ITV has confirmed that the next series of ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’ is going to be filmed in north Wales at Gwrych Castle
The long-running, popular ITV reality show has had to relocate from its usual location of Australia this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ant and Dec will be returning as the hosts of the show, of which the winner of the new version of I’m A Celebrity will be crowned the King or Queen of the Castle, instead of the Jungle as in previous series.
The celebrities that are taking part in the new series of the show have yet to be announced.
This comes after the PM effectively sacks the senior Whitehall official for the Department for Education, shortly after blaming a “mutant algorithm” for the A-level grades controversy following exams being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The director of television for ITV, Kevin Lygo, has said that the majority of the show’s contestants had been booked for the new series before the relocation had been finalised, raising fears that some of the celebs might pull out.
“We were worried they thought they were going to hot sunny bug-infested Australia, and now they are going to north Wales in the dark, but everyone is still there and excited,” he told the Edinburgh TV festival.
“I think it will be fascinating to see and to have this reboot of a treasured brand forced upon us, I think, is a good thing.”
Gwrych Castle, which means “Hedge Castle” in Welsh, had been built on top of the site of a late medieval fortress near to Abergele, on the coast of North Wales, by Lloyd Hesketh Bamford-Hesketh between the years of 1812 and 1822 as a memorial to his mother’s ancestors, the Lloyds of Gwrych.
With 250 acres of gardens and grounds, the castle overlooks the Irish Sea and has been described by Mr Lygo as “a beautiful Walt Disney castle” that is both “crumbling” and “tough”.
“Our celebrities will probably have to swap shorts for thermals,” said ITV Studios’ director of entertainment Richard Cowles,”but they can still look forward to a basic diet of rice and beans and plenty of thrills and surprises along the way.”
“I’m A Celebrity being here will really help support Gwrych Castle and its ongoing restoration as well as giving the region a much-needed economic boost,” he said.
The Prime Minister has abandoned advice that pupils should not be wearing face coverings in secondary schools in England. Boris Johnson has performed his latest U-turn in the face of growing pressure from teaching unions, headteachers and medical experts.
Lord Elis-Thomas, The Welsh Government Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism said: “We’re extremely pleased to welcome such a large production to Wales, offering a chance to showcase a spectacular part of our country to significant audiences across the UK.”
