Melvin Odoom’s family and friends have reacted to Dean McCullough’s “betrayal” of him in the I’m a Celebrity jungle.
The BBC Radio presenters have both been campmates since they landed in the Australian outback last weekend. While McCullough “disappointed” hosts Ant and Dec after being the first to drop out of a Bushtucker Trial, Odoom has spent his time pining for former Countdown presenter, Carol Vorderman.
But before they headed to face a series of gruelling and nauseating challenges, the colleagues made a pact, live on air.
Lorraine presenter, Ranvir Singh, said on Friday morning (22 November), “Dean who is a co-presenter, now, he’s betrayed old Melvin. They made a pact on air didn’t they? ‘We’re going to stick together’.”
Ahead of their entrance, BBC radio host Greg James had asked the pair, “Is there going to be an alliance or is there going to be a fallout here?”
“No, a hundred percent, alliance, are you mad?” said McCullough with total confidence, before turning to Odoom for reassurance. “Well, from my part...”
Odoom seconded the promise saying, “I think strength in numbers, you know”.
McCullough abandoned the pact, literally as soon as he landed on the beach, saying “Melvin, I’m so sorry!” as he grabbed Coleen Rooney’s hand and said, “Wagatha Christie, you’re coming with me!”
His co-presenter was left abandoned and shocked, saying “Dean! Bro! No!”
Ricky Haywood-Williams, Odoom’s best friend, and another BBC radio presenter, said: “Unbelievable! When I saw that, I was like ‘Dean? How could you, Dean? The brotherhood. The Radio 1 brotherhood.”
The presenter also shed light on the reasons behind Odoom’s rule-breaking stash of salt and pepper, revealing that a previous contestant from a series carried out at a castle in Wales during the Covid pandemic, had been behind it.
He did not reveal the name of the contestant, but said he had advised Odoom to take in some contraband to survive his time on the show.
Haywood-Williams also suggested that his friend was “playing up to the cameras a little bit” and downplaying how good he was at dating.
“He loves to date, he loves the art of dating,” he said of his dating practice with Tulisa Contostavlos. “I think he was playing up to the campmates there, because Melvin knows what he’s doing.”
New episodes of I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! air on ITV1 and ITVX every night at 9pm.
