Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Zoe Forsey

Why I'm A Celeb stars are forced to stay up until 4am every night - even if they're tired

I'm a Celeb is finally back on our screens, and fans can't wait to see what this year's show will bring.

Frankie Bridge, Richard Madeley, Naughty Boy and Dame Arlene Phillips are among the celebs who have moved into the terrifying Welsh castle.

As they settle into their new home, they will have to get used to the cold and lack of food. But they'll also have to adjust to the weird timings of life on the hit show - which means they're not allowed to go to sleep until the early hours of the morning.

The trials take place straight after the 9pm ITV show, and the unlucky celeb chosen to take part doesn't return with their stars and the food they've won until gone midnight.

That means cooking can't start until the early hour, and it's often 4am before they've eaten, washed up and crawl into their sleeping bags.

This doesn't happen when the show is in the Australian jungle due to the time difference.

Writing for The Mirror, former campmate Victoria Derbyshire explains: "Because it’s filmed in the UK again this year, unlike in Australia, every night is a very, very late night – we didn’t get to bed until three sometimes four in the morning (obviously we didn’t have watches or ‘phones so those times are estimates).

"This is because the trial takes place after Ant and Dec have come into the castle, live, to announce who the public has voted for.

"That individual then goes off to do the challenge and often doesn’t arrive back until midnight - 1 o'clock in the morning.

"The food gets delivered sometime after that – which we then had to chop/wash/work out how to cook, before eating at 2.30am-3am."

She also explains that the late night means they end up eating their breakfast at lunchtime, but there is never enough food.

She said: "What I learned though from the whole experience is that when the pressure’s on to win stars in order to feed your fellow campmates, you can make yourself do almost anything.

"The food: there’s never enough of it.

The celebrities had to walk along a plank and press a button for the first challenge (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

"For breakfast (which we ate at lunchtime) we had a small portion of rice and beans; for tea we had the same, and then in the early hours of the morning we’d cook whatever had been won in the trial.

"I’d never before prepared, let alone eaten, eel, pigeon or squirrel – but that’s what we got and we had to at least try it, otherwise it was rice and beans again or hunger pangs.

"It was often the men in our camp – Vernon Kay, AJ Pritchard, Mo Farah and Russell Watson who still had cravings after we’d eaten."

On last night's show, the new campmates were split into two teams - the reds and the yellows - and took part in their first terrifying trials.

After winning the Key to the Castle, the reds were allowed to move into camp. However the yellow losers will be roughing it in the Castle Clink.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.