A getaway to Africa wouldn’t go amiss on the wish list of any intrepid traveller, but for those of us who aren’t going to be making the journey anytime soon, there is one way to get the full wildlife experience without even leaving your couch…
Welcoming us to the jungle unlike any other Australian TV show I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! reveals the rather dramatic, side to losing yourself in the wild – and it’s enough to keep us riveted for hours at a time.
Each year, a handful of pampered celebrities are unceremoniously dumped into a ‘jungle’, where they are left to fend for themselves, living off little food and competing against each other for small luxuries.
In 2024, the show will be bringing just as much drama as its previous seasons, and the popcorn will be a-flowing.
Co-host Julia Morris shows off the wild location where I’m A Celebrity was filmed prior to the pandemic and now returns to in 2023.
(Instagram)And while the viewing pleasures are countless, there’s one question that we can’t help but ponder – where exactly is it that the contestants endure such hardships?
We were led to believe that the series was filmed in Africa, but then in 2019 the official I’m A Celebrity Instagram account threw everything into question when they posted a geo-tag in ‘Katoomba, NSW’.
Fans didn’t know what to think – had we been living a lie? Were the celebs really just plonked in the Blue Mountains, possibly catching a taxi home on weekends to visit family?
Host Julia Morris cleared things up quickly, confirming that the conspiracy theory was exactly that – a conspiracy.
“Can you imagine how much easier my life would be if we were in the Blue Mountains?” she told The Kyle and Jackie O Show at the time.
Julia shares a moment with one of the locals from the new NSW filming location.
(Instagram)But it seems that the 2019 rumour became a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the show’s days of filming in South Africa came to an unceremonious end when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020.
Borders slammed shut and international travel was off the cards, so the show had to hunt down a new filming location much closer to home.
Producers settled on Murwillumbah in NSW (no, not the Blue Mountains) for both the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Though the location was a new one for the Australian production, it has also been used for I’m A Celeb… before – the UK version of the show filming several seasons there, most recently in 2022.
Keep scrolling as we delve into the details of the I’m A Celebrity Australia filming locations.
WATCH: Lauren Brant talks about roughing it on I’m a Celebrity. Story continues below.
Where was I’m A Celebrity filmed during COVID?
The 2021 and 2022 seasons of the hit reality show had to make do with Australian filming locations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Channel 10 chose a site near Murwillumbah in NSW for both seasons and knew the spot would be perfect, given its history with the UK franchise.
Before the spot was officially chosen, former host Dr Chris Brown told news.com.au that the production team were hunting for somewhere that would provide “that sense of adventure and sense of discovery for our celebrities… we want them to be out of their comfort zones.”
While NSW is no South Africa, the Aussie location came with its own share of creepy crawlies, dangers and everything else we’ve come to expect from I’m A Celeb.
The 2023 season of I’m a Celeb…will be the last time these two co host the show.
(IMAGE: Ten)Where is I’m A Celebrity filmed usually?
There’s no denying the beauty of the scenery seen on the popular TV show. In 2024, I’m A Celebrity returned to South Africa’s Kruger National Park.
According to its website, the park is the country’s “most exciting African safari destination”, which offers vast landscapes and “spectacular” African wildlife.
Creatures big and small reside within its boundaries, many of which the contestants wouldn’t likely have ever come across. Aardvarks, rhinos, zebras, cheetahs and even American buffalos can be found wandering the parts.
With this in mind, we’d be a little apprehensive about being thrown into the thick of the bush without any guidance, so maybe filming on Aussie turf was easier on contestants… or maybe not!
Some of the wildlife in the old location at Kruger National Park, South Africa.
(Getty)Is it REALLY a jungle?
This one has us scratching our heads a bit. While the show itself advertsises the fact that celebrities are thrown into a jungle, and with the word ‘jungle’ thrown around more times than you could count, it turns out the set isn’t exactly classified as one.
Technically speaking the NSW location wasn’t a jungle, but Murwillumbah is full of rainforest and farmland areas, which kind of count… right?
A rainforest is about as close as you can get to a true jungle here in Australia, and the only real difference is that a rainforest has a layer of tall canopy trees while a true jungle does not.
So no, the stars didn’t go into the actual jungle when the show was filmed in Australia, but anyone who has spent time camping or hiking in an Aussie rainforest know that it can be just as full-on as a proper jungle.
As for the original South Africa location, news.com.au reporter Anthony Sharwood revealed in 2015 that set was actually on a veldt.
A veldt is an African term describing a mostly grassy area with only a few trees, and it seems the show is filmed in a deep valley where things are slightly wetter with more bush.
Speaking to an Australian academic who specialises in African woodlands, Sharwood revealed that the Kruger National Park is entirely devoid of any jungle at all… pardon!?
Jungle or no jungle, there’s no denying the celebrities are put to the test in unfamiliar surroundings during the show.
(Ten)What are the conditions like on the I’m A Celebrity set?
Because the I’m A Celeb contestants spend most of their time out in the open, they’re exposed to all kinds of brutal conditions, including the weather and… bugs.
During the 2021 season, Jess Eva faced a horrifying ordeal where bugs crawled into her ears and got stuck in there for weeks.
A medic tried to flush the critters out on the show, but after Jess left the jungle the intense pain in her ears persisted and she later found out the bugs were still in there.
She was eventually hospitalised and the bugs were successfully removed, but after hearing that story there’s no way we’d ever sign up for the show.
WATCH: Jess Eva opens up about her bug ordeal on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here
And while Australia is no stranger to an extreme weather event, but it seems on the South Africa set of I’m A Celebrity, things could definitely get a little out of hand.
In fact, in 2017, major rainfall disrupted filming as flooding of up to three metres deep sparked evacuations.
Speaking to Sunshine Coast Daily, the show’s safety consultant Paul Chivers said the rainfall had hit them “really hard”.
“Obviously it has flooded the set here and now we are concerned about crocodiles coming down the river and also hippos tend to come in to the side of the rapids and hide.”
According to Chivers, flash flooding poses the biggest risk to the cast and crew during filming – but don’t be alarmed, there’s a strict contingency plan in place should the weather take a turn for the worse.
“We have to just play it by ear as the water rises, then we will put the procedures in place and the controls we have into action,” he said.
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