King of the Jungle is an American reality television program, that appears on the Animal Planet cable television network. The original series debuted in Fall 2003 and starred a group of 12 "animal experts" and was hosted by Jeff Corwin. "Nasty" Nigel Marven was the judge who "booted" off a contestant each week. The show was plagued with inconsistencies in judging and content, but was a ratings hit for Animal Planet. A sequel was hosted by Madison Michele; it debuted in July 2004. This show failed to earn the ratings of the first season. A hastily produced third season consisting of teams of two was all but buried by Animal Planet before and during its airing. It was called King of the Jungle: Pairs and had 14 contestants instead of 12.