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I’M A Celebrity bosses yesterday unveiled the set of their new South Africa show — and it’s bound to be a hit with the shower-loving exhibitionist campmates.
The renowned washing facilities — made famous by the likes of Myleene Klass in her white bikini — have been revamped for the desert-themed ITV set.
Instead of the water tumbling over a natural cliff, it will fall from a shower head suspended from a tree, ready to cascade on the cast vying to be the all-star series’ body beautiful.
This latest show, which starts on Monday, is expected to be more gruelling than ever and the stark new camp has been designed to match.
It is six times the size of ITV’s usual plot for the main show, filmed on Australia’s Gold Coast.
For this series, based in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, and hosted by Ant and Dec, the celebrities will be isolated and surrounded by the continent’s wild animals, some five miles away from the nearest road and 40 minutes drive from the closest village.
The dry and dusty camp is accessed via a dingy tunnel and there is little room for privacy as benches sit alongside beds, all huddled around one small fire.
It comes complete with a backdrop made of spiky branches, just like the gruesome Iron Throne from fantasy epic series Game of Thrones. A show source said: “Everything is bigger, scarier and bolder.
“If the celebrities think they know what to expect, then they are wrong.
“The only thing they can count on is the diet of rice and beans!”
Over the years the original shower helped catapult the likes of Myleene, 45, and Joel Dommett, 37, to fame thanks to their daring swimwear choices and honed physiques. Other have included Emily Atack in 2018, Owen Warner in 2022, Kate Garraway in 2019, David Haye in 2012 and Amy Willerton in 2013.
Now a cast of familiar faces will have the chance to put on their skimpies once more as the new series unites past campmates including ex-Coronation Street actress Helen Flanagan, Princess Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell and Happy Monday’s star Shaun Ryder.
But it is Myleene — who is set to join them as a late arrival — who has already been branded the winner of “the bikini Oscars” by one of her rivals for the show’s crown, maths whiz Carol Vorderman.
Myleene is even launching a Next swimwear range to coincide with the show’s air date, so fans can recreate her look and recently posted a snap of herself modelling the bikini,
Speaking about her infamous white bikini from 2006 — which she later sold for £7,000 for charity — classical musician Myleene said: “I remember one of the show’s producers looking at my bikinis in the hotel before I went to camp. One was covered in stripes. She said: ‘We’ll have to stop at the shops as that’s probably going to strobe on camera’.
“I ran into the shop en route to the jungle, asked the shop assistant for the plainest bikini she had. Best $40 I ever spent!”
Elsewhere in the new camp is a large space where the trials and challenges will be set.
An intimidating, dark tunnel of trees leads into main camp with just a string of lamps for light.
There is also a natural waterfall, feeding a river that runs nearby.
Former English international cricketer Phil Tufnell says he has high hopes for the new series, after speaking fondly of his time as winner of the 2003 series in Australia. He said: “We had a right laugh in camp and I loved sitting by the campfire getting to know everyone and hearing their life stories. It was my birthday in camp and that is one I will never forget.”
I’M A Celebrity… South Africa begins Monday at 9pm on ITV1.
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