“REALITY” television recorded its highest audience when almost 16 million viewers tuned in to see Kerry McFadden crowned queen of the jungle.

The I’m a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! finale beat the previous heights achieved by Pop Idol and Big Brother, attracting 62 per cent of all Monday night television viewers.

While McFadden’s adviser Max Clifford began steering her through an estimated £1 million of endorsements and television offers, slightly less was raised for charity.

About £970,000 from the £3.5 million generated by phone voting and text messaging during the 15-day series will be divided between ten charities chosen by the contestants. The Variety Club of Ireland, selected by McFadden, will gain the largest share followed by the Devon Air Ambulance Trust, chosen by Jennie Bond, and Peter Andre’s choice, the NSPCC.

The money raised is small beer compared with last year’s Comic Relief Red Nose Day appeal, which raised £61 million, and the BBC’s Children In Need, which raised £15 million after a ten-hour programme.

Three million votes were cast on Monday, slightly down on last year’s final which saw the cricketer Phil Tufnell triumph. The charities will receive 16p from every 50p phone vote. ITV, Red Fig, the mobile telephone company that co-ordinated the vote lines, BT and the Treasury will carve up the rest of the profits.

The Charities Aid Foundation said: “There are more tax-effective ways for people to give money to charity but the huge exposure these programmes generate are now a vital part of fundraising.”

The foundation said that individual charitable donations fell from £7.3 billion to £6.9 billion last year. But the I’m a Celebrity exposure for charities was limited. ITV did not name the good causes on air, in case viewers voted for the most popular charity rather than contestant.

ITV is the biggest winner after devoting up to six hours a day to a series that left the BBC trailing in the ratings battle. The final attracted a peak audience of 15.7 million viewers, beating the 2001 Pop Idol final “reality” television record of 13.3 million viewers and the 9.4 million who watched the Big Brother 2002 final on Channel 4.

The third I’m a Celebrity series averaged 10.4 million viewers each night, three million more than the first series broadcast 18 months ago. ITV2, which provided additional coverage, suddenly became the most watched channel in multichannel homes.

Nearly three million viewers tuned in to its post-result discussion programme, an increase of 2.7 million on its audience a fortnight ago. Maintaining that audience with new shows will be a challenge.

ITV has also enjoyed a £10 million boost to its commercial revenues as advertisers vied to take 30-second spots during the prime-time programmes.

Mr Clifford is now negotiating a possible £500,000 deal for McFadden to become the face of Sacla, an Italian pasta company which makes pesto and tomato sauces. McFadden has already signed a £250,000 deal telling her story of jungle life to Express Newspapers, owners of the Daily Express and Daily Star.

Jennie Bond’s agent said that the “telephone hadn’t stopped ringing” since the former BBC royal reporter came second on the show. Cosmetics companies wanted to know which products she had used in the jungle.

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