Lydon had been favourite to win the contest

He said he wanted to give the others a chance and he did not "want to turn into Des O'Connor" by taking the King of the Jungle crown.

"Let's face it, I won this thing on the first day," he told hosts Ant and Dec.

His fellow contestants were not impressed and said he had walked because he feared being voted out.

The controversial star left the camp in Australia on Thursday morning.

He'd rather walk himself than someone tell him to walk Jordan

Jordan said she thought Lydon secretly feared being evicted after seeing friend Neil "Razor" Ruddock voted off on Wednesday.

"He'd rather walk himself than someone tell him to walk and because Neil went he thought there might have been a chance he'd go too," she said.

But Lydon told the cameras: "I can't see the point of staying with silly daft performances of Opportunity Knockout.

"It's important for the remainders, they're in it for the game. I'm beginning to be an irritant to them because I'm not here for that and I know they are all suspecting that I'm gonna run off with it and I didn't mean that to be the case."

Lydon, 47, sparked scores of complaints after saying two extreme swear words live on Tuesday's show.

The other contestants were shocked to see Neil Ruddock go

Lydon will not be allowed to rejoin the camp if he changes his mind and will not be replaced by a stand-in, an ITV spokeswoman said.

"We respect his decision to quit and hope we haven't seen the last of him," she said.

"He has been fantastic entertainment on the show and viewers and his fellow celebrities have found him to be an endearing, eccentric and sensitive character."

Producers decided not to have the fourth eviction on Thursday's programme.

Lydon's expletive outburst earlier this week came after he realised he was not going to be evicted.

ITV and media regulator Ofcom received 91 complaints and the former Sex Pistols singer was warned not to repeat the outburst.

The broadcaster has now put into place a time delay of a few seconds so it can make sure no more surprise swear words go out on air.

I'M A CELEBRITY... ODDS 6/4 - Lord Brocket 13/8 - Kerry McFadden 4/1 - Jordan 7/1 - Peter Andre 18/1 - Jennie Bond 20/1 - Alex Best Source: William Hill

Lydon's tirade has boosted sales of the Sex Pistols' classic album Never Mind the Bollocks at Virgin Megastores - sales are up 169% compared to last week.

A spokesman for Virgin Megastores, Simon Dornan, said: "It is amazing and quite brilliant that a prime time reality TV show has introduced a whole new fan base to John, who is of course one of rock's undisputed icons."

There are six other contestants left in the show - Alex Best, Kerry McFadden, Jennie Bond, Peter Andre, Jordan and Lord Brocket.