There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes at I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! – from bold escapes and heartbreaking meltdowns to major rule breaks off-camera
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Some of the biggest dramas on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here aren’t actually shown to the public.
With cameras covering every inch of the camp, you’d think there’s no place to hide in the infamous ITV jungle – but there’s actually a lot of scenes that never make it on telly. According to former campmates, rules are often broken and meltdowns are aplenty.
Here, we take a look at the darkest backstage secrets and dramatic moments viewers have missed over the years, from sex confessions to smuggled goods and one star who even had to be sedated.
Begging for meals
The stars of I’m A Celeb are given a “talk of doom” before they sign up for the ITV show so they know what to expect. But more often than not the strict rations come as a shock, forcing desperate competitors to beg the film crew for food.
“People start getting hungry, then if it rains people start getting moody,” 2014 campmate Jake Quickenden once told The Sun, admitting he tried to scrounge food. Explaining how the crew are banned from helping, he continued: “Even when you walk into trials the cameramen don’t speak to you. You are that shut off from the world. One of them was eating a Tic Tac and I said: ‘Mate, I couldn’t have a Tic Tac could I?’ And he was like: ‘I can’t give you a Tic Tac, I’ll get sacked’.”
Smuggled goods
Campmates are only allowed one luxury item such as a pillow or a photograph – and certainly no food items. But 2012 star Hugo Taylor flouted that rule by sneaking a pile of salt and pepper sachets in the bottom of his backpack.
Model Amy Willerton managed to sneak in an entire bag of makeup in 2013 – and got away with it for a whopping 10 days. And TV chef Gino D’Acampo stuffed his pillow full of contraband goodies. “I stuffed it with a lot of salt, sugar, four different teas and 10 sachets of coffee,” he said. “I had it in my shoes as well. I thought, ‘If the security guys catch the stuff in the pillow, I still have the stuff in the shoes’.”
Despite makeup being banned, an exception was made for 2017 star Georgia Toffolo, who was allowed to apply concealer once a day to cover her acne. “Georgia has always had problems with her skin, but her treatment is sun sensitive so she’s unable to use it in the jungle,” a source said. “She’s been allowed access to concealer on medical grounds. It’s annoyed other female campmates who are jealous.”
‘Weird happenings’
Hugo also claimed that extreme hunger led to some “very weird happenings” in the camp that they all vowed to take to the grave. “We had some really weird things happening in the jungle that we unanimously have never spoken about and probably never will,” he said.
“Things happened off camera because people had no food, and because there’s no food, or they have specific requirements for their diets or their intake of medication specifically. Some people stopped [taking] their medication which caused real problems. Which was never televised. That’s our jungle secret.”
That same year, comedian Brian Conley quit after 10 days due to exhaustion and malnutrition and ended up having to be sedated. He said he stopped taking his anti-depressants despite producers insisting he continue to take them. At the time, Brian said: “It was bad, because it was out of my control and it was their decision. I couldn’t lie to them. I’ve taken these tablets for 15 years.
“I feel very proud that I stuck to my guns and that I said, ‘well I have to go’. I feel very proud that I didn’t saunter out and walk straight into the Versace [hotel] – that I had to be sedated because of exhaustion.
“I feel very proud that I got through it and it actually made me a much stronger man and you’re looking at someone who doesn’t need anti-depressants and I realise that now. ITV is a big huge company, they have got to do it right and if I’ve brought these tablets in, I’ve got to take them.”
Escape bids
A security boundary runs around the perimeter of the camp for the contestants’ own safety. However, Jake and co-star Jimmy Bullard once broke through it and tried to escape – only to be caught in the act and ordered back to camp.
“Me and Jimmy, actually one day did a runner and wanted to see how far we could get,” Jake previously recalled. “And we got that far that we actually saw somebody, and he was full camouflage, under a bush, with a net, under a netted bush kind of thing. He just popped out and said: ‘Go back to camp.’ We s**t ourselves and walked back to camp. Then we got called back into the Bushtelegraph and got told off.”
Sex confessions
With nothing to do but lie around chatting, the campmates often share more than they mean to. And some of it is so NSFW that producers are forced to cut it, like when Jorgie Porter talked about performing a sex act on herself. In 2015 the Hollyoaks star made a steamy confession about “self-love” but only a snippet was shown on screen of her admitting, “I’m gonna regret that.”
Secret vitamins
If the celebrities come home from the challenges empty-handed, they are forced to survive on rations of rice and beans. And Hugo told Cosmopolitan that campmates were so exhausted by hunger, producers had to swoop in and give them vitamins.
“At one point it was so bad, no one was doing anything. People were just wasting away, lying down doing nothing because they literally couldn’t move,” he said. “Producers came in with a bag of orange powder which was electrolytes. I put some in my drink and it was like taking pure adrenaline. I immediately crashed afterward. But they were like, ‘We have to give them something.'”
Modesty smock
After complaints about a lack of privacy in series one, contestants are now given what is essentially a sheet with a hole cut for a head so they can get changed without flashing their bits. Co-creator and executive producer Richard Cowles said: “I invented what I called a ‘modesty smock’ – basically, a sheet with a hole to put your head through. It turns out it was exactly what they wanted. We’ve used it ever since and never changed the design.” But not everyone is bothered about sparing their blushes!
*I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here finishes tonight at 9pm on ITV
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