I’m A Celebrity… South Africa is almost here, and we’ve already had a taste of what to anticipate.
The South Africa episodes are unique in that they feature stars that previously competed in the popular ITV reality show, earning it the initial name of I’m A Celeb All Stars.
Fans will soon be able to observe Amir Khan, Shaun Ryder, Carol Vorderman, Jordan Banjo, Paul Burrell, Phil Tufnell, Helen Flanagan, Fatima Whitbread, and Janice Dickinson contend with life in the South African wilderness, but we have a sneak peek at what to anticipate in the meanwhile.
The first photographs of the debut episode, which will show on Monday, have been revealed, and fans will be pleased to hear that it looks utterly wild.
In the spirit of I’m A Celeb, the stars are dropped into the midst of the jungle – or, in this instance, bush – and are immediately plunged into turmoil with a mission to bring them to base camp.
Typically thrown from a helicopter, it appears that this time the celebs are made to leap from a tremendous height before being bungeed to a succession of big inflatable balls, from which they must then jump to reach the other side.
It appears to be a nailbiter – literally in Phil’s case, as he is shown looking scared with his hands over his face as he prepares to leap.
Meanwhile, former royal butler Paul is seen struggling with the new surroundings, as he is seen shouting – either in terror, horror, or delight, it’s difficult to tell – as he, Shaun, and Janice take on the task.
While we’re confident the celebrities are safe, it seems, and most likely feels, like a life-or-death crisis.
And it appears that the terror has gotten through Helen’s skin, as she is shown stooping down as though to balance herself before making her own daring plunge.
While viewers will have to wait until Monday to witness the complete episode, we know from the first look that it will be a crazy journey.
That, and the South African bush is stunning.
Despite its beauty, the open air isn’t all fun and games, as participant Janice explained in a recent interview with Metro.co.uk and other publications.
The actress confessed that she lived in terror of birds biting her eyes out as she slept, as gigantic animals she mistook for vultures repeatedly descended on her at night.
Janice was notoriously bitten by a rat in camp during her former I’m A Celeb trip, which she’still has awful dreams’ about, and she experienced a similar feaar this time around.
‘Some birds were landing by my cot, I think they were vultures. Huge black birds, going’ – here she did a fairly impressive imitation of a squawk – ‘right by my ear.
‘I was scared they were going to peck my eyes out or something. I was sleeping under my sleeping bag with the zipper all the way up to my head, feeling that something’s going to crawl into my bed at night. It’s quite scary.’
Despite her fears, Janice described her South African journey as’much more enjoyable’ than her Australian one, praising everything from the location to her campmates.
‘The campmates were much more pleasant, the surroundings, there didn’t seem to be as many rodents coming into the campsite as there was in Australia,’ she said.
