New I’m A Celebrity series to kick off in North Wales castle

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! will get under way on Sunday as the competition moves from New South Wales to North Wales.

Runner Sir Mo Farah, journalist Victoria Derbyshire and presenter Vernon Kay are among the celebrities taking part in the much-changed series, which was moved from its usual location in Australia to the UK because of coronavirus.

The celebrities will face challenges in the castle crypt, rather than the jungle, when the show returns to ITV.

Also confirmed for the line-up are former Strictly Come Dancing professional AJ Pritchard, actor Shane Richie and Paralympian Hollie Arnold.

BBC Radio 1 DJ Jordan North, Coronation Street star Beverley Callard, podcast host Giovanna Fletcher and EastEnders actress Jessica Plummer are also taking part in the series, which will be hosted by Ant and Dec.

Producers said the show has been reinvented for its new home in Gwrych Castle, Abergele, but hope everything viewers love about the series will remain.

The 19th century Grade I-listed castle has been transformed for the programme, and the celebrities will be housed in living and sleeping quarters inside the ruined building.

Campmates will need to use a wood splitter to chop logs for a campfire to keep warm.

Callard, 63, said she is “absolutely terrified” about the start of the new series.

“I did say at the beginning, ‘Well, it’s not going to be as bad as an opening night when you are going on stage’.

“But maybe it is now just because I don’t know what to expect.”

Callard said she had been asked to appear on the programme before but the timing now felt right.

“This year has been so awful for everybody and I should have been on stage now and then going into panto, so I just thought, ‘What the hell, why not’.”

She added that it would be “an experience of a lifetime”.

Pritchard, 26, said he feels like he has “won the lottery” by getting a place on the programme.

“I do love getting to know people and how they got into their careers and their life story.”

He said he hopes the other stars in the show are willing to help out around the camp.

“There are people who will just be lazy and are not willing to muck in and are not willing to be a team player – they are the people who will really annoy me, and honestly, I don’t know what I’d do but I would have to say something because you don’t want that negativity on a show like this.

“This is a positive show.”

Arnold, 26, said her family were shocked when she signed up to take part.

“A lot of people were like, ‘Are you mad, really, you in the cold, and bugs?’

“But I think once the reality hit they knew that this could be an incredible opportunity for me and they were all really excited.

“It is going to be really interesting to see all the people who are supporting me and hopefully all the kind words out there and encouragement.”

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! airs on Sunday on ITV One at 9pm.