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I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! is a UK reality television show in which minor celebrities live in jungle conditions with few creature comforts. A fifth series of the show, which is taped in Australia, aired on ITV1 in the United Kingdom late in 2005. ABC aired one series of an American version in February and March 2003. Two series have also been aired in Germany - entitled Ich bin ein Star - Holt mich hier raus. The UK show is hosted by Ant and Dec. In the US John Lehr presents proceedings, the German hosts are Dirk Bach and Sonja Zietlow. There is also a Czech series of the show.
Format
In return for their appearance on the show the celebrities are asked to nominate a charity to which the producers, Granada Television, make donations. The celebrities themselves are also paid a fee (reported to be £25,000 for UK competitors) to compensate them for possible loss of earnings while they are in the jungle. The producers of the show keep the precise details of the celebrities' contracts very private, prompting much speculation from the tabloid media. The money is raised by allowing viewers to vote by phone, text message or the red button for the celebrity they would like to complete a "Bushtucker Trial" - a physical task usually involving snakes, spiders or other creepy-crawlies found in the jungle - and, later in each series, to vote for the celebrity they would like to see evicted from the show. The last remaining celebrity after all others have been evicted is the winner of the show.
Winners of the show include Tony Blackburn, Phil Tufnell, Kerry McFadden, Joe Pasquale, Carol Thatcher (UK), Cris Judd (US) and Costa Cordalis and Désirée Nick (Germany).
Popularity and criticism
The show is undoubtedly popular, at least within the UK. The finales of the second and third series were seen by 12.5 and 15.3 million people respectively - well over half of all people watching television in the country at the time of day in both cases. The show also helped singer Peter Andre resurrect his music career in 2004. However, it has come under fire from some critics on two counts:
The first complaint is that the show is trashy TV, consisting of has-been or never-were celebrities trying to revive their careers. The UK's Secretary of State for Culture at the time, Tessa Jowell, was the most high-profile person to criticise the show. In an interview with the Financial Times during the second British series, she said, "If they weren't mostly - save their blushes - has-been celebrities, there might be more interest [...] I think that if we saw many more programming hours taken over by reality TV, I hope you'd begin to see a viewers' revolt."
The second criticism of the show is that it pretends to be more wild than it actually is. Audiences are left with the impression that the celebrities are in the Australian Outback far from any major settlement whereas they are close to a luxury hotel. Further, the camp site in which the celebrities stay appears to be open to the elements but is largely covered by sheets above the view of the cameras. In an episode of the British show, a celebrity had to swim in a swamp apparently infested with crocodiles. Marksmen were shown ready to shoot the animals if they attacked. It was later revealed that the crocodiles were man-made and moved by remote control.
List of participants
UK series 1
(8 contestants, Monday August 25 - Sunday September 8, 2002)
Tony Blackburn (winner), radio DJ
Tara Palmer-Tomkinson (runner up), It Girl
Christine Hamilton (third), wife of Neil Hamilton and self confessed battleaxe
Nell McAndrew (fourth), model
Rhona Cameron, comedian
Darren Day, singer, actor
Nigel Benn, boxer
Uri Geller, "mind magician"
UK series 2
(10 contestants, Monday April 29 - Monday May 12, 2003)
Phil Tufnell (winner), cricketer
John Fashanu (runner up), ex-footballer
Linda Barker (third), presenter of DIY television programmes
Wayne Sleep (fourth), dancer
Antony Worrall Thompson, TV chef
Toyah Willcox, 80s pop star
Catalina Guirado, model
Chris Bisson, actor
Danniella Westbrook, actress
Siân Lloyd, TV weather forecaster
UK series 3
(10 contestants, Monday January 26 - Monday February 9, 2004)
Kerry McFadden (winner), ex-Atomic Kitten singer and TV presenter
Jennie Bond (runner up), former royal correspondent for the BBC
Peter André (third), singer
Charles Nall-Cain, 3rd Baron Brocket (known as Lord Brocket), (fourth) aristocrat,
Jordan, glamour model
Alex Best, estranged wife of footballer George Best
Neil Ruddock, ex-footballer
John Lydon, ex-Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd frontman (Walked - knew he'd definetely win)
Diane Modahl, athlete
Mike Read, disc jockey
UK series 4
(11 contestants, Sunday November 21 - Monday December 6, 2004)
Joe Pasquale (winner), comedian
Paul Burrell (runner up), butler to Diana, Princess of Wales
Fran Cosgrave (third), nightclub owner, ex-boyfriend of Atomic Kitten singer Natasha Hamilton and model Jodie Marsh
Janet Street-Porter (fourth), journalist and TV producer
Sophie Anderton, model
Natalie Appleton, All Saints and Appleton singer
Sheila Ferguson, Three Degrees singer
Antonio Fargas, actor
Vic Reeves, comedian
Nancy Sorrell, model, wife of Vic Reeves
Brian Harvey, ex-East 17 singer
UK series 5
(12 contestants, Sunday November 20 - Monday December 5, 2005
This time round the show is set in the tropics of Cardwell in Queensland, Australia, home of the Saltwater Crocodile.
Carol Thatcher, journalist and daughter of Margaret Thatcher (winner)
Sheree Murphy, actress most famous for Emmerdale (Tricia Dingle) and marrying Harry Kewell (runner up)
Sid Owen, actor most famous for EastEnders (Ricky Butcher) (third)
Jimmy Osmond, television presenter and singer (fourth)
Bobby Ball, one half of a comedy double act with Tommy Cannon (fifth)
Antony Costa, former Blue singer (sixth)
Jenny Frost, Atomic Kitten singer (seventh)
Kimberley Davies, actress most famous for Neighbours (Annalise Hartman) (left due to injury)
David Dickinson, television presenter (eighth; third voted off)
Jilly Goolden, food and drink critic (ninth; second voted off)
Tommy Cannon, one half of a comedy double act with Bobby Ball (tenth; first voted off)
Elaine Lordan, actress most famous for EastEnders (Lynne Slater) (left due to illness)
US series 1
(10 contestants)
Cris Judd (winner), dancer, former husband of actress Jennifer Lopez
Maria Conchita Alonso, actress
Tyson Beckford, male model, actor
Downtown Julie Brown, television host, former MTV VJ
Bruce Jenner, athlete, Olympic medalist
Robin Leach, television host
"Stuttering" John Melendez, television personality
Melissa Rivers, television personality, daughter of comedienne Joan Rivers
Nikki Schieler Ziering, model
Alana Stewart, former wife of actor George Hamilton and singer Rod Stewart
German series 1
(10 contestants)
Costa Cordalis (winner), singer
Antonia Langsdorf, TV astrologer
Carlo Thränhardt, former high jumper
Caroline Beil, television presenter
Daniel Küblböck, singer
Dustin Semmelrogge, actor
Lisa Fitz, comedian
Mariella Ahrens, model
Susan Stahnke, former television news host
Werner Böhm, singer
German series 2
Désirée Nick (winner), comedian
Carsten Spengemann, television presenter and actor
Dolly Buster, former porn star
Fabrice Morvan, singer, one half of Milli Vanilli
Harry Wijnvoord, television presenter
Heydi Nunez Gomez, model
Isabell Varell, actress and singer
Jimmy Hartwig, former soccer player
Nadja Abd el Farrag, former long-time girlfriend of musician Dieter Bohlen
Willi Herren, actor
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