Nella Rose and Fred Sirieix have butted heads on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here over a perceived slight about her late father.
In scenes aired on Tuesday’s episode, the online content creator expressed her distaste for a comment the First Dates maître d’ made in reference to his age.
While Sirieix was preparing food for the campmates’ dinner, he batted off compliments that he wasn’t “old” at age 51 by comparing his age to Nella’s. “Yeah, but I’m not 26 anymore, am I? I could be your dad,” he reasoned.
Fred Sirieix and Nella Rose on I’m a Celebrity
(ITV)
“No, my dad was way older than you,” Rose replied, to which Sirieix stated: “Yeah, but I could still be your dad.”
Rose, who has over a million online followers on her YouTube channel and social media accounts, lost her father in 2020. Her mother died in 2016, when Rose was 19 years old.
In a confessional segment to camera the following day, Rose explained that she felt bothered by Sirieix’s comment, and believed it to be an example of him disrespecting her.
She explained: “I didn’t say anything last night because I was kind of just annoyed about it. So, I slept on it, and I kind of thought about it and I was just like, ‘This is not the kind of person I want to be around.’”
At breakfast, Rose confronted Sirieix. After reminding the First Dates star that her parents have died, Rose said: “I’ve come to find out that every time I want to get creative around the fire or I want to have something my way, my own food that I’m entitled to my way, you tend to get an attitude.
“Yesterday, when I wanted to burn fat that you were going to throw out anyway, you turned around to me with an attitude and said, ‘You know I could be your dad, right?’”
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Sirieix is the First Dates maître d’
(ITV)
She then explained that the comment had hurt her feelings and that she no longer wanted to eat food he’d prepared or build a relationship with him.
“To me, I don’t care how you said it – to me, that’s disrespectful, and I don’t want to talk to you,” she told the food connoisseur. “I don’t want to talk to you, I don’t want to be around you. I only allow people to disrespect me once.
“Don’t bring up my dead parent, are you stupid? ‘You know I could be your dad right?’ You’re a weirdo.”
Sirieix had previously been unaware of Rose’s feelings and began to apologise for offending her.
“First of all, I am sorry I have offended you. I am unaware that you felt offended,” he began. “I am unaware that what I said would lead to this conversation. I only said that in a way because I am older than you. I’m 51 and you’re 26.”
After reinforcing his apology for upsetting her, Sirieix added: “You could have said straight away: ‘Excuse me Fred, this is upsetting me.’ If I made a faux pas, unwillingly, unconsciously, I am very sorry. But this was all it was.”
Nella Rose has more than a million followers online
(ITV)
Ending their exchange, Rose stated that although she accepted his apology, she didn’t want to be friends.
Viewers of the ITV show were divided on the situation, with some criticising the influencer for misunderstanding Sirieix’s intentions.
One viewer wrote on X/Twitter: “Nella love, Fred wasn’t trying to offend you about your dad. This isn’t about you or your Dad. If anything he was self-deprecating about his age and his ailing eyesight using a common catchphrase to do so. Am I missing something here?”
Others took the opportunity to defend Rose from abusive comments made by some viewers, and add possible context for her response.
“Even tho it was a bit OTT, I’m sure her reaction came from grief,” reads one tweet. “You lot using this to be racist, fatphobic and just vile are just very strange.”
I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! airs Sunday to Friday at 9pm and Saturday at 9.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
