I’m A Celebrity fans have finally connected the dots between Ant and Dec’s running joke about Barry McGuigan on I’m A Celebrity and an iconic 90s show.
The Irish boxer, 63, appeared in the ITV reality series earlier this month. He came 8th place, with McFly’s Danny Jones ultimately rising victorious and being crowned King of the Jungle.
The media personality had plenty of memorable moments in the Australian jungle including his complete failure during his first challenge where he declared he couldn’t see anything while trapped in a dark bunker with snakes.
After the incident, Ant and Dec quickly started making the joke ‘he can’t see man’ during their live commentary – much to the confusion of viewers.
But those in the know quickly picked up on the hilarious reference to one of their funniest onscreen moments in the 90s British drama series Byker Grove.
During one particularly dramatic episode, PJ (Ant) was shot in the face with paintballs and went blind leading his best friend Duncan (Dec) to exclaim ‘he can’t see man’.
Needless to say, it has since become an instantly meme-worthy moment.
Fans, however, recently had the Eureka moment.
‘I only just realised “he cannae see man” is a Biker Grove reference,’ matts_nothere wrote on Reddit.
‘Oh ffs I can’t believe I didn’t catch on to that either,’ user kimbokimmy replied.
‘My mum didn’t realise either. I was trying to explain that was the whole joke,’ lucy200072 shared.
‘I didn’t realise that either,’ octopusjesus123 admitted.
After Barry was voted out by the public, the ITV presenting duo gave an emotional farewell to the running joke.
‘We got emotional too,’ Ant told viewers on Barry’s exit.
‘We did,’ Dec agreed.
Ant then said: ‘We did because that marks the end of the jokes about Barry’s eyesight.
Dec added: ‘Yeah That’s it, that’s it and I can’t see us doing anymore. Well Barry can’t see..’
Before Ant interrupted: ‘You’ve got to stop. It was fun while it lasted and it turns out he actually can see.’
Dec rounded off the joke, saying: ‘He can see man’ as Ant exclaimed: ‘He can see. He had eye surgery.’
Barry had an emotional time in the jungle and left viewers heartbroken when broke down in tears discussing his daughter’s death aged 33 after she was diagnosed with leukaemia.
He was supported by his campmates including Tulisa who told him: ‘You’re a man going through pain, and you’re vulnerable about it, and that takes strength. There’s no rules to grieving, Barry.
‘It’s an extension of your love that you’re holding on to these memories, that doesn’t mean you’re weak, it means, “This is how much I love my daughter, and I’m grieving.”‘
Elsewhere – after leaving the jungle – Barry shared just how much weight he had lost, a common occurrence for contestants gone by given the strict diet on the show.
He joked that he had lost 15 and a half pounds which means he was back down to ‘championship weight’ as he tucked into a full English breakfast.
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