[Archive 2010-02-10] ITV fined A$3000 for cruelty to rat on "I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!"

Historical archive — originally published 2010-02-10. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

A spokesperson stated on Monday that UK television company ITV have been fined A$3000 (about US$2591 or £1663) for cruelty to animals in an incident on programme "I'm a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!", where two celebrities killed and ate a rat.

The incident involved actor Stuart Manning and television chef Gino D'Acampo, who went on to win the ninth series of the programme, which was broadcast in 2009. Inside the jungle, having been reduced to rations of beans and rice, the two celebrities caught a rat before killing it and then cooking it, to give the beans and rice "more protein", before eating the rat, which contestant and actor George Hamilton described as "actually quite nice". Inside the programme's video diary room, at the time of the recording of it, Gino D'Acampo said: "I saw one of these rats running around. I got a knife, I got its throat, I picked it up."

RSPCA Australia had stated that performing an act like this on television was "not acceptable". Initially, Manning and D'Acampo were charged for animal cruelty. However, their charges were dropped when ITV made the confession that production staff had allowed the celebrities to carry out the act of killing the rat. After a court trial in Sydney, Australia, ITV got a fine of A$3000. The company also had to pay costs of A$2500 (US$2192 or £1396).

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Text adapted from ITV fined A$3000 for cruelty to rat on "I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!" by Wikinews contributors under CC BY 2.5. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. Contributor history.