I’m A Celeb fan explains origin of Ant and Dec’s ongoing joke that some viewers might have missed

Viewers of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! may have caught on to presenters Ant and Dec cracking the same joke time and time again - but do you know what they're referencing?

We're in the thick of this year's I'm A Celeb, with last night's episode (5 December) delivering a heavy dose of drama in the form of a double elimination.

Love Island's Maura Higgins and former professional boxer Barry McGuigan left camp and lost out on the chance to be Queen or King of the Jungle.

Each year, Ant and Dec like to keep a running theme of the same one-liner throughout the series, making us all chuckle on our sofas as we watch A-listers be tormented by spiders and rats.

The joke was at Barry McGuigan's expense (ITV)

This year's joke was at the recently-departed Barry's expense, with the funny duo repeatedly saying 'He can't see, man!'.

It all started when Barry struggled to crack a series of codes while in the dark, and it's been going ever since.

If you're not sure what the joke refers to - it's actually Ant and Dec themselves, as one savvy Reddit user pointed out when posting a clip of Byker Grove to jog our memories.

One person responded: "I remember this 'live' and have not seen it since. Thank you!"

Before they became presenting legends, the Geordie duo starred in BBC's Byker Grove between 1989 and 2006.

Ant portrayed Peter ‘PJ’ Jenkins, and Dec played Duncan Sperring, two youths who attended the eponymous Byker Grove youth club.

The joke dates back to Byker Grove (BBC)

One hilarious scene, a paint balling fight leads to PJ being unable to see, and Dec exclaiming: "He can't see, man!"

The joke is a safe one to make, as Barry has 20/20 vision after receiving laser eye surgery in 2013.

This was done as a result of his eyesight starting to wane when he was just 39 years old.

Explaining the experience, he said: "I was flying across the Atlantic a lot and reading loads of statistics in poor light and invariably the muscles around my eyes were affected.

"I was struggling to read, present and coach properly. I started wearing glasses and from then my sight continued to deteriorate quickly."

Ant and Dec starred in Byker Grove (NCJ Archive/NCJ Archive/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)

He went on to say the surgery was the 'best decision' he had ever made, telling Ant and Dec in his exit interview that his 'blended vision' procedure was done 10 years ago.

He then said he should have had it done again three years back, but hadn't.

Making reference to the running joke throughout the series, Ant said: "I think you should have!"

While Dec, poking fun at how many post-Jungle celebs get brand deals, said: "Barry, they'll be a lot of companies out there who will be giving it you for free, believe me!"