Meet the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! Australia cast for 2020

MIGUEL MAESTRE, CELEBRITY CHEF, 40

CHARITY: R U OK?

Twelve months ago, The Living Room host Miguel Maestre made a promise to himself. He would be a different man once he turned the big 4-0. And he stayed true to his word.

“I promised myself that when I turned 40, I wouldn’t be chubby, I’d be strong,” he says.

After his stint on Dancing With The Stars, Miguel picked up some healthy lifestyle tips. So far, he’s lost 15 kilos.

“I’m really happy within myself,” he says. “I changed my lifestyle after that show and now I see my body as a building that I pay rent for each day. You have to put in.”

When asked if he now treats his body like a temple and is strict with his diet, he’s quick with his response.

“It’s not a temple − it’s an amusement park!” he says with a laugh.

Miguel knows the other celebs will be looking to him to cook up delicious meals while they’re in camp, and he’s happy to take on the role as camp chef.

“I’ll be out hunting food to cook for them each night!” he says.

He isn’t worried about having fights with the celebrities either.

“I’m pretty sure nobody will be able to understand me, so I’ll avoid any arguments that way!”

CHARLOTTE CROSBY, GEORDIE SHORE, 29

Fans of Geordie Shore know Charlotte Crosby isn’t one to shy away from conflict. And she isn’t about to sit quiet in the jungle either.

“I can only ever be my full self!” the 29-year-old says. “Sometimes it gets me in trouble, but I can’t put on an act. So I think I will be the same as I was in Geordie Shore. I wear my heart on my sleeve and try not to take life too seriously.”

If Charlotte is faced with a celebrity she doesn’t quite gel with, she’s happy to speak her mind.

“I don’t like confrontation,” she admits. “But if I feel strongly enough about something, I’ll definitely have my say.”

READ NEXT: See Charlotte’s plastic surgery transformation in photos

TOM WILLIAMS, FORMER TV PRESENTER, 49

CHARITY: RED KITE

After stepping away from the lights of the small screen in 2018, TV host Tom Williams has a confession: he wants to be back on the box for good!

“I’ve missed it so much,” the 49-year-old tells TV WEEK.

The former host of The Daily Edition on Channel Seven said when he stepped away from the industry after 17 years, he didn’t think the phone would ever ring again.

“I went into the private sector, doing some work in property − which I’m still doing with my sister-in-law − but I’ve been chatting to a few people about other TV projects, which is really exciting,” he says.

The father-of-two has worked on various projects over the years, including hosting

The Mole, The Amazing Game, a presenter on The Great Outdoors, and of course, his famous stint on Dancing With The Stars where he caused a stir by taking his shirt off while performing.

Tom says of all the work he has done, he still has a great love of getting on the tools and being a tradesman, where he started. But would he be taking off his shirt again on a DIY show?

“I don’t think the occupational health and safety officer would allow that!” he says with a laugh.

Jokes aside, he reveals that he would love to be on a travel show again, to tell stories from around the world.

“I’ve done the full gamut in TV, but what I’ve loved most is travel − and that’s back on the agenda; people are watching it again,” he says. “It’s the international passport to conversation, because someone has usually been to a place you have.”

As for his second stint on reality TV with I’m A Celeb, he isn’t afraid of audiences seeing the real him and won’t be trying to play the game and fool people in any way.

“People see you for who you are,” Tom says. “There’s no hiding.”

MYF WARHURST, RADIO AND TV PERSONALITY, 46

CHARITY: PETS OF THE HOMELESS

It was a tearful Myf Warhurst who said goodbye to her listeners on ABC radio in 2019. But it was one chapter closing that led the radio announcer to start another for 2020 – with a pit stop in the jungle.

“I’ve been asked [to be on I’m A Celeb] the last couple of years and I’ve been terrified to do it,” Myf says.

“I’m 46, and I think you get anxious and cautious as you get older. I want to shake that up. I don’t want to be cautious − I want to go in and be terrified and see if I can do it. I need to do it!”

The Spicks And Specks captain is looking forward to the show “being transformative” and giving her a new lease on life.

“I used to be that girl who jumped out of a plane, but I wouldn’t dream of doing it now,” she says. “But then I thought, ‘Hang on, I have another 30 years in front of me.’ I want to not have to worry about fears. It will be a real shake-up for my life.”

Myf is also excited about the work opportunities this could open for her.

“I’m probably known as an ABC personality; I don’t know if people know who I am,” she says with a laugh.

RYAN GALLAGHER, MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT, 31

CHARITY: NBCF

While most of Australia knows Ryan Gallagher from unsuccessfully trying to find love on Married At First Sight in 2018, there’s one woman he now wants all of Australia to know about: his mum Vickie. It’s the 66-year-old’s strength and courage as she goes through breast cancer treatment that made him sign up for I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

“My mum has had breast cancer five times and is currently going through treatment,” Ryan, 31, tells TV WEEK.

“She’s one of the toughest people I know, and never wanted anybody to know she was sick or losing her hair while she was having treatment. When I was a kid, she would always make sure I didn’t know how bad it was.”

While Ryan prides himself on being tough and giving anything a go, he says he broke down when he saw how ill his mum really was.

“Seeing her sick is one of the biggest challenges for me,” he admits. “I can’t handle it.”

While eating bugs and jumping off the side of a mountain might scare some celebrities, Ryan declares he’ll do it in a heartbeat if it means more money for his chosen charity.

“The only thing I’m worried about is the lack of food – I eat nearly every second of the day,” he says, laughing.

RHONDA BURCHMORE, ACTRESS AND SINGER, 59

It seems third time’s a charm for actress and singer Rhonda Burchmore. The 59-year-old has been asked to enter the jungle several times, but has always said no.

“Each time they ask me to do it, my husband has said he’d divorce me if I went on it,” she says.

But after declining to participate in two previous seasons, when the producers came knocking again, Rhonda asked her daughter Lexi for her blessing before telling her husband, Dr Nikolai Jeuniewic, of her plan.

“Lexi said, ‘Mum, just go for it! Let the audience see a new side of yourself,'” Rhonda says.

Rhonda admits it wasn’t as easy to convince her husband of 35 years it was the right move to make.

“He just doesn’t get it, because he doesn’t watch reality TV,” Rhonda says. “But I’ve been in the industry long enough to know that having a chance to be on screens five nights a week is the kind of publicity you just can’t buy!”

The performer says she’s tired of being pigoned-holed as the “leggy dancer” and wants Australia to see the real her, when the make-up and costumes aren’t on.

“I actually have an afro, so I’ll be looking like Nicole Kidman in BMX Bandits,” she says with a laugh.

ERIN BARNETT, LOVE ISLAND, 24

CHARITY: ENDOMETRIOSIS AUSTRALIA

It’s been a rocky ride for former Love Island contestant Erin Barnett. After finishing the reality show in 2018, she had a public break-up with her partner from the show, Eden Dally. She was then faced with the news he had moved on with Married At First Sight star Cyrell Paule and the couple are expecting their first child.

But Erin is putting the drama of the last two years behind her and is happy to tell the world that she’s in love with her new man, Mick, 43, and that they’ve already picked out a ring for the engagement!

“I told him that in the jungle, people are allowed to wear wedding bands, so maybe he should hurry up and propose,” the 24-year-old says with a laugh.

Despite not getting a ring on her finger before going into the jungle, she admits it won’t be long before the pair say, “I do”.

“I quiz him all the time on the type of ring I want,” she says. “I show him pictures of three different rings and ask him to pick out which one I’d like.”

The pair met before she went onto Love Island Australia, but started dating after her relationship with Eden was over.

Erin’s new man is 19 years older than her and has three kids, but the social media influencer says she loves having an instant family and playing the role of a stepmum, although she doesn’t like the word.

“We need to come up with a new word, because it makes me sound like I’m mean and bossy,” she says. “But really, I’m the cool aunty they confide in when they don’t want to speak to their dad.”

Despite Australia seeing Erin on two reality shows before – Beauty And The Geek and Love Island – she wants her time in South Africa to be a chance for viewers to see a simpler version of her.

“I’m usually at home with no make-up on and in daggy clothes, so not having make-up won’t be an issue,” she says.

TANYA HENNESSY, YOUTUBE STAR

CHARITY: R U OK?

Comedian and online sensation Tanya Hennessy has won over many Australians with her hilarious YouTube videos impersonating everyday people. But the 34-year-old says she’s aiming high and wants to take her TV career to the next level so she can one day take home a shiny TV WEEK Logie Award.

“I actually have a picture of a Logie on my dream board,” Tanya says. “You might think I’m joking, but I’m dead serious.”

The desire for one grew when her former radio co-host Dylan Alcott took home the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent in 2019.

“I was just so happy for him,” Tanya says of his TV success.

Despite not having the statue yet, Tanya has certainly been kicking career goals. She recently launched a beauty line that sold out, has written a book, and between radio commitments, appears on Network 10 shows such as The Loop.

“I’m addicted to creating things,” she says of the various projects she has an involvement in.

Although Tanya has a big audience online, she’s aware that other celebrities or viewers at home might not instantly recognise her.

“I think the show should actually be renamed, ‘I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! Plus Tanya Is Here!” she says with a laugh.

DILRUK JAYASINHA, COMEDIAN, 34

CHARITY: SHAKE IT UP AUSTRALIA FOUNDATION

At the start of 2018, comedian Dilruk Jayasinha made a pledge (and a bet with a mate) to get his weight under 100 kilograms − at the time, he tipped the scales at 120kg. By the following year, he was an impressive 94kg. He kept going and lost 35 kilos in total.

But now, almost two years since changing his life and belt size, the Utopia star admits it can be a struggle to maintain a healthier lifestyle, and that exercising and eating well doesn’t always come naturally.

“It’s still very much a challenge,” Dilruk, 34, admits. “It’s basically having to undo 33 years of bad eating and exercise habits, and it’s not going to happen overnight. I do have to check myself a lot that I’m staying at it, because it’s not something that comes naturally to me. “

He admits the temptations of junk food and late-night snacking are his kryptonite.

“What comes naturally to me is lying on the lounge watching TV and eating chips,” he quips.

“Losing the weight was the easy part, but keeping it off has been a nightmare. My every instinct is to push back to my old ways. I wish I was saying, ‘Yes, I don’t think about it,’ but I’m thinking about it constantly.”

Having time to sit and think is also the part of the I’m A Celeb experience that the actor is dreading the most.

“I’m someone who is so go-go-go, and if I’m not, I tend to do a crossword or play on my phone,” he admits. “So having forced downtime and sitting with yourself − weirdly enough, for me, that’s scarier than eating antelope testicles.”

NIKKI OSBOURNE, COMEDIAN, 38

CHARITY: ASPECT

Some celebrities are coy about the fact that part of their reason for going on I’m A Celeb is to get a bit more fame. But stand-up comedian and actress Nikki Osborne isn’t shying away from the reason she’s getting her jungle gear on.

“My management basically said to me, ‘It would be a lot easier to sell tickets to your stand-up show if people knew who the hell you were!'” she says with a laugh. “So I’ve been told to go in and eat some crocodile penis and make them proud.”

The 38-year-old mother-of-two, who people might recognise from her work on Show Me The Movie! and Hughsey, We Have A Problem, says she knows people will likely judge her on her looks.

“People see photos of you, roll their eyes and think you’re a TV princess,” she says.

“[But] I don’t fit that brief. I’m just a Queenslander who grew up fishing and camping and mucking in and doing the crappy jobs.”

Nikki admits that she’s had her share of online trolls commenting on her Instagram posts. The comments are mostly about her body.

“It makes me angry on behalf of all women,’ she says. “I have a hernia after giving birth to my two boys and morons will comment that I have a bump on my body.”

Nikki isn’t going to let anyone stop her from taking a risk. But she did get some sage advice from her husband before she left home…

“His only rule was, ‘Don’t bring shame upon our house,’ but I know I’m going to stuff that up!” she says with a laugh.