have caused unrest in camp.
Fans also suggested Dean had a game plan to secure the screen time.
Dean’s antics in the trials – which have seen him scream I’m A Celebrity – have also sparked speculation of a feud with Ant.
Ant, 49, addressed speculation of a “feud” after fans spotted he was giggling at Dean’s screaming in a recent foodie task.
He was previously forced to break his silence after fans called out bad blood between him and Dean.
i'm A Celebrity is back for its 24th series, with a batch of famous faces living in the Aussie jungle. The Sun's Jake Penkethman takes a look at the stars on the show this year..
Coleen Rooney – Arguably the most famous name in the camp, the leading WAG, known for her marriage to Wayne Rooney, has made a grand return to TV as she looks to put the Wagatha Christie scandal behind her. The Sun revealed the mum-of-four had bagged an eye-watering deal worth over £1.5million to be on the show this year making her the highest-paid contestant ever.
Tulisa – The popstar and former X Factor judge has made her triumphant TV comeback by signing up to this year’s I’m A Celeb after shunning TV shows for many years. Known for being a member of the trio, N-Dubz, Tulisa became a household name back in 2011 when she signed on to replace Cheryl on ITV show The X Factor in a multi-million pound deal.
Alan Halsall – The actor, known for playing the long-running role of Tyrone Dobbs on ITV soap opera Coronation Street, was originally signed up to head Down Under last year but an operation threw his scheduled appearance off-course. Now he has become the latest Corrie star to win over both the viewers and his fellow celebrities.
Melvin Odoom – The Radio DJ has become a regular face on TV screens after rising to fame with presenting roles on Kiss FM, BBC Radio 1 and 4Music. Melvin has already been for a spin on the Strictly dancefloor and co-hosted The Xtra Factor with Rochelle Humes in 2015 but now he is facing up to his biggest challenge yet – the Aussie jungle.
GK Barry – The UK’s biggest social media personality, GK, whose real name is Grace Keeling, has transformed her TikTok stardom into a lucrative career. Aside from her popular social media channels, she hosts the weekly podcast, Saving Grace, and regularly appears on ITV talk show, Loose Women. She has even gone on to endorse popular brands such as PrettyLittleThing, KFC and Ann Summers.
Dean McCullough – A rising star amongst this year’s bunch of celebs, Dean first achieved notability through his radio appearances on Gaydio and BBC Radio 1. He was chosen to join the BBC station permanently in 2021 and has featured prominently ever since. He has enjoyed a crossover to ITV over the past year thanks to his guest slots on Big Brother spin-off show, Late & Live.
Oti Mabuse – The pro dancer has signed up to her latest TV show after making her way through the biggest programmes on the box. She originally found fame on Strictly Come Dancing but has since branched out into the world of TV judging with appearances on former BBC show The Greatest Dancer as well as her current role on ITV’s Dancing On Ice.
Danny Jones – The McFly star was drafted into the programme last minute as a replacement for Tommy Fury. Danny is the second member of McFly to enter the jungle, after Dougie Poynter won the show in 2011. He is also considered a rising star on ITV as he’s now one of the mentors on their Saturday night talent show, The Voice, along with bandmate Tom Fletcher.
Jane Moore – The Loose Women star and The Sun columnist is braving the creepy crawlies this year. The star is ready for a new challenge – having recently split from her husband. It will be Jane’s first foray into reality TV with the telly favourite having always said no to reality shows in the past.
Barry McGuigan – Former pro boxer Barry is the latest fighting champ to head Down Under following in the footsteps of Tony Bellew and Amir Khan. It comes after a tough few years for Irish star Barry, who lost his daughter Danika to bowel cancer. He told The Late Late Show in 2021: “She was such an intrinsic part of the family that every day we ache.”
Maura Higgins – The Irish TV beauty first found fame on Love Island where she found a brief connection with dancer Curtis Pritchard. Since then, she has competed on Dancing On Ice as well as hosting the Irish version of the beauty contest, Glow Up. Since last year, she has been working on building up her career in the US by being the social media correspondent and host of Aftersun to accompany Love Island USA. She even guest hosted an episode of the spin-off, Love Island Games, in place of Maya Jama last year.
Rev. Richard Coles – Former BBC radio host the Rev Richard Coles is a late arrival on I’m A Celebrity, and he’s ready to spill the beans on his former employer. The former Communards and Strictly star, said the BBC did not know its a**e from its elbow last year. An insider said: “Rev Coles will have a variety of tales to tell from his wild days as a pop star in the Eighties, through to performing on Strictly and his later life as a man of the cloth.”
At the time, he admitted he was “annoyed” at Dean for screaming “I’m A Celeb” and quitting a task early – yet admitted he had been “unprofessional” in how he dealt with it.
Ant said: “You kind of hope that (Dean) is going to raise his game a little bit, I thought he was going to do that today.”
He said: “My annoyance came across on screen and it was quite unprofessional and I’m not happy about it.”
Dec sarcastically said: “I think you hid it quite well, Ant…I think you hid it quite well.”
Ant went on: “You get to the point when you think ‘what are you doing?'”
In Sunday’s I’m A Celeb spin-off show, I’m A Celeb Unpacked, host Joel Dommett asked him about the upcoming task to be aired on Monday.
Ant then made a public appeal and begged viewers not to vote for Dean – and to give other stars a chance.
He continued: “Let’s all have a serious talk, I’m going to look directly at the camera here.
“I think it’s good to see other faces down there [in the trial area].
“It’s not a personal thing, it’s not about Dean, it’s about us.
“We want to see different people on the show being featured.”
Speaking about Dean being picked for six Bushtucker Trials in a row, Ann told us: “It’s been awful.
“Every time I’ve seen, you know, he’s been picked again, it was like, ‘Oh my God!’.
“But do you know what? He’s a team player.
“He just loves it, he always does his best, and that’s what we all want.
“We are seeing the real Dean, he is just being himself.
“There is nothing false about him. He just gets on with it.”
He was also called out for his reaction to Dean’s spat with Alan Halsall.
Alan’s Corrie co-star Andy Whyment was quick to brand Dean as “a bit disrespectful” following the scenes, which saw the DJ irritated when he was woken up by the soap star.
On Dean’s spat, his mum Ann set the record straight.
She told us: “I just thought, he didn’t really give him enough time to wake up, did he?
“Another couple of seconds, he would’ve been grand to go and help Jane.”
Ann then said Dean has been “starstruck” by meeting Wagatha Christie sleuth Coleen Rooney, who he was partnered up with on the race into camp.
She said: “He’s such a team player, he loves everybody.
“But he has been very starstruck – especially with Coleen.”
