I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! (UK)

"I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!" is a UK reality television show in which celebrities live in jungle conditions with few creature comforts. The show is filmed live in Australia and broadcast on the ITV network. It is sponsored by UK supermarket chain Iceland, which sees Kerry Katona (series 3 winner) and Jason Donovan (3rd Place, series 6) advertising it.

The main show is hosted by Ant & Dec, with a subsidiary behind-the-scenes show hosted by Mark Durden-Smith, Emma Willis & Matt Willis.

Format

In return for their appearance on the show the celebrities are asked to nominate a charity to which the producers, ITV plc, make donations. The celebrities themselves are also paid a fee (reported to be £25,000 for UK competitors) to compensate them for possible loss of earnings while they are in the jungle. The producers of the show keep the precise details of the celebrities' contracts very private, prompting much speculationFact|date=October 2007 from the tabloid media. The money is raised by allowing viewers to vote by phone, text message or the "red button" (a colloquialism popular in the UK for the major satellite TV platform's interactive service) for the celebrity they would like to complete a "Bushtucker Trial" — a physical task usually involving snakes, spiders or other creepy-crawlies found in the jungle — and, later in each series, to vote for the celebrity they would like to see win the show. The last remaining celebrity after all others have been evicted is the winner of the show, and is branded King or Queen of the jungle.

Popularity and criticism

The finals of the second and third UK series were seen by 12.73 and 14.99 million people respectivelyFact|date=July 2008 — well over half of all people watching television in the country at the time of day in both cases. The show also helped singer Peter Andre resurrect his music career in 2004. However, it has come under fire from some critics on two counts:
* The first complaint is that the show is trashy TV, consisting of has-been or never-were celebrities trying to revive their careers. The UK's Secretary of State for Culture at the time, Tessa Jowell, was the most high-profile person to criticise the show. In an interview with the "Financial Times" during the second British series, she said, "If they weren't mostly — save their blushes — has-been celebrities, there might be more interest [...] I think that if we saw many more programming hours taken over by reality TV, I hope you'd begin to see a viewers' revolt."Fact|date=July 2008
* The second criticism of the show is that it pretends to be more wild than it actually is. Audiences are left with the impression that the celebrities are in the Australian Outback far from any major settlement, whereas they are actually close to a luxury hotel and about 30min drive to the Gold Coast, Queensland. Further, the camp site in which the celebrities stay appears to be open to the elements but is largely covered by sheets above the view of the cameras. In an episode of the British show, a celebrity had to swim in a swamp apparently infested with crocodiles. Marksmen were shown ready to shoot the animals if they attacked.

Controversy over voting arose during the sixth series of the show when Toby Anstis was eliminated. It was revealed that both he and Eastenders actor Dean Gaffney had polled the bottom two amount of votes and that viewers had to vote again to save their favourite of the two. However many fans argue that this was not made clear. In the following days The Sun ran an article that revealed Toby's eviction had been the result of a mix-up which happened on the interactive "red button" vote - people normally use this to keep their favourites in the show, but it asked which one they wanted to vote out instead of in. When ITV bosses realised their mistake, they shut the service down, but Toby's eviction had already sparked fury amongst fans.Fact|date=July 2008

eries

Key

:colorbox|red The Winner:colorbox|orange The Runner-up:colorbox|yellow Third place:colorbox|cornflowerblue Left due to reasons other than eviction (walking out/illness etc):colorbox|lightgreen Late arrival.

eries 1

8 contestants, August 25 2002 - September 8, 2002:

Memorable for:
* Jordan and Peter's relationship beginning.
* John Lydon's living up to his rock n' roll image, describing the show's viewers "fucking cunts" live on national television, a couple of days before walking out.
* Lord Brocket's fondness of the ladies: when he washed down Alex Best after her trial.
* Conflicts between Lord Brocket and Jennie Bond.
* Peter Andre's 'Insania' song.

eries 4

11 contestants, November 21 2004 - December 6, 2004:

Memorable for:
* Camp being split into two separate camps by gender and then competing against each other in the Bushtucker Trials.
* The camp's frustration over Jan Leeming's complaints.
* Jan Leeming being constantly voted to do the trials.
* Scott Henshall's and Phina Oruche's fight over the 'Celebrity Chest'.
* David Gest's tall stories and sense of humour, proving surprisingly popular with the public.
* David Gest's constant demand to the public to vote him off the show.
* Dean Gaffney's late arrival and his live Bushtucker Trial, which caused him to continually scream and almost vomit several times. (Some critics complained that sending him in to this, with no warning or preparation, was cruel).
* Matt Willis' final trial, where he ate a kangaroo anus and a crocodile penis, as well as 3 other jungle delicacies. This trial was largely considered to be what swung the final vote in his favour, having entered the final as the outsider with bookmakers.
* Myleene Klass showering in a bikini.

Notably, this is only the second series of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! in which a contestant hasn't walked. The only other series in which contestants haven't left the series until they have been evicted, or ultimately win is the first series.

eries 7

11 contestants, November 12 2007 - November 30, 2007:

:colorbox|lightpink Team Croc Creek:colorbox|lightblue Team Snake Rock:colorbox|violet Entered after contestants were brought together.

Memorable for:
* Janice Dickinson breaking the bushtucker trial record, taking part in 10 trials and her constant use of the phrase, "oh man".
* Malcolm McLaren leaving the show before it even began.
* The show beginning as two separate camps - Snake Rock and Croc Creek.
* A number of large arguments between Janice and Lynne.
* John Burton Race's command over the cooking in the camp.
* Anna Ryder Richardson and Christopher Biggins spending a night in a pit with 200 rats.
* Marc Bannerman and Cerys Matthews' love affair
* The Bush Battles where the celebrities competed for immunity from the first eviction.
* Rodney Marsh having to briefly leave the jungle due to injury
* The first late arrival to win the show

eries 8

An eighth series is due to take place in November/December 2008. It will be presented by Ant & Dec.

Bushtucker trials

* Every day one of the celebrities is chosen to do a bushtucker trial. The bushtucker trials give the celebrities a chance to win food for the camp by collecting stars in various challenges. In most cases, each star is worth one meal for the camp. These challenges have included: Eating Aboriginal delicacies (such as tomatoey grubs), eating kangaroo genitalia, getting covered in various bugs and Paragliding whilst trying to catch stars. One of the most famous events on the UK version was when Paul Burrel put his hand through many different holes containing various nasty creatures (in the 2004 edition). Many people who do badly on the trials feel bad for their group, ashamed that the group is hungry. However, series 6 contestant Scott was defiant, apparently not caring at his abysmal trials, although his group went hungry. Occasionally, e.g. on Thursdays in UK Series 6 and 7, there were two Bushtucker Trials on the Highlight show, one pre recorded from the day before and another live. The last 3 celebrities to remain in the jungle all have to do a Bushtucker Trial on their last day.

I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! Now

"I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! Now" is a behind the scenes programme, broadcast on ITV2.

"Series 2-4" were presented by Mark Durden-Smith and Tara Palmer-Tomkinson.

"Series 5" was presented by Matt Brown and Tara Palmer-Tomkinson.

"Series 6" was hosted by Mark Durden-Smith in the Uk with Kelly Osbourne and Jeff Brazier in the jungle. Durden-Smith was brought back to present after the original host, comedian Brendan Burns, left after only three episodes. [ [http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2006/11/16/4709/im_a_comic,_get_me_out_of_here I'm a comic, get me out of here] Chortle.co.uk]

"as of Series 7 " the show is hosted by Mark Durden-Smith in the Uk with series 6 winner Matt Willis, and Emma Willis in the jungle.

References

External links

*itv.com|id=celebrity|title="I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!"
*imdb title|id=0355096|title=I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!
*Tv.com show|id=13622|title=I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!
* [http://www.biogs.com/imacelebrity/index.html "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!"] at Biogs.com
* [http://www.cameronlaird.com/Galleries/186125 "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!" photographs] by Cameron Laird - Photographer