My I’m A Celebrity stint was all reality
FILMING 12 contestants 24 hours a day, 7 days a week takes a monumental amount of effort and people, so it’s no wonder the total number of crew for I’m A Celebrity was more than 700.
They deserve a huge amount of credit for the show, which remains a real blockbuster after 17 years.
Here’s a few behind-thescenes insights:
The lockdown is real. The minute you arrive in Australia, you are met by a chaperone who confiscates your phone after one final call. That call has to be on loudspeaker and your friend or family member isn’t allowed to tell you anything that has been in the news while you were in the air.
My chaperone kept close tabs on me but Amir Khan managed to skip his, spending the nights before he went in to jungle eating cakes in a nearby bakery for free.
The hunger is real. You are guaranteed a minimum of 600 calories a day, which comes in the form of one portion of rice and one of white beans. All other food has to be won.
All the contestants lost weight but the biggest loser was Stanley, who dropped 9kgs over 14 days.
Toff lost 4kgs from her already tiny frame, which is surprising considering she was the camp gannet.
She scoffed her rice and beans without complaint and then ate the scraps of everybody else’s too before taking the spoon to the pan.
I’d hate to think what she’ would have lost if she’d stick to her own scran.