Exclusive: The Mirror’s Associate Editor Tom Bryant is given an exclusive tour of the I’m A Celebrity camp where he sees the incredible work to ensure Ade Adepitan can take part in the show
I’m A Celebrity bosses invited Ade Adepitan into the Australian jungle several months ago to help make a series of extraordinary changes to the camp, it’s been revealed.
Producers spent a full day with the wheelchair basketball star and TV presenter earlier this year, testing how he would cope with the notoriously difficult terrain and working out what adaptations would be needed.
The result is a specially modified camp, with widened paths, strengthened handrails, wheelchair parking spaces, crutch holders and even a stairlift for the jungle shower. Execs have confirmed that Ade will also be able to tackle the majority of this year’s approximately 23 Bushtucker Trials – including the famous Celebrity Cyclone.
One of the executive producers told us: “All I will say is that if he makes it that far…he will be doing the Celebrity Cyclone. Without giving anything away, from the moment you see him on screen, you will be impressed.”
The preparations began when producers decided they wanted Ade in this year’s line-up and invited him Down Under for a recce, in February.
He was kept deliberately in the dark about the trials, or anything that has been planned for this series. Instead, execs wanted to learn more about his needs.
The exec said: “The camp didn’t look anything like it does now…nothing was given away. He came to almost educate us about what his needs were to be able to live in this camp.
“It was more about understanding what he could do, what he needed and what we could do to adapt to make him more comfortable in camp.” Ade, who contracted polio as a baby, uses both a wheelchair and crutches.
His visit lasted just one day, but involved a detailed examination of the jungle site alongside safety experts and construction managers.
We were given a tour of the modified camp, where the changes have been carefully incorporated so as not to stand out.
Paths have been widened to accommodate Ade’s wheelchair, while steps have been altered to make it easier for him to move between the camp’s different levels on crutches.
Special parking spaces have been created so he can leave his wheelchair and switch to crutches whenever he wishes.
Ade will also have the use of three wheelchairs in and around camp along with three pairs of crutches left where needed. There will be another wheelchair for the Trials and an electric wheelchair that can handle more difficult terrain, such as a beach.
The producer explained: “With Ade, he goes between crutches and a wheelchair. He transfers between the two, and what we want him to do is have the same here that he’d have at home.”
The changes extend beyond camp to the show’s notorious Bushtucker Trials.
Rather than automatically exempting Ade from challenges, producers have worked with him to modify individual elements, including adding extra handles and other equipment where necessary.
The producer said: “There are about 23 trials, and he can do the majority of them, which I think is a real achievement.
“It would be really easy just to go, ‘Here’s the trial,’ and then say, ‘Well, he can’t do it. Medically exempt,’ or whatever it might be.
“There are lots of people every year who are exempt for various reasons, but we really wanted to set him up to succeed.”
The team insists the changes will not fundamentally alter the programme. “It will feel like the same show. It will be the same iconic show that we all know and love,” the producer said. “They’re just tweaks and adaptations that mean he’s able to do them.”
Ade has also already successfully crossed the famous rope bridges in his wheelchair. “We went through there with him when we were here, and he actually wheeled across,” the producer revealed. “He was really happy. It was all perfect and it all worked.”
Bosses were also struck by Ade’s physical fitness during his visit. “I was so impressed at how fit he was and how he got around camp on his crutches and in his wheelchair. We think we know certain things, but we don’t.”
Despite the extensive preparations, producers say Ade will decide for himself how to navigate camp and where to sleep, including whether he wants to use a hammock.
They also insist he was selected because of his personality, rather than a “tick-box exercise.”
“Once you meet Ade, you’re like, ‘Oh my God, I need to have you on this show. You need to be part of this lineup,’” the producer said. “For me, it’s not a token. It’s not a tick-box exercise. We want him to be part of the experience like everyone else would be.”
Ade, who won bronze with the men’s wheelchair basketball team at the 2004 Paralympics, previously said no words could really sum up how it feels.
“Words like ‘honour’ and ‘privilege’ are ones I feel, but I don’t think they sum it up enough,” he said. “For me, this is a moment in time. Even if I go out in the first week, I will always be remembered as the person in a wheelchair. I am slightly overwhelmed.”