The season premiere of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! is finally upon us, with some of our long-awaited questions being answered at last!
To that end, here is everything we know so far about I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! The Australian Edition.
Who…is Going Into the Jungle?
Australia has finally met the first nine celebrities competing to become King or Queen of the jungle and it’s safe to say they have already been put through their paces.
First to arrive was singer Jack Vidgen, who won Australia’s Got Talent when he was just 14-years-old, has since appeared on The Voice and, by his own admission, is not a fan of the great outdoors.
He was soon joined by fellow singer and Australian Idol alum Paulini Curuenavuli and then The Block contestant turned Triple M radio host Jess Eva.
The next three celebrities we met were triple threat TV darling Toni Pearen (green team), Gold Logie Winner Grant Denyer (blue team) and comedian Mel Buttle (red team).
The final three celebrity competitors we met during the premiere were former Bachelor contestant Abbie Chatfield (green team), Comedian Ash Williams (blue team) and retired AFL player Travis Varcoe.
The following evening we were treated to the arrival of red team member and AFL legend, Robert “Dipper” DiPierdomenico – solving the mystery of who the Brownlow medalist might be.
And the night after that, Pettifleur Berenger entered the “jungle” in true diva style.
We still have several more contestants to meet: an “opionated twosome” so there is still some time to have fun guessing who they might be.
One face we most certainly will not be seeing will be that of TV Chef Pete Evans who was dropped from the cast after sharing a meme that included what appeared to be a neo-Nazi symbol on social media. Instead, his friend and colleague Colin Fassnidge has taken his place and is a member of the green team with Pearen, Chatfield and Vidgen.
According to TV Blackbox who on December 22 leaked what is widely believed to be the true cast list, Adam and Simon from Gogglebox will be joining the cast.
What…Will the Challenges Be?
So far, they have been intense!
Truthfully, I’d have been more than happy to watch an entire season of a group of sheltered celebs exclaiming “Strewth! That’s a big one!” every time they saw a spider. Or a moth. Or an incoming storm. Or really anything because this beautiful country is crazy and will straight up try to kill you every chance it gets.
After the premiere, however, it is clear that this will not be the premise of the show after witnessing Jack Vidgen, Paulini and Jess Eva tasked with jumping 14,000ft out of a helicopter to get to camp.
Meanwhile, Pearen, Denyer and Buttle faced a challenge that some might say was more stomach churning than jumping out of a helicopter, when they competed in “Miguel’s Kitchen.”
Reigning King of the Jungle Miguel Maestre made a cameo to oversee the challenge in which the three celebs had to answer quiz questions about Spanish cuisine and would have the correct answer shot into their face if their guess was incorrect. So, yeah – there was squid ink and anchovy juice and it was all quite gross.
And the WORST challenge of the night was taken on by Williams, Chatfield and Barcoe who had to stick their hands into cages full of snakes in order to match keys with a bunch of padlocks…at the same time as wearing helmets that were filled with cockroaches and giant spiders and nope. Just nope.
And we’re only getting started.
Where…Will the Show Take Place?
Traditionally, the contestants would be heading to the South African jungle to test their limits, but the coronavirus had other ideas this time around.
Instead, the celebs will travel to Dungay in far north-eastern NSW to take part in the challenges.
Located in the Tweed Shire in far north-eastern NSW, Dungay is a rural area 13km south of the QLD border and about an 8-minute drive from Murwillumbah. The site has previously been used to film the British version of the series until Covid went and ruined that too.
The area is home to the rather ominously named Mount Warning and is prone to substantial rainfall as a result of its volcanic origins.
Why… Would Anyone Ever Subject Themselves to This?!
Because a) the winner receives $100,000 to donate to the charity of their choice and b) it makes for some really good “I-can’t-turn-away-even-though-I-really-want-to” television. What better reasons could there be?
How…is the Winner Decided?
In past years, the winner was decided by public voting as viewer can weighed in via SMS or social media to determine who got evicted from the hellish competition and who faced another day of kangaroo nuts for breakfast.
This year, as the show had to be pre-recorded, the prodcuers had to get a little creative with the elimination process.
According to Network Ten’s head of entertainment and factual programs Stephen Tate, “We have devised a very funny, very fair system for deciding who will do the trials and the challenges.”
Apparently this means that in each elimination episode, the celebrities will face two challenges: one in which they all participate and one which sees the top three from the first challenge square off with the person who places last being sent home.
Oh, and there might be a wombat named Warren involved too…so, uh, yeah.
That elimination system will continue until there are just a few celebrities remaining in camp at which point Tate says the voting will be handed over to the Aussie public.
“The most important thing to realise is that Australia will decide the winner,” Mr Tate told news.com.au. “The ending will be live.”
When…Does the Fun Begin?
I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! Australia premieres on January 3 on Network Ten.
Read more stories from TheLatch— and follow us on Facebook.
