The grand finale of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Australia aired on Sunday night and Sam Thaiday walked away victorious.
Reggie Bird, Matty ‘J’ Johnson, and Sam were the final three contestants battling it out for the win and $100,000 to their chosen charity.
The NRL player was a surprise pick, with many expecting that two-time Big Brother winner Reggie would land the jungle crown.
Sam is raising funds for Find Ya Feet, and is an ambassador for the Starlight Foundation, which helps sick Aussie children.
‘Find Ya Feet is a wonderful charity run by a guy named Tommy Herschell. He goes into schools, he runs workshops for majority young boys, and teaches them that it’s okay to talk about your feelings,’ Sam said prior to his win.
‘And it’s okay to help out your mates when they talk about their feelings as well. So, a fantastic bloke and a fantastic charity and I’m glad that I’m here, representing him.’
The grand finale of I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! Australia aired on Sunday night and Sam Thaiday (pictured) walked away victorious
Sam is raising funds for Find Ya Feet, and is an ambassador for the Starlight Foundation, which helps sick Aussie children
‘It definitely meant a lot to me. It’s an incredibly important thing to talk about,’ the former footballer added.
Fans of the show were delighted with his win, with several sharing their thoughts on social media.
‘Sam Thaiday what a legend Deserved the win,’ wrote one person on X while another agreed, ‘Yay Sam. Well deserved’.
‘Oh, that’s great! Thrilled to see Sam win! Well done mate!’ one more viewer chimed in online.
‘I’m so happy Sam won! King of the Jungle,’ someone else said, while one more agreed, ‘You ripper Sam is the 2025 winner’.
It comes after viewers ignited a heated debate over which celebrity deserves to take home the crown and be titled king or queen of the jungle.
Fans of the show had been debating which of the three stars deserves to win ahead of Sunday night’s finale.
Many were expressing concerns that the show may have been ‘rigged’ from the start to favour Reggie, who is legally blind and previously won Big Brother twice.
Reggie Bird, Matty ‘J’ Johnson and Sam were the final three contestants battling it out for the win and $100,000 to their chosen charity. All pictured
‘Initially, I was thinking Reggie has won reality TV before, so may not again,’ one user wrote to a fan page on social media, per Yahoo Lifestyle.
The viewer added that Reggie is ‘100 per cent genuine person’ who is legally blind, has a sick child and is also a single mum.
They added that Sam was ‘the other popular choice’ and a ‘lovely man’ but ‘gets paid an incredible amount of [money] to play with balls’.
‘The ethical choice is obvious. We love these men, but they have won in life. Reggie has faced every trial and test in the jungle with grace and honesty despite being blind. The strength that takes is immense.’
‘Agree. Reggie needs it more,’ another fan added.
‘She has a sick son to care for, so the ethical choice is to vote for her to win.’
‘I don’t agree sorry,’ someone else chimed.
‘They all get paid different amounts of money to go to the jungle. So anyone voted off still gets paid. The winner gets money which goes to their charity.’
The NRL player was a surprise pick, with many expecting that two-time Big Brother winner Reggie would land the jungle crown
‘I don’t see how a contestants real life matters in the jungle. That’s the point of the game – it equalises everyone,’ wrote one viewer.
‘Also ALL the charities are worthy and that’s the whole point of this show.’
‘The King/Queen of the Jungle is exactly that! Not, who is the poorest, more needy,’ a fellow fan pointed out.
‘It’s based on the person who was the most fun, light-hearted, helped the most, supported others and did trials with a smile. SAM did ALL of that and much more than Reggie or Matty.’
On disgruntled user added: ‘When on earth did this become a vote based on ethics?
‘I will always vote for someone that entertains me and takes me away from reality for a portion of my day. Sorry, but that’s not Reggie.’
I’m A Celebrity stunned viewers on Thursday night with a shocking double elimination.
With a record-breaking number of votes submitted to save fan favourites, all five remaining contestants were on the chopping block.
‘Find Ya Feet is a wonderful charity run by a guy named Tommy Herschell. He goes into schools, he runs workshops for majority, young boys, and teaches them that it’s okay to talk about your feelings,’ Sam said prior to his win
However, only three could remain for the Grand Final, with comedian Geraldine Hickey and TikTok star Max Balegde sent packing to the dismay of their fans.
Hosts Julia Morris and Robert Irwin announced one-by-one that Sam, Reggie and Matty would be the final three of the 2025 season.
‘Oh no! Would have preferred both Max and Geraldine in the final three… s***! Been voting for both of them today!’ one person wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
‘In terms of screen time tho [sic] Gez and Max have had loads more than the others maybe Matty coming in third,’ another noted.
‘As much as I love both Reggie [Bird] and Sam [Thaiday] they haven’t had as much edits till tonight. My thoughts anyway.’
A third commented: ‘Max and Geraldine being voted out on the same day is literally homophobic.’
‘Geraldine going home before Matty J is my villain origin story,’ said another.
Someone else fumed: ‘Geri should’ve won.’
Sam embraced his young daughters, Gracie and Ellsie, when he got the happy news
Despite fans at home desperate to keep Geraldine, 46, and Max, 26, in the competition, the duo left the reality TV competition in high spirits.
‘We’re so excited and so happy. I’m so happy that it’s Max and I leaving together,’ Geraldine said.
Meanwhile, Max was over the moon just to be included in the series, which he claimed was his all time favourite.
‘When I got the opportunity to come on the show, that was me winning. This is my favourite TV show,’ he said.
‘I’m getting emotional again, I’m so pathetic, I cry every day. It’s just been the biggest achievement and honour of my entire life.
‘I’ll never forget this and I never in a million years thought I would get to the top five.’
Geraldine agreed with the sentiment, saying: ‘This is ultimate. This is everything.’
Fans of the show were delighted with his win, with several sharing their thoughts on social media. ‘Sam Thaiday what a legend Deserved the win’ wrote one person on X while another agreed, ‘Yay Sam. Well deserved’
When host Julia Morris asked the comedian how she managed with being on camera all the time, she said the other contestants were a big help.
‘You have people like Max around you. You process. You have your down time and accept that,’ she said.
‘Then you go sit by a creek and take in what’s around you and you look up and you go this is incredible.
‘This is life changing and amazing and your heart just gets filled with joy.’
