ITV confirms return of I'm A Celebrity South Africa 2026 in major announcement

I'm A Celeb South Africa is set to return, with ITV releasing a first look at the upcoming series. The show, due to air this spring, will feature a host of familiar faces competing in South Africa for the title of all-star champion.

During Saturday night's premiere episode of Britain's Got Talent, producers offered a sneak peek at the new series. The brief teaser featured hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly gathered around a campfire, before Ant was startled by an unknown sound.

"What was that?" he queried, with Dec identifying it as a "big cat". Immediately, a frightened Ant leapt up, exclaiming: "A big cat?! No way!" before Dec joined him.

Next week, another snippet will be unveiled during Britain's Got Talent. In the clip, a weary Ant yawns and stretches before bidding Dec "goodnight," the Mirror reports.

In typical Dec fashion, the Geordie star playfully warns: "Don't let the bed bugs bite, the ticks, and the mozzies, and the scorpions, and the sand-eyed spiders, or the kudus, or the baboons..." leaving Ant visibly shaken.

The inaugural series of I'm A Celeb South Africa, which aired in 2023, attracted over five million viewers throughout the week. Speculation has been rife in recent months about which celebrities could be heading to South Africa for the series.

Reality television personality Gemma Collins has reportedly signed up for the programme once more. Gemma famously departed the Australian camp after just 72 hours.

She remarked in 2015 regarding a potential second appearance: "Everything would be different a second time. I'd be like Lara Croft and Angelina Jolie rolled into one, and I'd do the tasks.

"I'm not scared of nothing. Hopefully, one day the producers may give me another chance."

Meanwhile, Scarlett Moffatt revealed to OK! Magazine: "I absolutely love the show. If I was to go back, I would just soak up every second again because I had such an amazing time the first time around."

Scarlett added: "I was a kid, I'd just turned 25. I was starting out in this industry. I really feel like if I got the opportunity to do it again, I know myself more.

"And I think I would just try and enjoy I.T.. I enjoyed it when I was last on, but I think I really worried a little bit because I was like 'Oh, I don't want this to go', I loved it so much that I didn't want it to end."

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Nevertheless, Scarlett suggests that should she be fortunate enough to return to the programme, she would savour it even more. "I would just enjoy it for what it is and not be worried after," she stated.

In an appeal to ITV, she added: "Hopefully they put my name down - that would be nice if I was a thought... Just a thought for ITV."

Other names being discussed include boxer David Haye, Olympic legend Sir Mo Farah, actor Craig Charles, comedian Seann Walsh, Emmerdale's Adam Thomas, singer Sinitta, Pussycat Dolls star Ashley Roberts, ex-footballer Jimmy Bullard and Coronation Street's Beverley Callard.

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