David Haye’s jungle stint saw him embroiled in a number of controversies but it’s nothing new for the boxing champion – we take a look at some of his most jaw-dropping moments
Britain’s latest reality TV “villain” is no stranger to controversy. Former heavyweight champion David Haye swapped the boxing ring for real-life feuds during his explosive stint on this year’s I’m A Celebrity All Stars.
He was hit with bullying claims after a string of digs at fellow campmate Adam Thomas; was accused of fat-shaming by Gemma Collins and ignited a huge sexism row with his comments about ugly women – despite claiming to be a feminist. His antics even left Ant and Dec reeling.
Since leaving the jungle and facing fresh heat from outraged viewers, the one-time champ has stood firm on his views, doubling down on nearly all of his remarks on the show during a fiery interview.
The boxer is a magnet to controversy, from major showdowns with fellow sportsmen to a very colourful love life. Here, we look at his wild life in full…
READ MORE: David Haye’s biggest bombshells – Adam Thomas dig, therapy snub and sexism row
Love life
Hayeis non-monogamous which is when someone has multiple romantic and sexual relationships, with the consent of a partner or spouse. According to one ex, “one woman will never be enough” for him.
He has been in a relationship with model Sian Osborne since 2020, but over recent years he’s also been linked to Saturdays singer Una Healy. According to sources, the couple used the exclusive dating app Raya to specifically look for a third person to join their relationship. Their profile reportedly made it clear they were a “packaged deal,” seeking a woman who could fit into their established ‘throuple’ dynamic.
After hitting it off years earlier during their first stint on I’m a Celebrity back in 2012, Helen Flanagan was romantically involved with the retired boxer throughout 2023 before their split in December that year. Speculation swirled that she formed a “throuple” with David and his girlfriend Sian, but she has firmly dismissed this.
On Celebs Go Dating, the Corrie star said: “He had a girlfriend and an open relationship. I didn’t mean to fall in love with him, but I did. We did have this amazing connection together – we were like fire. It was weird – I think he does love his girlfriend, and he loves me as well. It just brings me to a part in my life that was quite dark.”
After being quizzed about claims she was in a throuple, she said: “No [it wasn’t]. I was in love with him. I wouldn’t have enjoyed watching the man I was in love with have sex with another woman; that’s not for me.”
In a separate interview with the Daily Mail, Helen teared up as she discussed her relationship and was also asked about a time when she bought him a Cartier watch for his birthday. She said: “Oh, god, that actually makes me cry.” She added: “That is a little bit embarrassing. Why did I do that? Because I wanted him to love me properly.” As she cried, she called their relationship a “toxic situation”.
At the start of 2023, fans were intrigued to see Saturdays singer Una Healy holidaying with David and his girlfriend Sian. Fans noticed that David was holding hands with both women in an image shared on social media.
Former boxer David appeared to confirm the polyamorous relationship in a Valentine’s Day post on Instagram, in which he paid tribute to the “queens in my life”. He also said he preferred to keep his “private life private”, adding: “What I do behind closed doors is between me and the girls involved.”
But in March that year, Una insisted she was single. A few months later, mum-of-two Una admitted she had been in a relationship with David, but felt “hoodwinked” into the situation, insisting she and Sian were never involved romantically with one another.
She said: “He was very honest that I wasn’t the only woman he was seeing, I was very aware he was seeing other people. I knew he was being honest, and it’s not like I was being cheated on. I knew he wasn’t husband material, just a bit of fun, and I was enjoying it.”
Speaking about Sian, Una added: “There’s no dynamic there – she’s not my girlfriend – he’s both our boyfriend and I just thought, ‘I’m out, you can have him.’ He can have whoever he wants because one [woman] will never be enough for him.”
Una said she soon realised that life in the relationship wasn’t for her, and broke things off with the ex-sportsman while insisting they left things on good terms.
Bullying claims
I’m a Celeb viewers were left feeling ‘uncomfortable’ as a nasty spat between David and Adam unfolded in the jungle.
David branded the Emmerdale actor “lazy” and “useless” for not being able to do a trial as he felt unwell. Adam, 37, was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis in 2023 and the chronic illness affects his daily life.
The boxer fumed ont he show: “Who gives a s**t if he doesn’t feel well. He’s a grown-ass man. I don’t like guys who are a bit useless. I hate them useless guys. He is useless.”
This particular episode racked up 171 Ofcom complaints as fans were worried Adam was being ‘bullied’. In defence of his comments, David said: “I am a d*ck – that’s the problem. Maybe I’m a bit harsh, I probably am. Look, I’ve been immersed in tough boxing gyms since I was ten years old.
“Literally fighting much bigger men than myself, pushing myself to the limits, physically and mentally. I won the World Heavyweight Championship against a 7ft Russian giant. So when a grown man tells me that a fun TV show – where we’re being paid handsomely every single day – is the hardest thing he’s ever been through, it’s just not a frequency I recognise.”
Adam has since revealed that he’s started seeing a therapist after being “changed” from the clashes on the show. Doubling down on his behaviour, David insisted that Adam doesn’t need therapy but “needs to do some push-ups”. He said: “He needs to get out there and get in amongst other males who are powerful, who do stuff and don’t sit there talking all the goddamned time about how hard life is.”
Since being axed from the jungle, David has sparked a fresh feud on social media, appearing to mock Adam. He shared an AI image of himself in boxing clothes while putting a middle finger up with a voiceover of Adam over the top. The audio clip was during a heated exchange between Adam and David, where Adam said: “I got no issues David, you’re my issue right now.”
But one person in his corner over the bullying row was campmate Sinitta. The singer has shed light on what she felt really happened between David and Adam. Talking on Good Morning Britain, Sinitta seemed to agree with David and said she didn’t see any bullying and felt that Adam had “goaded” David. “There was no bullying,” the singer said. “And if you remember, when there were the two separate camps, it was actually Adam goading David saying ‘we’ve got this, we’ve got that’.”
The star accepted that maybe David’s banter was taken too far and could have upset Adam, but she denied that any bullying took place in the jungle, claiming that if it had, she wouldn’t have let it continue. “It’s this thing where it can go too far with teasing and someone gets upset. But there were no feelings of anyone being bullied. Because I wouldn’t have been able to tolerate that.”
Controversial stunts
David has also stirred up controversy during his boxing career, most notably in 2017 when he was set to fight Tony Bellew. During the build-up to their first fight, he threw a punch at Bellew during a head-to-head press conference, and also threatened Bellew’s fans telling them they were “f***ing r******” while saying he would “hospitalise” his opponent.
David Haye was fined £25,000 by the British Boxing Board of Control for his conduct. In an interview after the incident, Haye was asked whether he would like to apologise to the people of Liverpool.
He replied: “I didn’t say anything to the people of Liverpool I was talking to a few people that were screaming abuse at me. It was aimed at them and no one else other than the people hurling abuse at me.
“The rest of Liverpool I love, always have done, have had many, many great nights out in Liverpool. And I will continue to have great nights out in Liverpool as long as his idiotic, moronic friends aren’t around.” He also said in another interview: “I don’t regret a thing I said. When I said it, I meant it.”
In 2007, to promote his fight against the Klitschko brothers, he wore a T-shirt depicting himself holding the severed heads of both brothers according to Sky Sports. However this backfired when people saw this as more than just a “hype” and branded it disturbing. They called it a “disprespectful stunt that lacked basic sporting decency”.
Wladimir Klitschko called David an “embarrassment” and stated he had “crossed the line of sportsmanship.” Many fans and officials felt the imagery was unnecessarily violent and disrespectful.
But one of his most infamous moments was when he turned up to a fight he wasn’t even involved in. David rocked up to Dereck Chisora’s post-fight press conference 2012. Escalations rose, which ultimately led to the two men having a fight infront of the world’s press. But as David didn’t hold a valid boxing license at the time, he wasn’t disciplined for it.
‘Ugly bird’ comments
David sparked a huge sexism row in the jungle when speaking about his girlfriend Sian. He said: “She’s like tall, blue eyes. She’s lovely. She’s got the personality of a proper ugly bird.”
Fellow campmate Scarlett Moffatt snapped back: “You can’t say that.” But David brushed off the response and said: “She has. Most ugly girls realise they they’re not pretty enough to….they gotta have a personality to banter and to tell jokes and s**t, so people overlook the fact that they’re not aesthetically amazing, straight away.
“Which is what’s called Ugly Duckling syndrome, where girls are ugly, when they start off, and then they and then they kind of they, they get pretty as they get older. But they still got the personality of when they’re ugly. Does that make sense?”
He then further backed up this view in a chat with The Sun, where he explained: “If you’ve got 10 supermodels who’ve been stunning since they were little, everyone’s like ‘whatever you want, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes’. Then you get 10 busted-up, ugly chicks and they’ve had to work for everything.
“They’ve got to get the s*** jobs, they’ve got to work their way up, they’ve got to do all the c*** that the pretty girls don’t have to do. Now put them all in the dark and have a conversation with the ugly 10, their personalities will be on average, in my opinion, significantly better.”
But while his former campmates and viewers fumed over his comments, Sian stood by his side. She spoke out about the comments and insisted they were actually a compliment. She told The Sun she is “fluent in David” and interpreted it to mean she has a personality so “full of life and character” that her physical looks become irrelevant.
Fat-shaming
Jungle favourite Gemma Collins said she was fat-shamed by Haye while on the show. Gemma recently posted on her social media, where she referenced being fatshamed by boxer David Haye prior to her meltdown.
In the clip, Gemma says: “We all need to eat tonight,” as David jumped in to say: “You need to eat tonight.” She then said: “You know what I’m like without food.” David then said: “Where were you last night and where was I last night? What did I eat last night?”
Gemma then chimed in to add: “You know what, sometimes eating a bit of humble pie makes us stronger and better as people.”
The clip, posted on the infamous gemmareacts account, was titled: “Can someone people tell me how they have let this David wasteman fatshame our Gemma AGAIN??!”. Gemma reposted the video.
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