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Entertainment

07th Aug 2020

I’m A Celebrity relocates to the UK because of COVID

Wil Jones

Don’t know which is worse: hot sweaty jungle or cold miserable castle

So, you know the usual format of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, right? A bunch of celebs are shipped off to the jungle in Australia and forced to camp out and eat bugs and stuff.

Well, as you might have noticed, there’s a global pandemic going on, which has severely impacted international travel. So flying some ex-footballers and Made In Chelsea cast members out to Oz doesn’t really work if they have to deal with quarantine and everything.

So ITV has announced that the 2020 series of I’m A Celebrity will be set in the UK. In “a ruined castle in the countryside,” to be precise.

No more information has been given yet, apart from the winner will now be crowned King or Queen of the Castle, not the Jungle.

“We announced last week that we were doing all we could to make the series and I’m thrilled that we can bring the show to viewers albeit not in the jungle,” Kevin Lygo, ITV’s Director of Television said in a press release. “We have a great team both on and off screen and I know they will produce a hugely entertaining series”.

Richard Cowles, Director of Entertainment at ITV Studios added: “We pulled out all the stops to try and make the series happen in Australia.  Unfortunately, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and despite us looking at many different contingencies, it became apparent that it just wasn’t possible for us to travel and make the show there. However, we are all really excited about a UK version of I’m A Celebrity.  While it will certainly be different producing the show from the UK, the same tone and feel will remain.

“Our celebrities will probably have to swap shorts for thermals but they can still look forward to a basic diet of rice and beans and plenty of thrills and surprises along the way”.