Rebekah Vardy is back, dropping savage screenshots from her I’m A Celeb ‘bullying’ feud

Some drama is eternal it seems as Rebekah Vardy and Iain Lee are still going at it seven years after he first accused her of bullying on I’m A Celeb.

In 2017, Rebekah Vardy was featured in the I’m A Celeb cast with names like Amir Khan, Jamie Lomas, Jennie McAlpine, Iain Lee, and Vanessa White, with Georgia Toffolo being crowned the victor at the end of the season. Though Rebekah won a combined total of 27 stars out of the maximum 30, her time in the jungle was wrapped in controversy.

Strawberry-gate made for gripping TV

In a moment that has now become known as Strawberry-gate, campmates Amir Khan and Iain Lee opted to eat all the strawberries they had won in a bushtucker trial. When Amir questioned if they should eat all of them and leave their costars hungry, Iain said he was keen to share them.

“Are we eating them or not, I’m having them, I want them, I want to eat them now,” Amir responded, issuing quite the ultimatum.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Iain decided to join Amir in eating the strawberries and then hide the plate behind a tree. The guilt didn’t eat away at him for long before he confessed his crimes.

So, why was Rebekah Vardy branded a bully?

The campmates were a little hesitant to believe Iain at the time, though they soon realised he was telling the truth as Amir pinned that dastardly crime on him. As a result, Iain was isolated from the rest of the group as some viewers said Rebekah was particularly cruel to him.

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“He is going in there to win and he is playing the sympathy card and he isolates himself from the rest of the camp and then as soon as the cameras are on he wants the limelight,” she said on one occasion.

After being kicked from the jungle in 9th place, with Iain going on to 3rd, Rebekah appeared in several TV interviews where she denied any wrongdoing on her part.

“You know what, I was the one that was being the most supportive of him. A bully? I’ve never been a bully in my whole entire life,” she told Ant and Dec while sobbing.

Iain launched a Twitter attack a few years later

A few years after their ITV stint, Iain took to Twitter with a damning statement about Rebekah’s time in the Australian jungle.

“Just had an interview request to talk about how Rebekah Vardy is so brave for promoting mental health… she contributed to me being f**king miserable and isolated in the jungle…so, that’s a pass from me,” he scathed, continuing, “I don’t know if you saw any of I’m A Celebrity when I was in there. Vardy was a bully, a liar and a manipulator. She was part of a team that targeted me and made much of my time in there miserable. Her first comment to me was ‘I think you’re a bit of a t**t’.”

Iain’s Twitter thread continued as he claimed Rebekah orchestrated his isolation, bullied his sister who was staying in Australia, and said that “men in my world” don’t cry.

“Part of me hopes your email is a ruse to get an interview from me which I think is about her bravery and then you skewer to make it about her bullying and belittling. I hope the latter is correct because if you are trying to show her as a mental health ambassador, I’m afraid you couldn’t be further from the truth,” he added.

Not backing down, Rebekah warned her former campmate that she would release text messages between them that clearly illustrated her lack of bullying. Iain removed the posts and offered an apology, but unfortunately, I’m not over yet.

The controversy continued this week

Amid Rebekah Vardy issuing her thoughts on this year’s I’m A Celeb cast, largely down to the looming Wagatha Christie drama, Iain Lee gave his updated thoughts to the Mail Online last week.

“There are some people who love the notoriety of being outrageous and obnoxious because it keeps them in the spotlight. I think Rebekah Vardy is one of them,” he said. “When I was on the show, she bullied me and led a clique that picked on me. There were two occasions when I wanted to get out, it was so toxic and dark in there. I thought: ‘I can’t be with these people.’ I don’t watch the show now because of what I experienced.”

He continued to allege that she had made him “f**king miserable and isolated”, with the experience as a whole leading to a change in career. He now works as a mental health counsellor.

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A post shared by Becky Vardy (@beckyvardy)

True enough, Rebekah stuck to her promise on Saturday as she released an album’s worth of screenshots alongside the caption: “Wish this man would just leave me alone. There is only one bully here and it’s not me.”

The 2017 text convos are just as she claimed, and though they did discuss the drama from their time on the show, they were largely civil and polite.

That was until Iain’s Mail Online interview, which sparked the following from Rebekah: “Iain why are you doing this? You know you are lying about things… you are inciting bullying this has to stop I have all the messages between us that completely contradict your ridiculous claims. Remember the Christmas hamper you accepted from me… this is ridiculous and you are causing me unnecessary pain and upset.

“Who was the one that kept talking to you all the time in the jungle? Who was the one that kept making you eat, that told you to be proud to fight for your sons? As for your sister… where did you make that up from years later? Stop this b******s or I will.”

Iain sets the record straight, kinda

@iainleeradio

Rebekah #vardy The truth about why I quit showbiz

♬ original sound – Iain Lee Radio

On Sunday, Iain took to TikTok with yet another statement about the seven-year-old Rebekah Vardy drama. Though some in the comments said he set the record straight, I’m more confused than ever.

“I quit showbiz about 18 months ago, it had absolutely nothing to do with her,” Iain said. “I never said it did, I never hinted that it did, that headline is completely wrong.”

Only time will tell if Rebekah makes another statement, but if not, you might get a continuation in another seven years. Roll on 2031!

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Featured image credit: YouTube/I’m A Celeb