‘No intelligent life’: Ant & Dec ignite Newcastle and Sunderland rivalry with latest I’m a Celeb jibe

Newcastle duo Ant & Dec made another trademark jibe at Sunderland on I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! on Thursday evening.

The Geordie pair, who are Newcastle United fans through and through, don’t hesitate in ribbing the neighbouring city with tongue-in-cheek jokes live on air, much to the pleasure of Magpies fans. On Thursday evening, as Black Cats star Jill Scott took on a Dingo Dollar challenge, Ant couldn’t resist the opportunity that had fallen into his lap.

Scott went with comedian Seann Walsh to take on a challenge that involved putting the planets in the correct order to win the camp some portions of chocolate.

Introducing the challenge, Ant said: “This challenge saw Jill and Sean heading to outer space - a place that has no intelligent life and very little atmosphere.”

A smirking Dec then chimed in and replied: “Shouldn’t phase Jill, you know, coming from Sunderland.”

The two then descended into a barrel of laughter, shaking each others’ hands and muttering “good to see ya”, as if they’d just bumped into each other during an evening on the Bigg Market. For clarity, Dec then quipped: “It’s just a joke, it’s just a joke. Don’t at me!”

Sunderland is frequently a target for the Newcastle pair’s jokes, but there was always going to be more opportunities than ever before with Jill Scott in the cast for I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! this year. The 35-year-old was born in Sunderland and attended Monkwearmouth Comprehensive School before moving on to Gateshead College and the University of Sunderland.

Scott had her football breakthrough with Sunderland in 2004 and would go on to play for Everton, Manchester City and Aston Villa in a sparkling career that culminated with a Euro 2022 win with the Lionesses this summer.

Speaking on a promotional video for the new I’m a Celeb series, Scott said: “Some of the stuff on the eating trial looks horrible, but I do joke and say I’ve had my mum’s lasagne so I might be okay... she’ll kill us for that. Hopefully Ant & Dec, because we are fellow North East people, might help us a little bit. I might have to pretend I support Newcastle.”

Despite her allegiances being strong with the red-and-white side of the North East, Scott has admitted she comes from a family whose footballing opinions are split. Speaking to the Roker Report in 2019 she said: “My family were quite split actually. My Dad is Newcastle, because he was born there but moved to Sunderland, so because of that my brother supported Newcastle, and although my sister didn’t really like football, she supported Sunderland. It was a split household on loyalties, so derby days were interesting!”