TV PRESENTER and naturalist Chris Packham has penned an open letter to Ant and Dec, calling for the pair to step in and end the "abuse of animals" on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!.
The ITV jungle show returns on Sunday with a new line-up of celebrities, including Allo Allo! actress Vicki Michelle and former motorcycle world champion Carl Fogarty, facing spiders, snakes and cockroaches in the bushtucker trials.
Springwatch host Packham, 53, described the trials as "barbaric" and "silly" and said that the hit show was undoing the work of natural history programmes.
He said that teaching young viewers that killing for "exploitative 'entertainment' is acceptable" is "a shame that I imagine neither of you will want to take to your graves".
ITV responded by saying: "Ant and Dec are the presenters of the show, and as such are not involved with the formatting of the trials, which are devised by the show's producers.
"ITV takes animal welfare very seriously and expert handlers are on hand at all times."
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