Who is Nigel Farage? A quick guide to I'm a Celeb contestant

24 November 2023

A man with short grey hair stands in front of a jungle background of dense foliage, made up of long, green leaves that hang down around him. He's standing with his hands clasped together, and wears a khaki (light brown) shirt with a red waistcoat/body warmer over the top. He's got a neckerchief on with a black, white and burgundy camouflage pattern.

He calls himself "a hero to some people and an absolute villain to millions" and is currently living in an Australian jungle. If you aren't familiar with the GB News presenter and I'm a Celebrity's self-styled pantomime villain Nigel Farage, here's what you need to know.

His first job was in London's financial district

Now 59 years old, Mr Farage was born in Kent, attended the private Dulwich College and started working in the City - London's finance district - in 1982. He joined the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), which campaigned to leave the European Union, in 1993. He has four children - two sons with his ex-wife and two daughters with Kirsten Mehr, a German national he reportedly met in 1996.

He led a political party but has never been an MP

Fellow jungle campmate Josie Gibson told Jamie Lynn Spears that Mr Farage was a Member of Parliament in Britain, but this isn't true. He was the leader of UKIP and tried to get elected several times but never succeeded. However, he did get elected to the European Parliament in 1999, and stayed there until 2020. On the day of the 2010 UK general election he survived a plane crash and spent two days in hospital.

He's had a big influence on politics and Brexit

A man in a grey suit, white shirt and light blue necktie stands in front of a billboard with a photo showing a long line of people presumed to be asylum seekers or migrants. The queue snakes off into the distance. In red, block capitals the words "Breaking Point" appear on the left of the picture. Underneath that it says "The EU has lied to us all". At the bottom, white text on a black bar reads "We must break free of the EU and take back control of our borders". In the bottom right a white rectangle bears the text "Leave the European Union on 23rd June" and there is a black box with a black cross in it, suggesting a mark on a ballot paper.

PA Media

Mr Farage built his political career on being a Eurosceptic - someone who wanted Britain out of the European Union - and it's thought he played a part in making immigration one of the main themes of the debate leading up to the 2016 referendum. He was heavily criticised by opponents for some of the things he said and did, especially a campaign poster showing a line of asylum seekers with the words "Breaking Point" on it.

His opinions are divisive

Mr Farage has been criticised for comments on issues including migration, climate change and HIV treatment. He's been forced to deny accusations of racism throughout his political career, but his supporters say that he speaks for working-class voters and people who are unhappy with the stance that the British Conservative and Labour parties take on certain issues.

He's a presenter on GB News

Since announcing his retirement from politics in 2021, Mr Farage has hosted programmes on the GB News channel. He's also appeared on Fox News in the USA and hosted a show on UK radio network LBC from 2017 to 2020.

He won a battle over his bank account

Mr Farage attacked the exclusive Coutts Bank when he got hold of documents suggesting it had closed his account because of his political views. The BBC also had to apologise for reporting - based on information provided by the bank's boss - that Mr Farage did not have enough money to qualify as a Coutts customer.

His I'm a Celebrity appearance has been controversial

The announcement Mr Farage would be on I'm a Celebrity and reports he'd earn £1.5m for it made plenty of people angry, and the hashtag BoycottImaCeleb trended around the first episode. The show's opening had two million fewer viewers this year versus 2022. High-profile ITV2 show Love Island, which aired in the summer and definitely did not feature Mr Farage, also lost one million viewers this year.

He isn't exempt from all the Bushtucker trials

Mr Farage told The Sun newspaper, external he would be excluded from certain I'm a Celeb trials on medical grounds due to injuries from his plane crash and surgeries afterwards. He told the paper that would include "anything involving weightlifting". But he didn't escape the public vote for the first Jungle Pizzeria eating trial, which he completed with influencer Nella Rose.