It’s all getting very real for the cast of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, as the 2024 stars have started arriving Down Under, including Coleen Rooney who has just touched down.
This time on Sunday, we’ll be gearing up for the return of Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly’s reality series, ready to put the celebs through their paces in the most grim and terrifying Bushtucker Trials.
The likes of GK Barry and Oti Mabuse have been confirmed in this series’ iconic line-up, while Danny Jones, Alan Halsall, and Tulisa were among the first to land in Australia.
They were followed a day later by radio star Dean McCullough and GK (real name Grace Keeling) and now Coleen, who couldn’t look happier.
After the line-up was announced, the Wag, 38, who has been in the public eye for more than 20 years with her husband Wayne, said she’d been asked to do the show for many years, but always said no.
She’s explained: ‘Over the years, there have been different things going on in my life and also, my children have been really young. But they are at an age now where I can go away for this length of time.
‘I also feel it’s time to have a challenge for me and do something different. It has taken many, many years but I’m finally doing it. And I have always said if I was going to do one – then it would be this show. I think it will be good for me.’
She insisted she doesn’t have phobias, but admitted that the older she gets, the more nervous she is about things.
Talking about possibly winning, she said it would be ‘lovely’ to do so but wants to go as far as she can.
‘Whatever I do in life, I like to put my all into it and so if I am going in there, it would be nice to stay until the end,’ the mum-of-four went on.
‘Why would I go in there and then want to come out after week one? I want to go as far as I can but perhaps more importantly I have spoken with others who have taken part and they have all said that it was an experience that was a once in a lifetime opportunity and will probably never come again so wanted to get the most out of it, so I am excited to be a part of it.’
TikTok and social media star Grace Keeling, who is better known as GK Barry, arrived on Monday wearing a black jumper and sunglasses, dressed in comfy clothes after the long flight.
Her stint on I’m A Celebrity comes after it was claimed ITV was having ‘crisis talks’ after her interview with controversial content creator Bonnie Blue.
GK, 23, recently interviewed Bonnie on her podcast Saving Grace, where Bonnie spoke about how she has specifically ventured to student areas in Australia and the UK to sleep with 18-year-olds who she describes as ‘barely legal’.
It was claimed promotional clips from the interview were removed from Instagram and TikTok, while a source said the controversy over the interview sparked ‘an absolute PR nightmare’ for I’m A Celebrity.
‘I’m A Celeb is a family show and they can’t have anyone on there who agrees with sleeping with barely 18 year olds,’ they told The Sun.
‘The top brass have held crisis talks as to how they handle the backlash with GK enters the show. GK has deleted the video but the furore hasn’t gone away.
‘The backlash is already huge on YouTube and social media this is an absolute PR nightmare for ITV.’
The source added that the show ‘relies on advertisers wanting to spend money on the show’, so it’s ‘not a good look when one of the campmates has had someone so controversial on her podcast and agreed with everything she said’.
GK has not spoken about the controversy while Bonnie later defended her, telling Metro that the ‘backlash’ that the podcast host received ‘should have been aimed at me’.
We’ll have to wait and see if the topic comes up in the I’m A Celebrity jungle…
Radio 1 DJ Dean, 32, also strolled off the flight earlier wearing a very bright green tracksuit, clearly not worried about being spotted.
He said, according to The Mirror: ‘It feels so good to be in Australia, it is my first time. I am actually here to pick up two koalas that I have adopted, they are called Anthony and Declan.’
When asked about the snakes and spiders he’d be facing, he added: ‘I’m alright, I have dealt with enough snakes in my life. It’s not the snakes you need to be worried about.’
This comes after N-Dubz icon and former X Factor judge Tulisa, 36, covered her face with a surgical mask as she arrived in Aus on Sunday.
The I Need You hitmaker wore a cosy tracksuit, attempting to remain somewhat unnoticeable as she walked with her hood up, cap on, and head down.
After her flight, she asked reporters: ‘Is there a McDonalds round here?’
‘Can’t go wrong with a Big Mac, can you?’, she joked.
Having stepped back from the spotlight in 2013, her I’m A Celeb appearance marks a huge return to the public eye for Tulisa, and what better way to do it?
Photos also captured McFly frontman Danny, 38, touching down at Brisbane Airport after flying from Heathrow and laying over in Singapore.
The All About You hitmaker cut a casual and comfy figure for the 22-hour journey, wearing joggers and an Oasis band tee. Of course, his guitar was part of his luggage.
However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing (or flying, rather) for Danny, who got caught up in an eerie thunderstorm while up in the air.
At one point, the bad weather almost forced the plane off track, diverting the cast to Sydney Airport.
Thankfully, Danny was one of the lucky ones who was able to land in Brisbane unscathed, while others after him had to make the one-hour, 35-minute diversion.
He told MailOnline after collecting his suitcases: ‘The flight was pretty stormy, bit bumpy, bit of a hairy flight.’
The pop star refused to confirm he was in Australia to enter the Jungle, instead joking that he had big plans for his career.
‘I’m going to record a solo album. I’m going to be surfing, recording an album but the McFly boys don’t know it yet,’ he teased.
Danny will be hoping to follow in bandmate Dougie Poynter’s footsteps, as he was crowned King of the Jungle in 2011.
Also on the musician’s flight were 2023 winner Sam Thompson, TV presenter Joel Dommett, and radio DJ Kemi Rodgers, who are all joining forces for a new aspect of the show.
Bringing us the latest Jungle gossip over the next three weeks, the trio will host a spin-off show, I’m A Celebrity… Unpacked.
And it’s clear they’re all getting on like a house on fire already, as reigning champion Sam was all smiles, while Masked Singer presenter Joel went in for a hug upon greeting Danny.
Elsewhere, Coronation Street actor Alan, 42, was also in high spirits as he arrived for the adventure of a lifetime.
Wearing a baseball cap and black t-shirt, the long-time soap star, who plays mechanic Tyrone Dobbs, larked around with reporters, also making false claims about his reasons for being in Aus.
He told The Mirror: ‘I’m just here to play golf.
‘It’s a long way to come but I am an avid fan of… golf. Camping? Camping has got nothing to do with it, I am not going to be camping on the golf course!’
Sure, Alan, whatever you say…
Coleen was pictured on her way to Australia from Manchester Airport yesterday.
She had previously been seen on Saturday night picking up some last-minute essentials from Hoopers Department Store in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and pictured at the airport yesterday morning, ready to embark on the long flight.
If reports are to be believed, Coleen, who is married to Wayne Rooney, is to receive a paycheque of more than one million pounds for her stint in the Jungle this year.
Joining her will be Loose Woman Jane Moore, broadcaster Melvin Odoom and boxing legend Barry McGuigan.
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! returns to ITV1 and ITVX on November 17.
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