Leaves are falling from the trees, the nights are getting colder, and it is officially I’m a Celebrity season – with two EastEnders actors, a Brit Award-winning rapper and a former Lioness are among the famous faces competing in the jungle.
The launch show on 16 November saw 10 stars don their jungle gear and head into camp. Among the contestants are former Spandau Ballet bassist Martin Kemp, broadcaster Ruby Wax, Emmerdale actor Lisa Riley and her fellow soap star Shona McGarty, who played Whitney Dean in EastEnders.
Model and radio DJ Kelly Brook, who appeared in last year’s series of Celebrity Race Across the World, are also appearing, along with the likes of reality TV veteran Jack Osbourne, ex-England player Alex Scott and rapper Aitch.
The line-up is almost exactly the same as the one that leaked before the show kicked off – the only difference being the absence of Celebs Go Dating’s Tom Read Williams and TV personality Vogue Williams. However, it is possible that the pair will be late entrants to the camp.
Meet all of the contestants below…
Ruby Wax
The presenter and author has enjoyed a decades-spanning career on our screens – but says “it hasn’t actually sunk in” that she’s signed up for I’m a Celebrity.
“I was offered the chance to take part a long time ago and I thought, ‘No, I could never do that’ but now it’s the right time,” she said. “I like doing adventurous things.
“It will be nice for people to get to know the real me because you can’t hide in the jungle.
““In my personas before, I looked quite aggressive and pushy, and I think it was just my nerves. I am not aggressive, it’s the way I talk. I’m not confrontational and it looked like I was.”
When it comes to fears, Wax said she has none, but the star isn’t looking forward to any trials involving confined spaces.
“What small space would I be put in?” she asked. “Do they have elevators in the jungle?!”
Martin Kemp
Former Spandau Ballet bassist Martin Kemp is one of the two I’m A Celebrity 2025 campmates who has previously starred in EastEnders. The singer-turned-actor played Steve Owen in the BBC soap from 1998 to 2002.
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By entering the jungle, he’s followed in his son Roman’s footsteps. The Capital Breakfast presenter set the bar pretty high too, as he finished third in the 2019 series. “He told me to go in and enjoy it all,” Kemp said of his son. “He said it’s the most fun he has ever had and he said, ‘I am really jealous; I know how much fun you are going to have.’”
“I’ve had to cancel some jobs but when Roman was on I’m A Celebrity, I was addicted,” he continued. “I watched it every day and enjoyed it so much. I felt it was now time in my life for an adventure.
“I have been on this journey of DJ’ing over the last five years, it has been non-stop and I thought it was time to give something back to myself. I absolutely love the show, it is iconic TV, which I love being part of.”
Kelly Brook
Model and Heart Radio DJ Kelly Brook is no stranger to reality television, having previously taken part in Strictly Come Dancing, The Masked Dancer and, most recently, Celebrity Race Across the World. But, until now, she always said she would “never” do I’m A Celebrity.
“I didn’t think it was ever in me to do the challenges and Bushtucker Trials,” she explained. “But since I have been with my husband, we have done a few things that I’ve surprised myself by.
“We did Race Across the World and I ran the London marathon this year – two things I never thought I had in me. I’m such a fan of the show that I thought, ‘Maybe I could do it, maybe I could cope.’ I won’t know unless I try and so I am going to throw myself into it.”
When it comes to fears, Brook has one that could be a big problem: heights. “I am terrified of escalators, especially really steep ones,” she said. “I always have to be sandwiched in between people and I don’t like taking lifts either. But it’s now or never.”
Aitch
Aitch rose to fame when his freestyle “Straight Rhymez” went viral online in 2018. Since then, he’s had a number of high-charting singles including Ashanti collaboration Baby and Psycho, with Anne Marie.
The Brit Award winner is hoping his stint in the jungle will help dispel myths about rappers and raise awareness of Down’s Syndrome as his sister, Gracie, has the genetic disorder.
“If a rapper who goes on a side quest by going in the jungle and goes and wins it, well that will show you can do anything in life,” he said. “It would feel good and it would prove to younger people that if you put your mind to it, you can do what you want.”
Aitch, whose real name is Harrison Armstrong, added that Gracies “loves” the show. “She will be sitting there cheering me on every time she sees me on the telly,” he said.
Alex Scott
Former Lioness Alex Scott is another of the 2025 castmembers who is no stranger to reality TV, having already appeared on Strictly and the Bear Grylls series Mission Survive.
The player-turned-pundit – who has admitted her girlfriend, pop star Jess Glynne thought she was “absolutely mental” for signing up – has said she “will need to push myself to speak out around all of the different and big personalities”.
“Not going into myself for being the shy one will be my big challenge,” she continued. “People see you on TV and they assume you are outgoing, that loud person but take me to red carpets or events and I am the one in the corner going, ‘Talk to me, please give me a plus one so I don’t have to be that person who walks in on my own’. It’s going to be a challenge.”
Angry Ginge
After GK Barry’s success last year, ITV have once again signed an influencer. This time around, it’s football content creator Angry Ginge, who has three million followers on social media.
While his fanbase might help him stay on the show, Ginge – whose real name is Morgan Burtwistle – has predicted that they’ll also vote for him to do the Bushtucker Trials.
“If I am honest, I think most of them will vote for me to do every single trial,” he said. “There is not one trial I am looking forward to, but I would never say ‘no’ to the challenges.”
“When I got approached to be on I’m A Celebrity, I said ‘yes’ immediately because it’s a bucket list item,” he continued. “I’ve watched the show on the sofa with my mum ever since I was a kid. To take part in it this year is something I couldn’t pass up on.
“But my whole life is spent on the phone. I’ve been away once for a week. And so, two to three weeks without it is going to be very educational to see how I will do!”
Shona McGarty
Actor Shona McGarty is best-known for playing EastEnders’ Whitney Dean – a role she held for 16 years. “Now that I have left EastEnders, I want to do other things,” she said. “I’m finding my voice and who I am away from the script and character that I grew up playing.
“Everyone expects me to wear massive gold hoop earrings and have a ponytail whilst eating chicken nuggets! But I am nothing like that. I’m looking forward to using this experience to be completely myself, which nobody has seen.”
McGarty has made some interesting choices when it comes to trying to prepare for jungle life. She explained. “I have been enjoying myself before I go in. I have been stocking up on all my carbs and trying to eat as much as I can. But once in the camp, it will be a chance to shed a few pounds and detox from all the pickled onion Monster Munch I eat! I also tried to get in a hammock as practice. I tied a bed sheet to my gazebo! It wasn’t good!”
Eddie Kadi
Eddie Kadi has made history as the first Black-British comedian to headline London’s O2 Arena, hosted multiple radio shows and taken part in Strictly – but thinks this will be his toughest challenge yet.
“Not to take it away from Strictly, as Strictly was really hard, but the jungle will be harder,” he said. “You don’t get to interact with anyone other than your campmates. If things get a little emotional or frantic, you will have to deal with it and there is no escaping.”
Thankfully, he’s had friends to call on for advice, and there’s a loved one who is especially excited to see him in the jungle.
Kadi continued: “I have had a few friends who have done it like Oti Mabuse and Babatunde. They have all come back with such great stories. You only live once and I said ‘yes’ immediately.
“Raising a daughter is a beautiful thing and my daughter is extremely excited. It’s going to be a story for her every single day. And if I were to be crowned ‘King of the Jungle’, my daughter would be the proudest daughter in the world.”
Lisa Riley
Emmerdale actor Lisa Riley played Mandy Dingle in the soap from 1995 to 2001, before reprising the role in 2019.
She’s another star who has been asked to take part in I’m a Celebrity multiple times and said she’ finally decided to say yes as she’s celebrating a special birthday soon. Riley said: “I’m going to be 50 next year, it’s 30 years on and off playing Mandy Dingle in Emmerdale and ten years of being sober. It’s like a big baguette where everything I wanted was in it! And it’s I’m A Celebrity’s 25th series anniversary too.
“Forget the NTAs and BAFTAs, the fact I’m going in the jungle means I am hopefully the best auntie in the world to my nephews, Jakey and Joshua, and niece, Everlyn. I can forever say to them I tackled the jungle head on. It’s going to be ace.”
Jack Osbourne
Jack Osbourne was one of his generation’s first reality TV series, thanks to his family’s genre-defining MTV show, The Osbournes.
Osbourne, whose rock star father Ozzy died in July, has said being apart from his family will be the toughest thing about taking part in the show. “It’s absolutely going to be hard leaving them behind,” he said. “I have got lots of kids, my wife, and my family still in the wake of my dad passing. It is going to be difficult, that is for sure.
“It’s not the longest amount of time I’ve been away from them. I’ve gone on different trips filming Adrenaline Junkie for nearly two months without a phone, but I still had access to one and I was able to make calls home. It’s going to be very difficult not speaking to my wife and kids. But yes, I do hope I can make my family proud.”
I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! airs nightly at 9pm on ITV.
