Quick look
Angryginge proved last year that YouTubers on I’m a Celeb can win, and win big. This year Sharky from Beta Squad is in the line-up. So we’ve gone back through the record to answer one question.
- 4 rounds
- Every quote sourced
- Pick a side at the end
Quoted in this talk
- SharkyVia ITV News
- AngrygingeVia PA
- Tom Read WilsonVia PA
- Joseph HaganVia TV Guide
- The bookiesVia OLBG
- The numbersITV, PA and others
Nobody quoted here took part in this talk or spoke to us. Every quote was said or published somewhere else first, and each one links to where.
Daily Tuesday
Right, pull up a chair. Last December a Salford streamer called Angryginge walked out of the jungle with 65% of the final vote. This year it’s Sharky’s turn, with Beta Squad’s 12.1 million YouTube subscribers behind him.
So here’s the question on the table. Has I’m a Celeb become a YouTuber’s game? Our answer going in is no, not quite. But the way the voting works now is very kind to anyone with a following. Let’s go through what’s been said.
Round 1
Did Angryginge win I’m a Celeb because of his followers?
Daily Tuesday
Let’s start with the winner. Here’s what he said the night he was crowned.
Angryginge 2025 winner
“I did not think I’d go all this way, never mind win, so thank you to everyone who voted.”
Quoted from PA, via STV, 8 December 2025
Daily Tuesday
A lot of people did vote. The question is who. A PR expert said this while the show was still on air.
Joseph Hagan Streamline PR
“Angry Ginge entered the series with a strong fan base”
Quoted from TV Guide, 2 December 2025
Daily Tuesday
No arguments there. But the man he beat in the final put it down to something else.
Tom Read Wilson 2025 runner-up
“he was the titan of the trials”
“he was so richly deserving”
Quoted from PA, via the Anglo-Celt, 8 December 2025
The numbers
Final vote, last three winners
65%
Angryginge’s share of the final vote in 2025. The two winners before him finished well short of that.
Sources: PA, via STV (2025), HuffPost UK for 2023 and 2024
Daily Tuesday
A fanbase gets you through the early votes. Nearly two-thirds of a national final vote is something else. Our read: he won over a lot of people who’d never watched him stream. Round one to Ginge.
Round 2
How does I’m a Celeb voting help YouTubers?
Daily Tuesday
Now the bit nobody really talks about. How you actually vote.
The numbers
Last year’s voting rules
5 votes
Per mobile number, every time a vote opens. One is free, in the I’m a Celeb app or on ITV’s vote site. The other four unlock after a short advert. No texts, no phone lines.
- 1Free
- +1Advert
- +1Advert
- +1Advert
- +1Advert
Source: ITV’s voting FAQs for the 2025 series. For this year’s times and voting, see our I’m a Celeb tonight guide
Daily Tuesday
Think about who that suits. If you’ve spent years asking an audience to like, share and turn up, five taps is nothing. And in the first days, the votes aren’t about who goes home. They’re about who does the trials. Here’s Sharky on his Beta Squad mates.
Sharky Beta Squad
“They will be leading the charge online … They are all really excited for me to go on this show.”
Quoted from ITV News, 10 November 2026
Daily Tuesday
ITV’s own write-up said his mates would be urging their followers to vote him into trials. Trials mean airtime. Airtime is how the rest of the country gets to know you. That’s the real head start, and it costs nothing.
Round 3
If followers win it, why isn’t Sharky the favourite?
Daily Tuesday
Here’s the hole in the “YouTubers always win” theory. They don’t.
Daily Tuesday
And the bookies aren’t sold on Sharky either.
The bookies
Winner odds, the week before launch
- Wayne Rooney
9/42/1Favourite - Sharky
15/210/1Drifting
OLBG said Sharky had drifted “despite the example set by fellow YouTuber Angryginge”.
Quoted from OLBG, bet365 prices on 9 November 2026. Prices change.
Daily Tuesday
Even Sharky sounds like he knows it.
Sharky Beta Squad
“I am full-on on YouTube, but this show is so big and some people may not have heard of me”
Quoted from ITV News, 10 November 2026
Daily Tuesday
The most honest line we’ve read from this year’s line-up. A following is a head start. It isn’t a result.
Round 4
Why does ITV keep casting YouTubers on I’m a Celeb?
Daily Tuesday
Last round. If it’s not a sure thing, why does ITV keep booking them?
The numbers
Last year’s live final
Source: ITV figures reported by Drop Media, 9 December 2025
Daily Tuesday
There’s your answer. I’m a Celeb has been on air since 2002, and some of the 16 to 34-year-olds ITV is chasing weren’t born when it started. Drop Media called Ginge’s win a possible “watershed moment” for social stars on entertainment TV. ITV isn’t booking YouTubers to win. It’s booking their audiences.
Daily Tuesday’s verdict
So, has I’m a Celeb become a YouTuber’s game?
Not quite. It’s a fanbase’s game, and right now YouTubers bring the biggest fanbases through the door.
- Helps YouTubersFree votes reward fans who turn up, and early trial votes buy airtime.
- Levels it outTrials and camp life decide whether the rest of the country warms to you.
- Decides itThe final is a national vote. Ginge took 65% of it. Nella Rose and GK Barry never got that far.
Sharky has the head start. Whether he has the rest, we’ll find out by the final.
Your turn
Where do you stand?
Has I’m a Celeb become a YouTuber’s game? Pick one.
You’ve picked the fanbase side.
For you: Angryginge took 65% of last year’s final vote, and under last year’s rules every phone got five free votes each time a vote opened.
Against you: Nella Rose finished ninth and GK Barry fifth. A following didn’t carry either of them.
Watch for: who gets voted into the trials in week one. If it keeps being Sharky, his fans are at work.
You’re backing the long game.
For you: Tom Read Wilson called Ginge “the titan of the trials”, and the bookies had Sharky at 10/1 behind Wayne Rooney before launch.
Against you: Ginge’s 65% was the biggest winning share of the last three finals.
Watch for: whether Sharky wins people over in camp, not just in the trial votes.
That’s where we landed too.
For you: free votes help anyone with fans who turn up, and right now YouTubers have the biggest ones.
Against you: Ginge’s 65% suggests he won over far more than his own followers.
Watch for: the final vote. Nella Rose and GK Barry had followings too, and neither reached it.
Your answer stays on your screen. We don’t collect it.