Celebrity Island controversy as death of pig causes upset

The death of a pig on the Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls has caused controversy.

This weekend’s episode saw the sad scenes, as the celebs managed to find and capture a pig on the island.

But they were left in dispute about what to do, with some of the group – led by animal lover TOWIE’s Pete Wicks – refusing to kill it for food.

While they decided on a plan of action, the pig was tied to a tree where it ended up accidentally strangling itself.

It left Pete in tears, and the group unsure about what to do. Eventually they decided rather than eat the pig, to bury it at sea out of ‘respect’.

Ahead of the episode, animal rights group PETA had hit out at the show.

Director, Elisa Allan told The Sun newspaper: “It’s time to move beyond this worn-out trope of showing crude dominance over nature – and we urge producers to scrap the use of animals in these stupid TV stunts and replace them with challenges that don’t involve bullying or purposely putting animals in harm’s way.”

A spokesperson for Channel 4 said: “The celebrities were greatly affected by what happened and footage will be shown in the programme next Sunday in order to give a faithful account of their time on the island.”

Meanwhile, Pete has opened up with the “horrific” death.

“It was just awful. It sent me on a bit of a wobble,” he told The Sun. “People will probably be like, “What’s wrong with that guy?”, but it really, really affected me quite badly because I had a bit of an attachment to him.

“I felt guilty. I just felt awful. I was so proud of the fact that we were going to be the first group that didn’t kill an animal.

“I just felt it was a big let down for all of us. What happened to Colin was something that nobody wanted. He was like a member of the camp.”

Alongside Pete, celebs left on the island are currently Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated actor, Eric Roberts, actor and musician, Martin Kemp, double Olympic gold medal rower, James Cracknell, Olympic boxer, Anthony Ogogo and TOWIE star, Pete Wicks.

Joining them are model and TV personality, Jo Wood and TV doctor, Dr Saleyha Ahsan.

Celebrity Island airs at 9PM on Sunday night, Channel 4.