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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Katie Fitzpatrick

The ruined North Wales castles where I'm a Celebrity could be filmed

I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here is returning for 2020, but with a completely different look.

It has been announced that in the light of the coronavirus pandemic, instead of the Australian jungle, a new batch of famous faces will be packed off to the UK countryside.

ITV says the show, hosted by Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, will be broadcast live every night from a ruined castle in the countryside.

And the winner will be crowned King or Queen of the Castle.

Kevin Lygo, ITV’s Director of Television said: "We announced last week that we were doing all we could to make the series and I’m thrilled that we can bring the show to viewers albeit not in the jungle."

Show bosses are reportedly looking at castles in north Wales, a country which has more castles per square mile than anywhere else in the world.

Here are some of the castles that could become the setting for I'm A Celeb later this year.

Ewloe Castle

Ewloe Castle (MEN Media)

The castle was built by the Kingdom of Gwynedd near Ewloe in Flintshire, north Wales.

The grade one listed building, which is now privately owned, was abandoned at the beginning of the invasion of Wales by Edward I in 1277.

By the late medieval period the castle was in ruins.

Gwrych Castle

Gwrych Castle in Abergele (Daily Post Wales)

Gwrych Castle is a Grade I listed 19th-century country house near Abergele in Conwy County Borough.

Built between 1819 and 1825, the government used the castle to house 200 Jewish refugees run by the Jewish Zionist youth movement Bnei Akivam during World War Two.

After the war it was opened to visitors and was known as 'the showpiece of Wales.'

It was also used as a training venue for the English World Middleweight boxing champion Randolph Turpin in the early 50s.

Hawarden Old Castle

Hawarden Old Castle (Ian Cooper/North Wales Live)

A Grade I listed medieval castle near Hawarden in Flintshire, it's thought that its origins date back to the Iron Age.

The castle played an important role during the Welsh struggle for independence in the 13th century.

At Easter 1282, Prince of Wales Dafydd ap Gruffudd attacked Hawarden Castle, thereby starting the final Welsh conflict with Norman England, in the course of which Welsh independence was lost.

Dafydd was hanged, drawn, and quartered in Shrewsbury in October 1283.

The privately owned castle ruins are open to the public on some Sundays, typically the second and fourth in summertime.

Harlech Castle

Harlech Castle (Daily Post Wales)

The castle, in Harlech, Gwynedd,  boasts the rugged peaks of Snowdonia as its backdrop.

This Grade I-listed medieval castle, constructed close to the Irish Sea, was built by Edward I during his invasion of Wales between 1282 and 1289.

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) considers Harlech to be one of 'the finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe' and it is classed as a World Heritage site.

Kidwelly Castle

This Norman castle appears in the very first scene of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Overlooking River Gwendraeth and the town of Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, it came under attack from Welsh princes including the Lord Rhys, who captured it in 1159.

The surrounding countryside is thought to be haunted by the headless ghost of Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd, the wife of the Welsh prince Gruffydd ap Rhys, who was beheaded in 1136.

Castell y Bere

Castell y Bere (MediaWales)

These romantic ruins lie near Llanfihangel-y-pennant in Gwynedd.

It lies deep in a remote valley in the southern hills of Snowdonia.

The stone fortress was constructed by Llywelyn the Great in the 1220s.

The castle was intended to defend the south-west part of the princedom of Gwynedd.

It was taken over by English King Edward I in 1283. who made alterations to the castle.

However the English abandoned the site during an uprising against their rule in 1294, and the castle was never inhabited again.

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