I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (often shortened to I'm a Celebrity or I'm a Celeb) is a British survivalreality television show, that is broadcast on ITV. It was created by London Weekend Television (LWT) and is produced by Lifted Entertainment. The format sees a group of celebrities living together in extreme conditions with few creature comforts. Each member undertakes challenges to secure additional food and treats for the group, and to avoid being voted out by viewers during their stay, with the final episode's votes nominating who wins a series.
The programme's first series debuted on 25 August 2002 and was filmed within Tully, Queensland, Australia.[1] From the second series in 2003 until 2019, it was filmed around Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia.[2] The 2020 and 2021 series were filmed at Gwrych Castle in Wales due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before returning to Australia in 2022.[3] Celebrities participating on the programme nominate a charity to receive a donation from ITV, with the money raised from charges on voting via text, phone or interactive services. Each series has been hosted by Ant & Dec, with the sole exception being the eighteenth series in 2018 when Ant McPartlin suspended his TV appearances for a year, so Declan Donnelly was joined instead by Holly Willoughby.[4][5]
I'm a Celebrity is often a ratings winner for ITV, attracting on average over 9 million viewers each series, with its success spawning an international franchise of the same name. The main show was accompanied by a sister show from 2002 until 2020 and again from 2024 on ITV2, now entitled I'm a Celebrity: Unpacked, which features behind-the-scenes footage and discussions on celebrities voted out of the latest episode, and clips of the next episode. In 2022, the show won The Sir Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award at the National Television Awards.[6]
Ant & Dec have hosted the show together since it began in 2002, with the exception of the 2018 series.Dec was joined by Holly Willoughby for the 2018 series
In return for their appearance on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, the celebrities are asked to nominate a charity to which the producers, ITV Studios, make donations. The celebrities themselves are also paid a fee to compensate them for possible loss of earnings while they are in the jungle. The money is raised by allowing viewers to vote by phone for the celebrity they would like to complete a "Bushtucker Trial" – a physical task usually involving snakes, spiders or other creepy-crawlies found in the jungle – and, later in each series, to vote for the celebrity they would like to see win the show. The final remaining celebrity is declared the winner of the show, and is branded the "King" or "Queen".
Bushtucker trials
Bushtucker trials are used in the show to allow the contestants to gain food and treats for camp. Bushtucker Trials take two formats: eating trials, or physical/mental tasks.
In the eating trials, contestants are required to eat a variety of different "jungle" foods. Each dish successfully eaten will gain the contestants one star, which equals one meal for camp (although the number of meals per star can vary). The foods that are required to be eaten can include: crickets (in a variety of forms, such as cooked into biscuits, blended into drinks or eaten dead), green ants, mealworms, witchetty grub, roasted spider or tarantulas, genitals of various animals, cockroach (prepared in various ways such as being cooked into biscuits, blended into drinks, eaten alive or dead). Other past foods include beach worms, bull's tongues, the anus of various animals, vomit fruits, cooked pigs' brains, various animal testicles, raw fish eyes, sheep eyes, blended rats or mice tails. Prior to the airing of the nineteenth series in 2019, ITV announced that eating trials would no longer contain live bugs.[11]
The second type of challenge is more of a physical or mental task that requires the contestants to perform activities to gain stars. These can include searching through dung, going through tunnels, negotiating obstacles on high wires, or performing other tasks.
Dingo Dollar challenges
Another way that contestants can earn treats is to do what is known as the "Dingo Dollar Challenge". This involves two or more celebrities going into the jungle to perform a task that releases an item to open a container with an amount of dingo dollars. Once that has been completed and the dollars have been retrieved, it is taken to a small woodshack shop, with shopkeeper Kiosk Keith, and in Series 18 onwards, Kiosk Kev.[12]
In the 2020 series, as a result of not being able to film in Australia due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2021 series due to the country's borders remaining shut, this challenge was replaced by a "Castle Coin Challenge", in-keeping with the theme of being at Gwrych Castle in Wales, rather than in the Australian Jungle. Other than that, the basic format of the challenge is the same. The only other format change to note is that Kiosk Kev has been replaced by his Welsh counterpart, Kiosk Cledwyn.
Bridges that lead into the camp in Dungay, north-eastern New South Wales (April 2004)
Since the second series the following year, the programme has been filmed around Springbrook National Park, near Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia. The camp and filming studios are located in Dungay on Creek Road.[2] For the fifth series in 2005, there were reportedly plans to relocate the show to the coastal town of Cardwell in Queensland; however this did not happen due to logistical problems and time constraints in building the new set and required infrastructure.[15]
Inside the entrance to the filming location is an open area allocated to buildings which accommodate on-site medical facilities, containers for the storage of props, and other backstage facilities. Families and friends of the celebrities are housed here each morning during evictions. From this area, a restricted access road climbs to the site of the studios . The road then descends into a valley via four-wheel drive access to the set of the show.
Gwrych Castle, Wales (2020–2021)
Work on Gwrych Castle to prepare for filming (October 2020)
As part of the agreement with Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust, ITV will help support the ongoing restoration project of the site.[17] This has included the adding of permanent roofs to certain sections of the castle and repairs to the walls, floors and stairs to make the building safe and secure. ITV has reportedly donated £300,000 to the trust for the use of the site for four months, as well as paying for additional emergency restoration work. Production began on the site in September 2020.
On 2 August 2021, it was confirmed that the show would return to Wales for a second series, due to "continued uncertainty" over the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions."[18]
In October 2021, it was reported that ITV Studios' U.S. subsidiary and horror film studio Blumhouse was pitching a reboot of the American version of I'm a Celebrity under the title Celebrity Castle, which was reported to have expanded upon the series 20 concept.[19]
South Africa (2023)
In April 2022, it was announced that there would be a pre-recorded all-star spin-off series to be filmed in South Africa, rather than Australia or Wales.
Controversies
In 2006, ITV apologised after confusion over instructions for telephone and red-button interactive voting led to allegations in the media that the wrong person had been evicted in the run-off vote between Toby Anstis and Dean Gaffney in the sixth series.
In November 2006, the series was forced to enhance its procedures after Ofcom found that it had breached Rule 1.16 of the Broadcasting Code for airing bad language before the watershed.[20] An episode broadcast on 30 November 2006 was ruled to have breached Rule 2.2 of the Broadcasting Code after an investigation launched as part of the wider UK television public voting controversy. Due to late running, seven percent of phone and text votes for that episode of the show were not counted, although this did not affect the result.[21]
Former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, who was due to appear on the seventh series but pulled out at the last minute, alleged that the show and the choice of winner was fixed, and the trials posed no real danger. He alleged that the show doctor told him that "Things are so safe, I would send my own kids in to do the show. There is nothing bad in there. They're hoodwinking the public".[24]
In 2012, the decision by Nadine Dorries to enter the show was the source of criticism, which led to her suspension from the Conservative Party due to allegations she did not seek permission from the party whip Andrew Mitchell, resulting in an inquiry by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.[27]
The fifteenth series saw Ferne McCann eat a live water spider as part of a bushtucker trial. Ofcom reportedly received 694 complaints from the public over allegations of 'animal cruelty for entertainment'. ITV also received a further 500 complaints. In January 2016, it was reported no further action would be taken.[28]
In 2017, viewers complained that camp mate Iain Lee was the subject of bullying and isolation from other camp mates during the seventeenth series, and there were concerns raised due to the effect it could have on his mental health. There were calls for fellow contestant Rebekah Vardy to be cut as a mental health ambassador, due to her alleged role in the 'bullying'. On the ITV programme Good Morning Britain the day after her eviction, Vardy defended herself for remarks she made about Iain Lee in Extra Camp, the ITV2 spin-off series, stating that she was "under pressure", and that they were taken out of context. After his eviction from the camp, Dennis Wise also said on Good Morning Britain that he and Lee were on friendly terms, and said that ITV would not allow bullying on the show. He later accused the show of 'editing him' to look like a bully. Following his third place eviction, Lee directly addressed his relationship with those accused of 'picking on him', stating that he "loves them" and that there's "no beef between [them]". He also addressed claims that he had a "game plan", stating that he was just being himself.[29][30]
In 2019, some viewers criticised Adele Roberts' elimination after a typing error in the app caused confusion over the votes. App votes were therefore not counted, which led to only phone votes to have an effect on the elimination.[31]
That same year, Chris Packham wrote an open letter to Ant & Dec expressing his desire for them to retire the bushtucker trials.[32]
On 13 November 2020, the RSPCA stated that it had "serious concerns about the welfare of animals" featured in the programme. They stated that the production company had got in touch with them ahead of the 20th series taking place in the UK, and had advised that consideration should be given to using welfare-friendly alternatives to animals in the Bushtucker trials, but that it was "really disappointed" that animals were still planned to be used in the trials. It recommended viewers could contact Ofcom, or ITV directly if they wanted to take action.[33]
In November 2020 rural crime officers from North Wales Police began investigations into the ITV network after TV presenter and naturalist Iolo Williams complained that non-native insects, used in the show at Gwrych Castle, could escape and pose a threat to ecosystems. Gwrych Castle woods is a site of special scientific interest (SSSI), as is the nearby Coed y Gopa, managed by the Woodland Trust. Natural Resources Wales, which is responsible for regulating the release of non-native species did not receive an application from ITV to release non-native species. The release of species without a licence would be an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. ITV said the programme "complies with animal welfare law concerning the use of animals, and we are proud of our exemplary production practices".[34]
The fourteenth series consisted of 12 contestants, and was broadcast from 16 November to 7 December 2014.[38][39] On 11 November, the full list of celebrities was confirmed by ITV.[40]
The eighteenth series consisted of 11 contestants, and was broadcast from 18 November to 9 December 2018. On 9 August 2018, McPartlin confirmed that he would not be presenting the series as he continued to get treatment after being admitted to rehab in March.[5] On 29 August, ITV confirmed that Holly Willoughby would replace McPartlin as co-presenter alongside Donnelly.[41] The lineup was confirmed on 12 November.[42]
The nineteenth series consisted of 12 contestants, and was broadcast from 17 November to 8 December 2019. McPartlin rejoined the series as co-presenter, following a one-year hiatus.
The twentieth series of the show was confirmed in July 2020. This series was held in Gwrych Castle in North Wales due to travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting travel to Australia. Two weeks prior to the start of the series, all participants, crew, and presenters were isolated to ensure that social distancing is not needed during filming. The line-up was announced on 8 November 2020 during I'm a Celebrity: A Jungle Story.[43][44]
In March 2022, it was reported that the series would return to Australia for the first time since series 19 following reopening of Australia's borders for international visitors in February 2022, which coincided with the show's 20th anniversary.[3][45]
The renamed companion show, I'm a Celebrity: Extra Camp was broadcast on ITV2 following each episode from 2016 to 2019. On 9 January 2020, it was announced that the series had been axed due to high production costs.[47]
On 20 October 2020, ITV announced that an online spin-off show called I'm a Celebrity...The Daily Drop would be aired alongside the 2020 series hosted by Vick Hope on ITV Hub.[48] In October 2021, it was confirmed that The Daily Drop would not return in 2021.[49]
In October 2024, it was confirmed that the show's spin-off would return, 4 years after being axed, and was given the new title I'm a Celebrity: Unpacked. It will be presented by Joel Dommett, Sam Thompson and Kemi Rodgers.[50]
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