I'm a Celebrity fallout: Haye insists he gave Thomas 'primary school banter'

By Jenny Garnsworthy, Press Association

Boxer David Haye has said claims he bullied his I’m A Celebrity… South Africa campmate Adam Thomas are untrue, insisting that what happened between them was a “little light sprinkling of primary school banter”.

Responding to Thomas’s account of their time in the jungle on his At Home With The Thomas Bros’s podcast, Haye took to social media to offer his own version of events.

In a video posted on his Instagram account on Thursday, Haye repeated his claims that he only gave Thomas “banter” and said of the soap star: “Somehow he’s spun it so he’s still the victim”.

“The little light sprinkling of primary school banter that I gave him, which was so gentle, he nearly had an emotional breakdown over it,” Haye said.

“The volume of banter that he received was significantly less than he dished out. So he dished out, couldn’t take it.”

Haye said his video was “another form of banter”.

“Everyone’s so damn soft, it makes me sick, but it’s the world we live in right now, and you’re rewarded the softer and weaker you are,” he added.

“The more weak, brittle spirited you are, the more validation the masses give you.”

Haye said he is himself used to being on the receiving end of banter, adding: “You kind of build your resilience, your mental resilience, to jibes.

“I’ve had plenty of it in my time. That’s what real guys do.”

Former Emmerdale actor Thomas repeatedly clashed with Haye during the series, which was an all-star spin-off of the original I’m A Celebrity ITV show filmed in South Africa last autumn.

The live final was filmed last week with Thomas crowned the winner, with the ITV studio descending into chaos.

Haye accused the show of editing footage to make Thomas look like a “victim” while singer Sinitta and reality TV star Gemma Collins walked off set.

In his podcast with his brothers Ryan and Scott, Thomas said he regrets not standing up for himself during his time on the show and that he wanted to set the record straight to be “fair” to anyone else who has been the victim of bullying.

Thomas said: “I feel like there’s a fine line between banter and bullying.

“But I’ll just be outright and just say it how it is now: what happened to me in camp is bullying.”

Thomas’s representatives have been contacted for comment.