You’re not imagining it — I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here feels different this year.
And that’s because, for the first time since COVID, this season of I’m A Celeb was pre-recorded.
While most of the first 10 seasons of the popular reality show were ‘live’, meaning what you saw on TV at night had happened in the previous few days, Channel 10 decided to prerecord the entire season this year.
Read on to find out why I’m A Celeb is not live this year and what it means for the live finale:
Why was I’m A Celeb pre-recorded?
This year, Channel 10 has already recorded the entire season of I’m A Celeb.
According to Woman’s Day, the celebrities were flown to the African jungle in November and the whole production had wrapped up before Christmas.
“It’s a bubble,” a production insider notes. “Phones are gone, they’re under strict contracts and they’re surrounded by a crew that can swell to several hundred people when you include camera operators, medics and security.
“Once you’re in, you’re in until production lets you go.”
An insider also told Woman’s Day that having more time to work on the episodes has resulted in a better season for the fans.
“The fact we had more time to work on what you see has paid off, and Network Ten are pumped for audiences to see it,” the insider says.
What does this mean for the I’m A Celeb finale?
In order to keep the winner of I’m A Celeb a secret and allow the Australian public to vote for the winner, producers recorded three different versions of the finale episode.
“Australia still chooses the winner,” a source told our sister publication Woman’s Day, “but whichever ending matches the public vote is the one that goes to air. The others never see the light of day.”
The top three flew home to Australia just before Christmas and won’t know whether they’re the winner until they find out on the night alongside the rest of Australia.
