Dean McCullough’s tears were mocked by some celebrities who insisted he “wasn’t scared” when he was asked to play the role of a mummified body and be buried until his thigh in the sand while having mealworms thrown at him in his improvisation. “sarcophagus”.

There was even worse to come for the tearful I’m A Celebrity contestant, who couldn’t stand being submerged in sand, as he appeared to receive a very cold rebuttal from Ant McPartlin in tonight’s episode . The BBC Radio 1 star, who has been nominated for a retrial just as his fans predicted, tried to make a joke to ease the tension.

Turning to Ant and Dec, he exclaimed: “Well, well. We need to stop meeting like this. I told you I didn’t want another date!” While Declan Donnelly laughed happily, Ant instead gave a blank stare in his direction.

Fans took to social media to respond to the apparent snub, with one writing: “Ant hates Dean so much his face says it all.” A second agreed: “The ant can’t stand Dean. It shows.”

A third viewer chimed in: “Ant literally looks like he hates Dean.” Meanwhile, poor Dean’s attention might be focused more on the horrors of the upcoming trial, having been nominated for the terrifying Jack and Screamstalk trial.

Tulisa tried in vain to reassure him, insisting that the trial would not necessarily be “creature-related.”

Luckily for her, she’s exempt for “medical reasons” – and the public voted for Dean to take on that responsibility.

THE BBC The star has already attracted negative attention for being overly dramatic in previous trials, as some refuse to believe he is scared.

He screamed, cried and nearly hyperventilated throughout the infamous sarcophagus trial, prompting strictly pro Ola Jordan and her champion dance husband James Jordan to debate on Twitter whether he was “acting” .

Ola said: “I don’t think he was scared of this #ImACeleb at all.”

James then retorted: “I’m sure he’s a lovely guy, but he needs to work massively on his acting skills otherwise he’ll look a bit fake because he’s definitely trying to act the part.”

Dean, who recently spoke about his fight against the “hidden homeless”, withdrew from the trial after just two stars, shouting the code word “I’m a celebrity, get me out of here!” as he begged to be released.

The move made him less popular with his hungry campmates, who fought alongside him in the jungle – and now fans are sure Ant is also acting icy.