I'm A Celebrity Betting: Mallett is banging on the winner's door

I'm a Celebrity / Feizal Rahman / 23 November 2008 / Leave a comment

Feizal Rahman assesses the latest ups and downs in the jungle.

As fans of George Takei's work will know, every show needs its heroes and villains - though the lines dividing the two are often obscured. Seemingly the token baddie during the introductory days in the jungle, Robert Kilroy-Silk has now morphed into the valiant and extolled group leader after his all-conquering bushtucker success and is [27.0] to win.

Meanwhile, having seen himself alienated from and castigated by the group ever since his belated entrance, the nyctophobic David Van Day has also had to endure being locked in a cage and cooped up in a cave for his first two nights and then had to suffer the perils of the frightful 'Holey Moley' trial, where he emerged with five out of a possible 12 stars. Yet, despite all that he's had to encounter in his short and miserable time in the bush, Van Day is still standing so one might question: who's the real hero?

The former popstar is now cleverly aiming to portray the role of bully victim with constant reference to everyone else's 'problem' with him and frequent emotional breakdowns. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it appears to be working wonders for him in the winner market, now halved in price into [50.0] and second favourite to be first eliminated with 'Any Other' at [3.3]. As a consequence, former copper Brian Paddick - who has done nothing wrong so far other than wantonly flail his truncheon about on national TV - is now [2.4] to go.

Vehement in her disdain for David is the mammoplastic Nicola McLean, who has quickly laid claim to the role of camp bitch with her caustic and downright unpleasant attitude. Out to [28.0] to win, if she continues in her current vein then the glamour WAG is unlikely to make friends or influence people, inside or outside the camp, though a few well-timed shower scenes may be enough to hold onto the red-blooded male vote.

Another WAG to suffer in the market is Joe Cole's other half, Carly Zucker. Now trading at [100.0] to win, she's clearly not finding the back of the net with punters but should be safe enough with other more prominent figures likely to be involved when it comes to the elimination.

Despite riling Kilroy with his toddler-like cackling during his live bushtucker trial, Timmy Mallett remains popular in the winner market at [7.4] behind strengthening favourite Joe Swash, who is in a touch to around [2.3]. Meanwhile, the consistently charming old-timers George and Esther Rantzen follow up at [8.4] and [9.0] respectively.