I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! to air Live from Africa
Preparations are underway for TEN's big hope, set to air 5 nights a week Live from South Africa.
- Published by David Knox
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TEN is gambling on upcoming Reality series I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! to underpin its 2015 launch.
The show will replace The Biggest Loser in the calendar, tipped to air from late January to March against My Kitchen Rules and The Block.
Boldly, it will air 5 nights a week Live from Africa -that puts it one foot in front of Big Brother which airs Live predominantly on Eviction nights.
Casting is currently underway for its participants, with celebs appearing for a minimum of 2 weeks. The show will have two hosts similar to the UK version hosted by Ant and Dec. The massive production will have up to 280 crew to keep it ticking over.
Members of the Australian production crew recently went to Murwillumbah, local base for the UK production. In attendance were executive producer Stephen Tate from TEN, ITV EPs Peter Abbott and Lara Hopkins, as well as ITV’s Head of Entertainment Hilary Innes, Head of Production Donna Foster and series producer Phil Cullen.
ITV will need to keep a close eye on the growing Ebola Virus in west African countries Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and hope it doesn’t impact interest of potential cast.
Thankfully the production will be based in South Africa, at an isolated site 30km from locals.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs advises South Africa has, for some time, blocked its borders to travellers from Ebola-affected countries while South African residents returning are given strict health checks.
A spokesperson from ITV Australia told TV Tonight, “I’m A Celebrity is still filming in Africa…..it’s being shot in South Africa and is proceeding as planned.”
29 Responses
Nobody is going to go from Australia to South Africa via a much smaller country 5000 miles away.
Nobody is suggesting that. Travellers to those 3 countries would need to go thru other terminals, potentially South Africa.
You do realise Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea are in North Africa, over 5000km away from South Africa.
It’s like saying ITV need a plan B for the UK version filmed in Australia because of a situation in Thailand.
I think you will find one has to fly through key transit points in other countries however. It remains a legitimate question given the situation is changing by the week.
I agree with jezza the first original one (comment 2). The hosts will be either an instant viewer turn-off or stay-on. Hamish and Andy would definitely work and actually bring a big audience and maintain a big audience if the underlying show begins to lack depth. When you have celebrities involved as contestants, it will be vital that the hosts have credibility, are likable and are known as well as the celebs themselves. At least one has to have that cheeky comedic element that pushes boundaries and is fearless to confront the establishment. TEN – don’t say I didn’t tell you so!
Fitzy and Wippa huh David. I think you’re onto something. Fitzy proved he can easily handle hosting live tv during The Recruit finale so that wouldn’t be a problem.
With NOVA radio from South Africa providing network tie-ins.
Channel Ten need to invest in a relevant hosting duo for this to be a success. I say offer Hamish and Andy heaps of money for this they seem to rate well and are relevant.
I would have liked Luke and Wyatt but I’ll tip Fitzy and Wippa in the end. Come back and tell me if I was right.
Perhaps ‘Thank god you’re here, I’ve got a Ebola’ is more appropriate
I’d only be in favour of this if it worked like the following:
1. Aus public nominates which “celebrities” are to be sent to S. Africa
2. “Celebs” with the most votes (plus Kyle Sandilands and Mark Holden irrespective of their number of votes) are compulsorily transported
3. The end
@Trev, do you form that opinion due to the 13mil audience in the UK last year?
Ten has to go somewhere exotic. Remember Australian survivor when they basically went to the sort of place a scout camp would go. It doesn’t look exotic enough. Also the Australian site has in the past been used for the German version and possibly other versions? So it might not be available.
Channel 10 have won my viewing for next year already! So glad there will be an alternative – I wasn’t going to watch MKR next year because it’s past its used by date. So now I have something to watch instead. 🙂
So what happens if Ebola spreads to South Africa…will all this be scrapped and moved to the Gold Coast?
I did ask about a Plan B, but nothing outlined.
@jezza… read the list again, half of them are has beens and obscure personalities lol…
Deni Hines types who love the camera and publicity. At least I didn’t say Warwick Capper lol…
Sounds like a great alternative to MKR/The Block come early 2015. Really hope it works for TEN as it sounds like a big investment.
Like everyone else I dont understand why Ten wouldnt just use the Murwillumbah site. I see this as a giant waste of money.
If ever a show could be classified as a dud, it’s this load of dung.
Merely a copy of the equally atrocious Survivor which has long since been proven to be scripted and certainly not a true reality program.
I cannot understand how 10’s decision makers stay employed when they insist on promoting shows that only appeal to the immature.
Although it would be interesting to see Kyle Sandilands on a fact finding tour of some crocodile and mosquito infested African swamp paddling a surfboard.
@ Jayfunk…..your suggestions are a little mainstream, the uk version works as the cast can be made up of has beens or obscure celebs who produce tv gold
If Blake Garvey is not a contestant on this show I will walk to China.
I also don’t know why they’re wasting all this money doing this in Africa when there is a local set ready to go near the Gold Coast – they dont have to tell the viewers exactly where it is!
I think the casting will be along the lines of Celeb Apprentice – C, D and Z list celebs who have nothing better to do and/or are trying to revive their careers (its worked for Julia Morris)
I can already see Ten’s ‘D’ list celebrites already being rolled out …… if thats the case, It’s already a flop …..and yes Tom Wood, Ten goes to the all lengths to make sure they blow as much of the shareholder’s money as possible …..
My wish list of celebrities (could be fun): Mark Holden, Gretel Killeen, Hamish or Andy, Keri-Anne, Denise Drysdale, Tommy Little, Rove, Kyle Sandilands, Jacqui Lambie, Kate Ritchie, Julia Zemiro, Nazeem Husain, Cory Bernardi, Dicko, Adam Hills, Jason Akermanis…. feedback welcome!
Yeah just go to a Ebola related country oh and while we’re at it we will just put it up against mkr and the block. Well done ten, great decisions, can see this totally working…. Not.
So does that mean tbl is not coming back at all?
Why Risk going to Africa when
1) There is Ebola
2) Everything is set up from the UK edition
I’m really hoping this works for Ten. Pleased to see Ten is producing new content and taking risks. Lets just hope it doesn’t turn into a costly mistake. Casting is crucial. Viewers could well be ready for something different in the reality lineup.
Casting the 2 hosts will be crucial, Ant and Dec are the cornerstone of the UK version. The ‘celebs’ tend to be of the same level as DWTS……
That’s a pretty big investment :O