I'm A Celeb crew will tuck into food fit for George Clooney while celebs eat gruesome menu, reveals boss

Ant and Dec host I'm a Celebrity
Ant and Dec are heading back Down Under as new campmates take on the jungle. (Image credit: ITV1)

I'm A Celeb 2023 executive producer Olly Nash reveals that while the celebs will be eating all kinds of ghastly food on the new series, the crew will be dining on dishes served up to movie stars like George Clooney.

Here, Olly takes us behind the scenes of the jungle show...

The crew does NOT eat rice and beans!

"The food for the crew is amazing. They make food for the movies so if the food is good enough for Tom Hanks and George Clooney, it must be good!"

Ant and Dec host I'm a Celebrity

Ant and Dec bring us all the gossip from camp every night. (Image credit: ITV1)

"At its heart, it’s an entertainment reality show with great characters, the trials are epic and hosts Ant & Dec are simply the best. It's a great escape from the real world and the long winter nights. As long as the show makes you say ‘wow!’ and puts a smile on your face, then it’s doing its job!"

New campmates! New trials! New challenges!

"Every year we always bring new elements into the show, new trials, new challenges, new areas of camp etc. I can tell you that our launch show this year will have some exciting new elements which we hope viewers will really enjoy... I’m not so sure the celebrities will though!"

Working on the show is an all-year-round project?

"We are talking and meeting all year round but we don’t start full time until April. So it's seven months."

I'm a Celebrity executive producer Olly Nash

I'm a Celebrity is a mammoth project for executive producer Olly Nash. (Image credit: ITV)

A typical working day in Oz involves...

"I get in around 6.15am just before rehearsals for the live show. After the show finishes at 8am, the whole team meets and we chat through the day ahead before the night shift goes home to bed! 

"We film the trial at 10am, the challenge 2pm and the dinner drop at 7pm. I try to leave by 8pm. A large part of the day is writing game instructions for the celebrities, checking in on the camp and the edits, testing the upcoming trials and planning the rest of the run. There's a huge team of game producers so there are always questions!"

I'm A Celebrity 2023 official line-up of stars

I'm A Celebrity's Class of 2023 includes This Morning host Josie Gibson and First Dates favourite Fred Sirieix. (Image credit: ITV)

My favourite moment from last year's show is...

"Seeing Seann Walsh meet Matt Hancock for the first time before they entered camp as late entries was hilarious. I also loved Babatunde taking a leap of faith off the top of a massive Trial circular build plunging several metres after he had refused to walk the plank a few days before. This show is all about pushing yourself and being out of your comfort zone and Babtunde did that, he was a star."

And my all-time favourite moment is...

"Thinking about Harry Redknapp makes me smile, especially when he became Noel Edmond’s assistant and they lived together in a small Emperor’s house in camp."

Something that's never been possible...

"I’ve always wanted to start the series in north Queensland — somewhere near the stunning Barrier Reef — where the sea is like a bath and the sand is white!"

I'm A Celebrity logo

(Image credit: Lifted Entertainment / ITV)

I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! starts on Sunday November 19 at 9pm on ITV1, with Ant and Dec bringing us jungle highlights at 9pm every evening.

Victoria Wilson
Feature Writer for What’s on TV, TV Times, TV & Satellite Week and WhatToWatch.com

With over 20 years’ experience writing about TV and film, Vicky currently writes features for What’s on TV, TV Times, TV & Satellite Week magazines plus news and watching guides for WhatToWatch.com, a job which involves chatting to a whole host of famous faces. Our Vicky LOVES light entertainment, with Strictly Come Dancing, Britain’s Got Talent and The Voice UK among her fave shows. Basically, if it’s got a shiny floor, she’s all over it! When she’s not watching TV, you might find Vicky in therapy… retail therapy that is!