I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! has been given a shake up in the form of I’m A Celeb … South Africa, also known as the All Stars version (opens in new tab), which will air next week.
The upcoming series was teased by co-hosts Ant & Dec back in 2022 (opens in new tab), which turns out was when the season was also filmed – unlike previous years that are live.
The pre-recorded show will see previous I’m A Celeb winners, as well as unforgettable contestants, battle it out to be crowned the ultimate champion.
It has recently been revealed who will be returning to the jungle, which includes Myleene Klass, Paul Burrell, Dean Gaffney, as well as Georgia ‘Toff’ Toffolo, and many more.
But, with the new instalment fast approaching, previous contestants are revealing all about the goings on behind the scenes, and we are absolutely here for it.
Jake Quickenden took part in the fourteenth series of the hit ITV show, which saw him come runner up to Carl Fogarty.
The 34-year-old singer had long dreamed of being on the show, and he thought there would be moments the cameramen and crew would help out campers, but that wasn’t the case – much to his surprise.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Betway Casino (opens in new tab), he said: “I was a huge fan of the show growing up, I used to watch it with my dad all the time.
“I enjoyed every single second that I was there. I didn’t want to moan about the lack of food, I didn’t want to moan about trials. I just tried to wake up every morning and go, ‘What an amazing opportunity I’ve got.’
“It was kind of what I expected, if I’m honest. I did partly think they might send down a Pizza Hut in a box at night, but they never did.
“The cameramen are not allowed to talk to you, so when you go to a trial, you’ve obviously got a few following you. I remember one of them had Tic Tacs and I was like, ‘Can I please have a Tic Tac?’ He obviously wasn’t allowed to talk to me and wasn’t allowed to give me one. I always used to ask them for the football scores, but they’d never talk to you. You do see people throughout the day, but it’s like you’re invisible. It’s weird but it’s so funny trying to wind them up and getting them to talk.”
While the hunger pangs were difficult to handle, Jake also revealed boredom, homesickness, and conflict with campmates, also proved challenging.
He continued: “I think the only thing that I struggled with was boredom. I have to be active and I need to be moving. The boredom in there is a little bit what got to me. Plus, you’re knackered and you’re really hungry as well.
“People forget that you are sitting around for most of the day. You’ve had all your big conversations with everyone in the first few days, so then it kind of becomes like a family setting, where you’re just chilling.
“If you don’t get a chance to go do the Dingo Dollar Challenge or the trial, then you’re just sitting around. You’re lying in your hammock all day until the food comes, so it can be boring.
“For me, confrontation is something I don’t really like, but if it happens, it happens. You do feel quite awkward when it’s happening because you don’t really know what to say.”
If conflicts do breakout with contestants, Jake recommends being the mediator to make for a happy environment.
Despite a number of changes to the usual I’m a Celebrity set-up (opens in new tab), such as the location, fact it’s not live and viewers will not vote off the contestants but the actual celebrities do in head to head challenges, Jake still thinks it’s one of the best shows on TV.
Asked about the shake-up to mark the programme’s 20th anniversary, he said: “I think the show is one of the only ones that is still relevant. You see shows come and go, you saw Love Island this year not do as good as it usually does. I’m A Celeb always hits similar viewers, it always does amazing, and they’ve got the two best presenters fronting in it. I just always love watching it.
“It’s a bit of a different concept, but also quite exciting to see how it works.
“I don’t think it [All Star series] was needed, but it’s cool that it’s here. We get to see people that have already done it, and people that have maybe not been great get a chance to do it better. It’s a different concept. It’s a bit more challenging, because they’re actually going up against each other in the trials to stay in. I would have loved that, I love competition. I think it’s going to be great.
“You never know, they might do a few more All Stars and I’d love to get involved. But I think the cast that they’ve got is great.”
Tune into I’m A Celeb… South Africa on 24 April at 9pm on ITVX.