Why Ant and Dec cover their watches during I'm A Celebrity trials

4 December 2023, 16:35

Why Ant and Dec have to cover their watches during I'm A Celebrity trials. Picture: ITV

By Alice Dear

Have you ever wondered why Ant and Dec always cover their watches during the I'm A Celebrity trials?

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I'm A Celebrity viewers have been quick to question for another year running why hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelley have to cover their watch faces up during the Bushtucker Trials.

During Sunday night's episode, as Nella Rose took on a trial in the dark, Ant could be seen with a skin-coloured plaster placed on the face of his watch, concealing the time from sight.

Meanwhile, Dec's smart watch appeared to be turned off all together to stop it from revealing the time to Nella and the cameras.

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The query around why the Britain's Got Talent, Saturday Night Takeaway and I'm A Celebrity hosts have to cover their watches is raised every year - and luckily we have the answer for you.

Ant McPartlin could be seen with a plaster on his watch face during a recent Bushtucker Trial. Picture: ITV

Some viewers have speculated on social media it might be an order from ITV to cover the branding of the watches. One person shared this theory on X (formerly Twitter): "@ITV really need to sort out an official #ImaCeleb watch sponsor so that Ant can stop covering up his watches! #ImACelebrity."

This is not the truth however, the fact is that Ant and Dec's watches are covered because the celebrity campmates are not allowed to know what the time is while on the show.

There are no clocks in camp, which adds to the challenge of living in the jungle with no communication or information - and this has to continue even if they're picked for a trial.

An ITV spokesperson previously explained: "Ant & Dec's watches are covered to stop the celebs finding out what time it is - they have no idea, as no clocks in camp."

Ant and Dec have to cover their watches to ensure the celebrity campmates don't know what the time is. Picture: ITV

Joel Dommett and Scarlett Moffatt, who used to host I'm A Celebrity: Extra Camp, reflected on this jungle rule back in 2017, with the Gogglebox star saying at the time: "It's so the campmates don't know the time, so all the watches are covered for the people that see the campmates all the time, like Ant, Dec and Medic Bob."

She added: "I think it’s just so you’re really disorientated, like we had no concept of time."