SYDNEY — Two stars of the reality-TV show “I’m a Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here” have been charged with animal cruelty after allegedly killing and cooking a rat to eat during filming.
Chef Gino D’Acampo, who won the viewer- feedback contest series, and actor Stuart Manning were charged after animal-welfare activists lodged a complaint about a segment for the British TV program, which was filmed in Australia. The show’s producer, ITV, confirmed that “the New South Wales RSPCA are currently looking into an incident in which a rat was killed in the camp.”
“The killing of a rat for a performance is not acceptable. The concern is this was done purely for the cameras,” David O’Shannessy of the New South Wales RSPCA told the British Broadcasting Corp.
“I’m a Celebrity” strands C-list celebrities in the Australian jungle, subjects them to a series of trials involving spiders and snakes, and allows the public to vote them off the show one by one.
