“It’s a big soap in a jungle with a very dysfunctional family.”

An Olympic Medallist, a UK TV Star, an AFL Star, an outspoken TV Host, TV Royalty, a Reality Star, a TV Personality, a Logie winning Actress, a Celebrity Chef, a Comedian…

The guessing game is on for which celebrities will step into I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here this Sunday. If it all goes as planned, Network 10 Head of Entertainment Stephen Tate is hoping viewers will be hooked by the mix of famous and almost-famous participants.

“There’s absolute legends and household names, and there’s fabulous discovery. But the one thing they all have in common is they’re really funny. All of them,” he tells TV Tonight.

“Every year, nearly the entire cast is guessed, but we just don’t give it credibility. We basically say, ‘that’s really interesting. Be watching on April 2nd to see if you’re correct,’ and that works.

“One thing I will tell you is there are no misdirects. All of the clues are accurate.”

“The year we cast Shane Warne, we still had the same criticism”

Tate is also candid about the cynicism directed at the show by those who may not recognise some names.

“The year we cast Shane Warne, we still had the same criticism. We’re going to get it anyway. To a certain extent, we take that with a pinch of salt. What we’ve discovered is that the audience will say that in the first half an hour of the series every year. Interestingly, that’s the highest rating half hour of the series every year. But literally two seconds in, they’re in love with the cast and the whole concept of it being a celebrity cast is kind of forgotten. They just make attachments. So it’s a big soap in a jungle with a very dysfunctional family.”

After 3 years this season is back in Africa, hosted Live by Julia Morris and Chris Brown. It’s also screening later in the year than its traditional January home, which will allow for slightly cooler weather and a lusher backdrop.

“There’s nothing more exciting than making a live program, especially when you’re making a nightly primetime program from the other side of the world. The degree of difficulty in making the show and making it funny, is extraordinary. But we all love it. Whilst it was fantastic to be able to make the show in Australia, the time difference that South Africa gives us, enables us to return to Live, which is just fantastic,” he continues.

“We’re there for creative reasons and we’re there for business reasons”

Does that also make the show more expensive with flights & accommodation, or cheaper due to labor costs?

“We take a hell of a lot of Australians with us. So we don’t save that much. Look, we’re there for creative reasons and we’re there for business reasons. We really believe that the show is better when it’s live and coming from Africa. In fact, from the research we’ve done, the audience actually prefers it as well. They actually think that Chris and Julia are funnier and looser, probably because we don’t have time to edit them. The audience wanted us to go back to South Africa. There’s a compelling business model to take it back.”

But it is the cast that define each season, as celebrities are thrown together, denied luxuries, and tasked to compete in heart-stopping, ghoulish challenges to win food.

“The cast define it and this cast is just fantastic. I know I say that every year, but they really are. We cast right up until the very last visa run that we could possibly do to get somebody into the country. And we are thrilled with the cast,” he explains.

“It’s a show where we never cast for conflict”

“It’s a show where we never cast for conflict. We never intentionally try to pit people against each other. We don’t creatively try to make things more difficult than they need to be, because the environment is challenging enough. We do everything we can to preserve the ‘bubble’.

“You are competing in trials each day to feed the rest of the camp. It is probably the first time in most of these peoples’ lives where they are literally living hand to mouth. That’s quite confronting and it’s really interesting to watch it dawn on them. I’ve been working on the show, along with the ITV team for nine years now. But I couldn’t tell you what it’s like to sit in that camp for the first four days as the enormity of what you’ve signed up for dawns on you.”

Behind the scenes is a small army working overtime to keep the show secrets under wraps. In production meetings with ITV Studios Australia celebrities are known by secret codes (this year all named after Cocktails).

“I think says more about the ITV team than it does about the celebrities!” Tate jokes.

“They never meet each other. It’s like a military operation”

Only three publicists, working directly on the show, know cast identities.

“We shoot the titles every year in Sydney, and we get all of the celebrities through a secret location. They never meet each other. It’s like a military operation. They’re all named by their code name. You’re supposed to know their code name up front, you’ve got to do your homework,” he suggests.

“We did have a very funny incident with one of our celebrities and a code. The code name was given to the chauffeur that was picking Steve Price up in South Africa. But Steve walked past his code name several times, which said ‘Tiny Teddy.’ We went with biscuits that year.

“He said, ‘I’m not tiny and I’m not a teddy but I think you’re looking for me.'”

“We just need to get them to South Africa and into the jungle”

Some of those learnings are equally applied to one of 10’s other big productions, The Masked Singer.

“In one way we only need to keep the secret for a matter of days. Once the celebrities know they’re doing it, they just go about their everyday life, sworn to secrecy. So we just need to get them to South Africa and into the jungle, which is a three to six day process, depending on your flight. Masked Singer is a much longer exercise with a lot of people involved, which is why it has two separate (production) studios and there’s no cross pollination between crews from the two studios.”

In the final days before going Live, rehearsals and filmed elements are underway for hosts Chris & Julia, who flew to South Africa late last week.

“We prep them and rehearse because that first episode is feature film length and we make it over three days. The production values that go into it are quite extraordinary and they’re incredible talent. Chris and Julia don’t miss a beat through that whole process. It would be a very difficult process with lesser talents,” Tate observes.

“It’s one of the broadest and youngest-skewing franchises on the network”

This year the show also faces added competition from Nine’s Lego Masters and Seven’s Farmer Wants a Wife, as well as a Married at First Sight finale in its first week.

Tate remains optimistic the series has a loyal audience ready to be entertained with challenges, comedy and celebrities revealing personal secrets.

“We will stay in our lane. I don’t think we need to do terribly much. We’re already one of the broadest shows, as far as demos is concerned. It’s one of the broadest and youngest-skewing franchises on the network. So, whatever we’re doing, it’s working for families. I think the fact that we’re returning to live makes us more of an event. I know the cast are going to deliver,” he adds.

“They’re an extraordinary cast this year. So, I think we’re in a good place.”

I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here returns 7:30pm Sunday on 10.