Eric Bristow's son has hit out at I'm A Celebrity bosses for portraying him as a 'bully' – as evicted campmate Rosemary Shrager claims the darts champion subjected her to 'psychological' torment.
Eric Bristow's son has slammed his dad's portrayal as a bully in camp (Picture: Rex)
Eric's manager has even threatened to call in his lawyers as he accused ITV bosses of painting Eric in a bad light.
And his 19-year-old son James has also declared his dad has been portrayed as 'a nasty piece of work' as he threatened to take further action with ITV too.
It comes as Rosemary Shrager, who was the seventh celebrity to be evicted from camp, took the opportunity to take a swipe at Eric's 'bullyish' ways.
The TV chef, who lost a record-breaking 2st 3lbs during her time in camp, didn't get on too well with 55-year-old Eric in the jungle.
They often bickered with her telling him he was a 'bully' and him telling her she was 'too bossy'.
And now she's out of the jungle, she claims she put up with far too much from him and was especially affected by Eric's weight jibes at her.
Rosemary and Eric famously did not get on too well in the jungle (Picture: Rex)
Speaking to The Sun, Rosemary said: 'I had to put up with those jibes for a solid two weeks. It was form of psychological bullying.
'Eric should judge himself first. He didn't consider anyone but himself.'
However, Rosemary's claims won't sit too well with James or Eric's management who are said to be furious.
Sticking up for his dad last night, James told the newspaper: 'I am really p****d off with the way dad's been made to look. The edit's been totally unfair and I know his manager is talking to lawyers about it.
'The feeling was that things can't get any worse — otherwise we will go for ITV and cause them huge problems.
'I understand this is a TV show on for entertainment purposes — and dad knew what he was getting himself into.'
Eric Bristow, here taking part in a bushtucker trial, has been unfairly portrayed, according to his son (Picture: ITV/Rex)
Eric is certainly known for his straight talking but it wasn't just Rosemary he upset in camp.
Another celebrity who felt the sharp end of his tongue was Helen Flanagan.
Viewers saw she was often attacked by grumpy Eric for being childish, her lack of independence and, most shockingly, her acne.
After Helen admitted she likes melting ice lollies and then eating them, Eric swiped: 'You've got a fantastic diet at home. That's what's done your skin.'
And when Helen explained it was a hereditary skin condition from her dad, Eric was having none of it and continued: 'I'd just squeeze her head and get the pus out all in one go.'
But James went on to insist that Eric wouldn't intentionally be cruel to Helen as he has a daughter of his own.
Helen broke down in tears when Eric commented on her skin (Picture: ITV/Rex)
'He's not a bully,' James added. 'He has a 21-year-old daughter himself, so would never be intentionally cruel to anyone else's.
'They've painted him as a real nasty piece of work at points, which is so unfair and frustrating to watch.'
Eric's management were also bombarded with tweets from Eric's fans claiming the reality show was showing him in a bad light.
And after addressing the issue with ITV, it seems the show bosses have now taken note and are showing Eric's finer moments in camp.
His spokesman, Steve Mottershead, told Metro: 'We responded to the hundreds of tweets asking why Eric was being portrayed as a bad guy when the evicted campmates were saying he was a nice guy.
It would have been fairer if the edit had shown the side of Eric which was endearing him to campmates, as well as his more straight-to-the-point moments with them.
'I think ITV listened to the people and realised that the Eric they were portraying was not quite the bad guy they were making him out to be.
The last few days have been much more balanced.
An ITV spokesman added: 'We haven't heard from Eric's lawyers. We always make a fair representation of what goes on in the camp. If something hasn't been said, we can't include it in the programme.'
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