I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series)

Did You Know?

• A spin-off series, I'm a Celebrity...South Africa, featuring past contestants, began airing in 2023.
• The annual Coming Out special, retitled A Castle Story for the 2020 series, documents campmates leaving the jungle and reuniting with loved ones.

Format

The celebrities must complete challenges to earn food for camp; otherwise they survive on basic rations of a small measured portion of plain rice and dried haricot or navy beans per person per day, which are meant to be consumed together as complementary nutrients forming a complete protein. If food shortage becomes severe, the medical team may provide electrolyte drinks and glucose to prevent serious emergencies. Personal items, outside food or drink, and extra clothing are prohibited; a matching uniform is mandatory, and a single luxury item is allowed as a reward for tasks. Time-keeping devices are banned to maintain disorientation. In the first series, deodorant was banned and smoking was not allowed anywhere in camp, but these rules have since been relaxed; vaping is now permitted with a doctor's prescription but must be done off-camera. Viewers vote by phone or text for a celebrity to complete a Bushtucker Trial—a physical task involving snakes, spiders, or other creatures—and later to vote for the winner, who is crowned King or Queen of the Jungle or Castle. Ahead of the 2025 series, premium-rate phone and text voting were discontinued in favour of app and online voting; a portion of profits from phone or text votes was donated by ITV to charities such as Malaria No More UK, Make-A-Wish Foundation UK, and ITV's Britain Get Talking.

Production

The first series in 2002 was filmed on a smaller site that was once part of King Ranch in Kooroomool, near Tully, Queensland. From the second series onward, filming has taken place around Springbrook National Park, near Murwillumbah, New South Wales, on a site classified as lowland subtropical rainforest rather than jungle. In 2005, plans to relocate to Cardwell, Queensland, were abandoned due to logistical problems and time constraints. The filming location includes an open area with buildings for medical facilities, prop storage, and backstage services; families and friends of celebrities gather there each morning during evictions. A restricted access road climbs to the studios, then descends via four-wheel drive to the camp set, which is connected to the studio building by suspension bridges and a drawbridge installed after contestants from the second series left camp in protest over food amounts. A retractable canopy above the central camp area protects against rainfall and facilitates delivery of food won in trials; some scenery, such as a rock wall hiding cameras and a pond with a pump-powered waterfall, is artificial but designed to blend in.

Controversies and criticism

In 2006, ITV apologised after confusion over telephone and red-button interactive voting instructions led to media allegations that the wrong person was evicted in the run-off between Toby Anstis and Dean Gaffney in the sixth series. Sarah Matravers blamed the series for her relationship breakdown with contestant Marc Bannerman after he flirted with Cerys Matthews, who later alleged the footage was edited by ITV. Malcolm McLaren, who pulled out of the seventh series, alleged the show was fixed and trials posed no real danger, claiming the show doctor told him it was safe enough for his own children. In 2009, ITV apologised for not properly advising contestants of Australian animal cruelty laws after Gino D'Acampo and Stuart Manning were charged by New South Wales Police for killing and eating a rat. Nadine Dorries's 2012 participation led to her suspension from the Conservative Party and an inquiry by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. The fifteenth series drew 694 Ofcom complaints and 500 to ITV over Ferne McCann eating a live water spider, but no further action was taken in January 2016.

Series overview

Ant & Dec have presented every series since 2002 except the eighteenth in 2018, when Declan Donnelly co-presented with Holly Willoughby due to Ant McPartlin's break from television. The first series aired in summer 2002, the second in spring 2003, and the third and fourth in 2004; since the fourth, the show has occupied a November slot. Series originally lasted about 15 days but were later extended to 21–23 days. The first series had 8 contestants; the second and third had 10; the fourth had 11; the fifth and sixth had 12; the seventh had 11; the eighth had 12; the ninth through eleventh had 13; the twelfth and thirteenth had 12. From the seventh series onward, contestants were often split into teams such as Team Snake Rock and Team Croc Creek, or camps like Base Camp and Camp Exile, with some entering after the groups were brought together. The tenth series was the first to air on ITV HD.