David Haye stands by his “ugly girls” comment on I’m a Celeb despite the backlash
David Haye has responded to the criticism over his “ugly girls” comments on I’m a Celebrity, and he’s standing by what he said.
The live finale of the special all-stars edition of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! will air on ITV this Friday night. The show was filmed in South Africa in late 2025 and had some tense moments, mainly involving Haye, Emmerdale actor Adam Thomas, and former Soccer AM host Jimmy Bullard. Both Haye and Bullard have been accused of bullying Thomas, who’s a fan favorite because of how he reacted to them.
Haye’s comments caused extra trouble. He said his model girlfriend, Sian Osborne, 33, had “the personality of a proper ugly bird.” He explained that “ugly girls” aren’t pretty enough to get attention, so they have to be funny. Many called his remarks sexist and unfair.
But Haye isn’t backing down. On This Morning, he said, “Ugly girls have better personalities than traditionally beautiful supermodels. Everyone’s looking for something to be offended by. Who’s really offended—pretty girls or ugly girls?”
After seeing the backlash, he tried to explain his point with this example: “If you put a hundred beautiful girls and a hundred ugly girls in the dark, the ugly girls will have better personalities because they’ve had to develop them out of necessity. Beautiful girls often don’t need to build their personalities because things come easy to them.”
When This Morning host Ben Shepard asked why Haye gets to decide who’s ugly or beautiful, he said: “I’m not the judge. I’m just sharing my opinion. Usually, I find beautiful girls have worse personalities, while those who are less traditionally attractive often have more bubbly and fun personalities.
“I’m lucky to have a girlfriend I see as a supermodel who also has the personality of someone who wasn’t born beautiful. It’s like a double win—like the ugly duckling story.”
Haye, 45, has been in a non-monogamous relationship with model Osborne since 2020. The couple reportedly had past relationships involving singer Una Healy and actress Helen Flanagan.