David Haye comes under fire for comments he made about ‘ugly girls’ but his earlier comments about Gemma Collins faced no onscreen backlash and that is deeply concerning for plus size women, writes Yasmin Vince
I’m A Celebrity South Africa 2026 cast member David Haye(Image: ITV)
It’s fair to say that David Haye has quickly become the camp villain on I’m A Celeb. From the moment he sent Beverley Callard to Savannah Scrub, he has presented himself as someone who wants to win at all costs – even if that means being ruthless and unkind. But with his comments on tonight’s episode about ‘ugly girls’ and his behaviour towards Gemma Collins, his actions are crossing the line from TV nastiness to something much darker. While it’s worrying for all women, it’s especially concerning for fat girls like me.
In Monday’s (13 April) episode of I’m A Celebrity South Africa, David was hugely criticised by his female campmates for his comments about women and rightly so. The boxer told the camp: “Most ugly girls realise they’re not pretty enough. They’ve got to have a personality, to banter and to tell jokes and s**t, so people overlook the fact that they’re not aesthetically amazing.”
David Haye has caused upset with his comments about women(Image: ITV)
“You are just talking s**t,” fumed Scarlett Moffatt. Beverley asked if “handsome men” had “s**t personalities”. She added: “I’ve never heard anything so sexist in all my life.”
Unfortunately I have. I’ve heard exactly the same sentiment and thousands of versions of it throughout my life, as I’m sure many women have. This dichotomy of ‘pretty versus interesting’ exists everywhere. It’s in every film that requires a makeover before the boy realises the girl next to him is the love of his life. It’s in every joke about dumb blondes or airhead models. And now it’s playing for the nation in I’m A Celeb.
Thankfully, David’s comments were shot down by Scarlett and Beverley. Their immediate shock and criticism was amazing to see because it cut David’s sexism off at the legs. This kind of misogyny would not be tolerated.
But while this is great, for me it is also bittersweet. I couldn’t help but think back to Friday’s episode when David seemed to fat shame Gemma Collins. After talking about how thick her hair is, David turned to Gemma and said: “It definitely ain’t thin.”
While we saw how this affected Gemma – a usually bright and vivacious person, who seemed deflated by how she was being spoken to – we were also then shown Adam Thomas asking about weight loss. His question was innocent enough but when put with David’s question, ITV hammered home that digs were being made about Gemma’s weight.
Gemma seemed upset by David’s comments(Image: ITV/Shutterstock)
There likely was not an immediate backlash to David’s comment that ITV could film, but they did not have to normalise the comment in the way they did. Adam also likely did not mean anything by his question, but by putting it with David’s words to Gemma, ITV ultimately presented fatphobia as okay. Because it wasn’t challenged. It was treated like a stepping stone into talking about shedding the pounds.
As a fat girl, I am no stranger to how accepted fatphobia is. I’ve been told by many, including other women, that I could be pretty if I slimmed down. A few years ago, I lost two stone and I was told how great I looked, even by people who knew I did it by limiting my daily calories to less than 1000 a day. When I started eating again, and the weight came back, the compliments stopped.
For five years before I got a diagnosis of PCOS, I displayed all the symptoms. My periods would have months between them and when they did come, they were so painful, I’d throw up from how badly it hurt. They were also so heavy, I developed fatigue from the blood loss. Then their was the hirsutism, the oily skin, the intense mood swings and the fact that I had a family history of the condition. Yet three different doctors told me it was all because I was overweight.
It has gotten to the point where I know that if I was offered weight loss jabs, I’d take it. despite all the side effects like pancreatitis and kidney damage. All because it is so unbelievably hard to love a body that so many people encourage you to hate.
Women are more likely to be the victims of fatphobia than men. Our health concerns are more likely to be pinned on weight, as mine were. Women’s bodies are more likely to be commented on than men in the public sphere. The issue is so divided that some scholars have taken to calling fatphobia a form of “gender-based violence”.
So it’s a little stinging when a huge show like I’m A Celeb is so ready to catch misogyny in the act and challenge it when it comes to women in general, but fails to do the same for fat girls. We’re already told on a daily basis that we don’t matter as much as skinny women. This is just one example in a long line of proof, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less.
