I’m a Celeb returns to the Jungle

Here’s some stats on who’s got out of there

Photo by Chris Abney on Unsplash

This weekend marks the finale of the UK’s I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. The UK edition is the original version of the show, where a cast of British celebrities complete bushtucker trials to earn food for their camp

This season, it is being hosted back in Australia for the first time in 3 years due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. But how does it compare now vs. earlier seasons?

How long has the show been running in Britain?

The UK series has been running for since 2002 and is now one of Britain’s most watched shows, albeit with some controversy

This year’s series is its 22nd (because two series were run in 2004) with 20 of them being based in Australia and two series (2020 and 2021) set in North Wales

Since the UK series started, 257 contestants have entered the jungle - competing to be one of the 21 winners as voted by the public (the 22nd winner will be announced tonight)

Of these winners, 9 have been women including Kerry Katona, Vicki Pattison and Stacey Solomon. The oldest winner was Harry Redknapp when he won in 2018 at the age of 71

How popular has the show become?

The first episode of this season achieved an average of 9.1 million viewers, with a peak of over 10 million

Although, viewing numbers have been helped in part by the late introduction of Matt Hancock, current member of parliament and former Health Secretary. The episode where he was introduced had an average of 7.9 million viewers (2 million more than the equivalent episode last year)

However, even these number are low compared to earlier years. Last year’s series only had an average of 6.4 million viewers, significantly lower than the year before (2020, 8.4 million) and the peak when Harry Redknapp was crowned King of the Jungle (2018, Season 18, 12.1 million)

And while it has generally been a popular show in the UK, it also has its critics

There is controversy every year because of the use of live animals in a number of the trials. Even though some of the most controversial trials no longer take place (i.e. eating live insects), the current season has still received a record number of complaints (17,000)

How big is the show now internationally?

In total, 16 countries now have had a version of I’m a Celeb, with 10 of these still being produced

While some versions of the show have been held in Australia (on top of the UK, Germany and United States also have gone down under) most of the other shows are hosted across another 9 countries. For example:

• South Africa is the most popular destination, with France, Denmark, Greece and Russia all having used this location for their show
• Australia also hosts their show in South Africa, although they had two years in New South Wales, Australia, in 2020–21
• Most others are in Central or South America with Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic also hosting various I’m a Celeb shows

And who is expected to win this year’s UK series?

The bookies favourite at the moment is Jill Scott, a former England footballer. You can find out if she can get enough votes by tuning in later this evening

Check out more GoodStats about TV and Entertainment:

• The BBC - a timeless British institution…but can it get back with the times?
• Our 12 Points Go To…In the words of Eurovision legend Jon Ola Sand, ‘take it away!’
• Cus reading this article is whaaat? FUN-DA-MEN-TAL!

Source: Wikipedia; Express; Oddschecker; Metro; Daily Mail; Hello Magazine; The Sun;