Ex-Channel 10 executive claims Pete Evans is ‘furious’ after being dropped from I’m a Celebrity

Channel 10 dropped Pete Evans from I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! after the disgraced celebrity chef shared a neo-Nazi meme to Facebook on Monday.

And according to a former senior executive at the network, the disgraced celebrity chef is ‘furious’ about the situation.

Rob McKnight, who is editor-in-chief of industry website TV Blackbox, told Fitzy & Wippa on Tuesday: ‘This morning at 6:30am the call came through from Beverley McGarvey [Channel 10’s chief content officer] to the production house and she said “He’s out, don’t let him go into the jungle.”‘

‘He is now packing his bags and returning to Byron Bay, which isn’t a big drive from where they shoot I’m a Celebrity, and he is apparently furious,’ he added.

McKnight went on to say that Evans was ‘100 per cent’ going into the jungle before Ms McGarvey made the call to drop him from the line-up.

‘Executives at Channel 10 have done the right thing this morning. I think his TV career is done and dusted. No one will touch him. The neo-Nazi stuff is a bit too far,’ he added.

A 10 spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday: ‘Network 10 can confirm that Pete Evans will not be appearing on this season of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’

The decision to drop Evans comes after he had already started his mandatory pre-show quarantine.

Entertainment journalist Ben Norris said on The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Tuesday that network executives went into a ‘meltdown’ the previous evening when Evans’ publisher Pan Macmillan dropped him in response to his neo-Nazi post.

Evans sparked outrage on Sunday when he shared a neo-Nazi meme on Facebook.

He posted a cartoon of a caterpillar wearing a MAGA cap and a butterfly with the racist Black Sun emblem on its wing – with the suggestion being that neo-Nazism is the natural evolution for Donald Trump supporters.

Evans is an enthusiastic supporter of the president and advocates the baseless claim that Joe Biden only won the 2020 election due to voter fraud. 

The Black Sun symbol became infamous after it was introduced by top-ranking Nazi Heinrich Himmler during World War II. The symbol has since been adopted by numerous neo-Nazi groups, and by Christchurch mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant.

Evans seemingly confirmed he was aware of the meaning of the symbol when a fan stated they recognised it, and Evans replied: ‘I was waiting for someone to see that.’

He later deleted the post on Monday afternoon and replaced it with an image of a rainbow heart alongside a sarcastic non-apology in which he claimed he would be ‘studying all of the symbols that have ever existed’ to make sure he doesn’t offend anyone again.

Meanwhile, Evans was dropped by his publisher Pan Macmillan Australia on Monday in response to the outrage over his neo-Nazi Facebook meme.

The publisher of several of his books declared his Easy Keto cookbook, released last year, would be its last.

‘Pan Macmillan does not support the recent posts made by Pete Evans. Those views are not our views as a company or the views of our staff,’ a representative said.

‘Pan Macmillan is currently finalising it’s contractual relationship with Pete Evans and as such will not be entering any further publishing agreements moving forward.

‘If any retailer wishes to return Pete Evans’ books please contact Pan Macmillan.’

Bookstore chain Dymocks confirmed on Monday evening that it was ‘in the process of removing [Evans’] books from our website and have advised our stores to return their stock as offered by the publisher’.