Gemma Collins’ ego or arrogance of Spencer Matthews will get you evicted quickly from I’m A Celeb! Expert reveals…

Behavioural psychologist Jo Hemmings, speaking on behalf of William Hill Vegas, has said that celebs with egos or arrogance like Gemma Collins and Spencer Matthews are the “worst characters” to enter I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! as she revealed which qualities can make a winner and loser of the show.

Analysing a set of William Hill Vegas data surrounding the personalities, occupations and families of both the winning and first evicted celebrities from the last 10 editions of the series, Hemmings said: “People like The Only Way Is Essex star Gemma Collins and Made In Chelsea’s Spencer Matthews, who are pretty full of themselves and have that sense of arrogance and entitlement, make people bristle!

“The celebs that haven’t done well in past series of I’m A Celeb have gone in there with really big egos and have always had that expectation that they’re going to do well, and there’s nothing more that viewers like than cutting someone down to size by voting them off, particularly in that sort of environment.”

On Gemma Collins, who was first out in the 2014 series, Hemmings said: “Gemma Collins was one of the worst characters in the show and she went in there pretty demanding, like a diva. She seemed to be surprised that really it was as bad as it was.

“She was thinking surely she’s going to get her extra food at night or there was going to be some compensation because she was a star. You know that attitude doesn’t wash with the public. We want to see people suffer, but in a kind of authentic way. We want them to be a little bit wholesome and stripped back, which is why Gemma struggled in the jungle.”

Game-playing will get you nowhere – as Boy George found out…

Hemmings was analysing William Hill Vegas’ data, which revealed a celebrity is more likely to be eliminated first from I’m A Celeb if taller, single, over 40, male and not a parent:

Discussing the game-playing strategy employed by some contestants in the jungle, Hemmings urged this year’s campmates to avoid going down the same road as the likes of Boy George from previous series.

“Game-playing is more dangerous in the jungle,” she said. “I think it’s easy to do for a short period of time, but you’ve got to bear in mind that it’s I’m A Celebrity, it’s one of the toughest endurance reality TV shows for various reasons, from not getting any food and not working as a team to someone letting the side down.

“Endurance and deprivation peel back layers of people who try to be someone they’re not. So eventually, they’re generally outed and however great an actor you are, you can’t sustain being somebody that you’re not for the period of time you’re in the jungle.

“Boy George was another one who was trying to be someone he wasn’t really, but the truth came out quite quickly. He wasn’t as nice as he made out and then got a bit bitter and resentful and moody and unpleasant and bitchy. There are loads of them that have not managed to sustain the impression management they wanted to.”

What makes an I’m A Celeb winner? Youth!

William Hill Vegas’ data also revealed that younger celebrities under the age of 35 are more likely to win I’m A Celeb than their older counterparts, while they’re also more likely to come out on top if they are shorter, married, female and extroverted. Hemmings went on to expand on what the public like to see in an I’m A Celeb contestant.

“The winners tend to have humility, which is really key,” she said. “Younger people, for example, tend to do well partly because the demographic viewing figures are around 16 to 34, but also, they’re much less likely to moan about the conditions they’re in, the challenges they have to do. They’re at a pivotal stage in their career where they want to do well. For the older ones, it doesn’t matter so much for their career, so they’re probably not going to put that effort in.

“When people appeal, there is a sort of authentic nature that may surprise us. But it’s also consistency. Consistency is a very good thing in reality TV shows; you can’t be one person one day and another person next. You’ve got to be a consistent character in your behaviour. You literally can’t change your mind and become someone else the next day, it doesn’t work!”

Those that put family first – not beer and chips! – often succeed

Hemmings also identified having a family and, therefore, also having something important to miss in the jungle as a crucial aspect of the makings of a winner.

She said: “Married people with children or people in long-term relationships with children will get the empathy vote because it’s an endurance test being in that jungle. If you’re just missing your mates and beer and chips or whatever it is, that doesn’t resonate as well as if you’re missing your kids.

“So I think those that miss their children, particularly when they’re young, people understand that, they think ‘oh, this is an extra kind of issue that I’ve got to deal with’, an extra kind of distress that the ones without children don’t have, or even ones without partners don’t have, so it’s the family thing that strikes me as being something which is going to be significant.”

Make friends – and fast!

By way of giving advice to the celebrities making their way into the jungle for this year’s show, Hemmings urged them to get friendly with their campmates quickly.

She said: “Make friends – you need to get close to people, you need to have a kind of mentor, supporter, friend or ally. You can’t survive in there on your own without having a good relationship with other people, so they have to become your family and the ones who succeed always say that.

“So let yourself go, nobody minds if you show your vulnerable side, but they do mind if you show your cocky side or the side that won’t allow your authenticity to come through. Be prepared to show emotions you never thought you’d experience or to show other people how to get close with campmates. They’re like holiday friendships, it all happens incredibly fast, it’s all really amplified. You don’t know what’s going to happen. Allow yourself to be open to the experience!”

Key findings:

• Contestants more likely to win I’m A Celeb if: shorter, married, under 35, female, appeared on reality TV or a soap, attended theatre school, extroverted, like to dance!
• Contestants more likely to be eliminated first if: taller, single, over 40, male, not a parent, like outdoor activities as a hobby
• 67% of I’m A Celeb winners over past decade have been female
• Average age of an I’m A Celeb winner is 35 years old
• 70% of I’m A Celeb winners over past decade have been married
• Average height of an I’m A Celeb winner is 5ft 5in