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Wales Online
Wales Online
Lifestyle
Megan Nisbet

How long has I'm A Celebrity been running and who won the first series?

I'm A Celebrity.... Get Me Out Of Here! is back with a fresh batch of famous faces all hoping to become the next King or Queen of the Castle.

This year's line-up are battling the elements as the show takes place for the second time in Abergele, Wales instead of the Australian jungle due to the "continued uncertainty" around Covid-19 and international travel.

The 2021 line-up includes David Ginola, Frankie Bridge and Richard Madeley, but just three days into the series and tensions are rising after music producer Naughty Boy and Dame Arlene Phillips threatened to leave camp. You can read more on this here.

Read more: I'm A Celebrity filming locations showcase stunning Welsh coastline, mountains and forest

But as the drama unfolds, some people are wondering how long the much-loved and popular series has been on television. We mean, can you remember a time when I'm A Celebrity didn't mark the countdown to Christmas?

Last year award-winning author Giovanna Fletcher won the series, but who was crowned King or Queen of the jungle in the first ever I'm A Celeb?

The first series of I'm A Celebrity kicked off in 2002.

Ant and Dec (ITV)

Ant and Dec were the hosts but there were just eight celebrities in the line-up.

BBC Radio One presenter Tony Blackburn won the first ever series of I'm A Celebrity.

Since then there's been 19 more winners, with two series of I'm A Celebrity taking place in 2004, you can read the full list of winners from 2002 to 2020 here.

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the show last year, Ant and Dec spoke about how they felt when they were first offerent the job, explaining they loved the job but hated the title.

Ant said: "The producers came in, they explained, 'So, we're going to get these celebrities, we're going to put them in a jungle, we're going to make them face their fears and do trials and stuff'.

"And we were like, 'Well, this all sounds good, a bit like Big Brother and it's a bit like other things, and they're putting it all together'.

"And what's it called?’ and they said, 'I'm a Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here!'."

Dec interjected: "We both looked at each other and we were like, 'Well that's awful, isn't it?"

Ant continued: "What a terrible title. We were like, 'Yeah we'll do it, but the title will change, obviously'."

I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! continues at 9pm on ITV.

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