[Loukas]

Australian actors trial the jungle camp, which can be even steamier than the real show – reveal the hosts of ITV2’s spin-off
Before this year’s celebrity campmates brave the Australian jungle for I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, local actors help the crew do a test run. They live in the jungle camp and do trials, and hosts Ant and Dec even rehearse their walking-into-the-camp sequence.
Although the footage is never aired and used purely as a chance for the crew to check cameras and timings, there’s still plenty of action to watch – including steamy moments.
“They have actors living in the camp for a week beforehand," explains Laura Whitmore, who hosts ITV2's sister show I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! NOW!
"They test the big trials and we do three big shows as if it’s the real show. It’s amazing because sometimes those characters are as good as the main show.”
“That’s happening at the moment. Everyone does it. Ant and Dec go down. Some of them get it on and stuff, like, romantically,” Whitmore confides. “We’re like, 'it’s just for us to rehearse!'”
“It’s Australian people who want to be in TV,” adds co-host and former King of the Jungle Joe Swash. “They put it on their show reel, so they’re all using it as their platform. They all go for it. It’s amazing.”
Fellow presenter and comedian Rob Beckett finds the whole thing amusing. “[They’re] proper wannabes, so they’ll do anything.
“The sort of people that would have done The Bill ten years ago,” he scoffs, forgetting Swash is sitting beside him.
“I did The Bill ten years ago, you mug," reproaches the former EastEnders actor.
It turns out that the jungle campsite is constantly occupied, even though we only see one show a year. “It’s never on a break. The Germans use our site after us in January and then the Italians go in,” Swash explains. “We’ve got people working on our show that have been there for the last two months. Some people finish our show and then stay out and start the next show.”
While fans of the show would probably like to see more, perhaps even a King and Queen battle for the ultimate title, the presenters don’t agree.
“I think a ‘best of’ would be the end of it,” says Beckett.
“I don’t think they need to,” Swash concurs. “I think there are enough celebrities out there to keep people interested.”

Radio Times