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I'm A Celebrity viewers have ripped into the show's 'incredibly boring and easy' Bushtucker trials - as they complained ITV has 'gone soft'.
Campmates have endured disgusting challenges to win food ever since I'm A Celeb's debut in 2002.
Over the years, fans have become used to celebrities being put through their paces in the jungle.
Although it is clear that many are far from impressed with the latest offering.
Writing online in a Reddit post, one penned: 'Anyone else finding the trials incredibly boring now?
'Day one we got the food challenge with Ginge & Ruby and then everything since has just been 'unscrew this star' or 'use the key to open this' while having bugs dropped on them (none of which seem to bother anyone) and being surrounded by one of 6 creatures - crocs, spiders, toads, bearded dragons, rats or snakes.
I'm A Celebrity viewers have hit out at the show's 'boring and easy' trials
This year's series has seen a high success rate in winning stars
AngryGinge and Ruby Wax took on an eating challenge in the first Bushtucker Trial of the series
'It just seems to have lost its edge of gross-out challenges and been replaced by the same thing day in day out.'
Another added: 'They seem to be so much easier too, they’ve got full stars on majority of them already!?'
While a third penned: 'I’m not being funny some of them look ridiculously easy. To the point where your looking at the tv thinking “picking up toads is a difficult task now?"'
A fourth chimed in: 'Totally agree. All just same same and not remotely edge of seat / look away stuff.'
On a different thread, a viewer wrote: 'I think they’re worried about being cancelled or getting criticism if anyone’s mental health suffers or there’s more drama due to people being famished all of the time so they have just made the trials simple.'
'What's happened to the athletic type trials? The balancing across things to grab stars on the way sort of thing? Why is it all critters, critters, eat critters, critters, critters now?', questioned one fan.
Sharing their agreement, a second replied: 'It’s particularly odd because every year more and more people seem to have issues with the use of living creatures on the show.
'You’d think they’d steer more towards assault courses and athleticism as a standard.'
Meanwhile, the celebrities this year have overall been very competent in the trials - with six stars being the lowest amount so far.
Other trials have seen seven, eight, ten and even the now-maximum of 12 stars successfully won.
One viewer hit out: 'This season is genuinely boring, they get nearly all stars every single challenge whilst they sing around the fire...this is meant to be "I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!" not "I'm A Celebrity Watch Me Find Myself In The Jungle.'
Another said: 'I do not think they are easier i think they just have braver contestants nowadays. There has not been a Gillian Mckeith type coward in a while.'
But a third disagreed, as they simply commented: 'No they are much easier and we have people less terrified.'
When quizzed on fans' claims that the trials were being 'softened' a TV insider told Daily Mail: 'It's not that ITV has changed the budget or scale of the trials, it's just that the likes of Aitch and Ginge are acing the challenges compared to previous contestants.
'They're strapping young men and making it look easy, but rest assured more difficult trials are coming up.'
Another fan hit out at this year's trials seemingly being "cheap" in comparison to previous series.
They wrote: 'Who thinks the trials seem a bit ‘cheap’, this year?
'This is without Aitch’s Doomsday Vault trial in mind.
'In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t cost that much to hire a large tank and fill it with water and a backdrop fit for an aquarist (Eddie’s trial).
'Also - the Camp Fright trials. The first with Aitch, Ginge and Kelly was, simply put, a box for Kelly’s head, two boxes for Ginge to move creatures from and some fish eyes on a stick for Aitch (not including the Camp set).
'They usually save the slightly more ‘cheap’ trials for later in the series, once the vote offs have kicked in.'
A fellow viewer chimed in: 'If no one is scared or quaking in their boots it defeats the whole purpose of the show.
'I remember when there was genuine fear in this show, no one even says 'IMAC get me out of here' anymore. This show use to be box office drama, fear, tension, you name it. Nowadays the most we can hope for is someone crying over an octopus for lunch.'
'Turned off after 3 episodes for the first time ever, either the format needs a shake up or the show is finished', said another.
It comes as the ITV show is bringing live trials back to the jungle for the first time in six years.
Kelly Brook took on one of three challenges in the Camp Fright trial
Part of Ginge's challenge involved moving toads from one area to another - which fans criticised
It comes as I'm A Celebrity is bringing live trials back to the jungle (Dean Gaffney pictured in 2006)
The latest live trial is called Cocktails of Cruelty and is a head to head drinking challenge.
At the beginning of the trial, each celebrity must choose two "delicious" jungle ingredients for their opponent to drink.
Following Ant and Dec's instructions, they must then down their drinks as fast as possible.
Whichever celebrity downs their drink first and puts their glass on the table will be the winner.
The ITV show last had a live trial in Australia in 2019, and the high-octane format is finally coming back to the jungle.
It featured Caitlyn Jenner, Ian Wright and Roman Kemp, among others, taking part, much to the delight of viewers.
However, the most recent live trial overall was in 2020, when the show was filming in Gwrych Castle, Wales.
Titled The Royal Tournament, it featured all of that year's line-up including eventual Queen of the Castle, Giovanna Fletcher.
I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! continues on ITV1 and ITVX.
