The team at TV Week have been given insider access to the behind-the-scenes operations of Australia’s most outlandish reality series – I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!
That’s right, with some help from our friends at Channel 10, the production crew have given us the goss on what exactly goes into producing this Logie-award winning ratings juggernaut, filmed within the depths of the South African jungle.
So far this season we’ve seen our celebs eat everything from animal insides to creepy crawlies, with who knows what gross concoctions, and scary critters also on the scene.
Geordie Shore star Nathan Henry crawled through what he thought was animal fesces (and who knows what else) in the latest season.
(IMAGE: Channel 10)Speaking of animal insides, according to the team at 10, an average of 20 animal testicles are consumed each season, with 120 consumed since the Australian spin off started airing way in 2015.
Equally gross is the amount of animal offal – the edible internal parts of animals produced for food – that has been dumped on celebrity heads, at 600 kg per season and more than 3600 kg since the first season in 2015.
That’s a lot of dead animal parts!
Below Deck stewardess Aesha Scott was keen to give this gross task a red hot go, facing off against the depths of these portaloos!
(IMAGE: Channel 10)But whilst we can’t help but feel bad for them, just remember these celebs are getting paid the big bucks to appear on the show and are peachy keen to ‘do their bit’ and take home the title of king or queen of the jungle and the $100k payday that goes to a charity of their choosing.
We’ve already seen Nick ‘Honey Badger’ Cummins battle it out (and loose) with a non-venomous python this year, and Kerri Anne Kennerley face-off against baby crocodiles before she dramatically left the jungle after a mere four days. But wild animals also often find their way into camp of their own accord.
According to Channel 10, a number of lethal species of snakes live around the camp, including the Black Mamba (Africa’s deadliest snake), Mozambique Spitting Cobra, Puff Adder and Snouted Cobra.
On average, the animal handlers remove 6-7 snakes from camp each season, with six already removed a third of the way through season nine (scary stuff).
Kerri-Anne tried her best to stay calm after being stuck in a water tank full of snakes.
(IMAGE: Channel 10)They aren’t the only predator our celebs have to watch out for, with leopard sightings also occurring during production, usually in the early morning and evening. Thankfully, this carnivorous cat hasn’t made its way into the camp….yet!
So, what about the editing of the episodes?
The show is applauded for crossing to the jungle ”live” when on-air so the viewers watching from the comforts of the couch can cheer their favourite celebs on in real time.
But to make this magic happen, there’s a lot of people working busily away compiling together clips from the seven studio cameras, 48 camp cameras, eight trial cameras, four ENG cameras, and roughly 15 speciality cameras.
All in all, there are 82 cameras capturing content that is edited together, using just over a petabyte (over 1000 terabytes) of storage per season.
Fortunately for Nick, the snake that latched on to his hand during a challenge was non venomous.
(IMAGE: Channel 10)So, what about the crew?
We often see them on hand to help out Dr Chris Brown and Julia Morris but there is a whole heap more hidden that you don’t see on screen, 495 in fact.
That’s right, for season nine there are almost 500 local and international staff brought in to bring the show to life, with an epic 3128 working across all seven of the seasons filmed in Africa (not including seasons seven and eight).
Bianca reacted as you would expect when asked to eat animal insides during a challenge!
(IMAGE: Channel 10)Last but not least, let’s talk about hygiene!
You’ll be pleased to know our celebs aren’t roughing it too bad with access to two toilet rolls per day per celeb to use in the camp dunny drop.
They are also allocated shampoo, conditioner, a bar of soap, toothpaste, a toothbrush, dental floss, lip balm, deodorant and lip balm.
On top of this, celebs are given a cheap razor (but no shaving cream), a camping towel, hair ties, nail clipper, hairbrush and comb and a bottle of hand sanitiser.
In terms of their wardrobe the girls are allowed to bring with them six pairs of undies and six pairs of bras whilst the boys just bring their undies in.
Both genders are allowed to bring in three pairs of swimwear and of course the Channel 10 allocated uniforms.
.jpg?fit=126%2C128){kind=avatar}