THE stars of I’m A Celebrity… will have to cope with the heat, hunger and bushtucker trials in the jungle – but this year they’ll face one of their greatest challenges BEFORE they reach the camp.
The famous faces will tackle the show’s hardest ‘walk-in’ on the dreaded plank – a suspended platform more than 300feet up in nearby Surfer’s Paradise on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Now wicked show bosses have reworked it this year to make it even more horrendous.
On an exclusive tour of this year’s jungle set, executive producer Olly Nash told me: “They’re going to have to be braver than ever.
“And only the bravest will survive after walk-in. We will battling it out to have an easier or a rougher ride for the first few days in camp. The rougher ride will be rougher than before.”
“The walk-in itself will see us return to the plank. It’s the biggest and most horrendous, wobbliest thing. We tested it earlier in August and we made it deliberately more wobbly.
“They will be playing with another celebrity, so the more they wobble, the more you wobble. You are totally dependent on someone else. It’s 343 ft up, four metres out, then three metres down, then a metre out again.
“You have to go down a ladder. We’ve tested it and during the runs, getting to the end then turning around is absolutely horrendous.
The worst part of it is you have to go a metre out at the bottom and effectively stand on one foot to press the switch. You’re balancing on one foot.”
There’s another change this year. I’m told that unlike 2018, where just 11 campmates went into the jungle, this series it will return to a dozen.
It means Coronation Street star Andrew Whyment, whom I revealed would be heading into the ITV show, will be joined by a mystery name when he is sent into camp.
It’s a contrast to 2018’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! bosses were left red-faced by putting all their eggs in latecomer Noel Edmonds’ basket – only for him to get the boot before anyone else.
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Noel was the show’s most expensive ever signing at £600,000. But the public soon decided they’d had enough of the veteran presenter, who was sent home after just eight days.
This year producers have shelled out nearly £1million on Ian Wright and Caitlyn Jenner. I wonder how they’ll cope with the walk-in.
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