The ratings are in, and it would appear everyone in Australia was either watching the Australian Open men’s final, or the premiere episode of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here season two last night.
The preliminary ratings indicate that both drew in massive numbers – obviously, in the case of the tennis, which drew in a predictably high viewership of 1.6 million – but it would appear that Channel Ten‘s heavy promotional work and staunch secrecy about the cast has paid off yet again.
Celebrity drew in a whopping 1.324 million viewers in metropolitan areas alone for its debut episode, which saw the entire cast revealed for the first time after weeks of teasing (and ample in-program advertising during Ten’s coverage of the Big Bash League).
The big reveal of the cast was the one that provided the hook for the premiere, as 11 of the show’s 12 celebrities were dropped into the “jungle” of South Africa (despite the fact that there isn’t actually any proper jungle in South Africa, but that’s another story for another day).
For those who missed it (and if you did, teach us your ways), the cast looks a little something like this:
- Akmal Saleh – comedian.
- Anthony Callea – runner up, Australian Idol 2004.
- Bonnie Lythgoe – dancer, former judge on So You Think You Can Dance? in both the US and Australia.
- Brendan Fevola – former AFL footballer, serial Brownlow Medal pest.
- Courtney Hancock – ironwoman.
- Dean Geyer – third place Australian Idol 2006, one-time actor on Neighbours.
- Havana Brown – DJ.
- Jo Beth Taylor – former Australia’s Funniest Home Videos and Hey Hey It’s Saturday! personality.
- Laurina Fleure – contestant on The Bachelor season two, catalyst for #dirtystreetpie.
- Paul Harragon – former NRL legend, long-time The Footy Show panellist.
- Val Lehman – cast member on the legendary Prisoner.
It was also revealed that Shane Warne will be a part of the cast, with the former all-time great leg-spinner set to join the cast on tonight’s episode, after reportedly signing a deal that will see him net THREE MILLION ACTUAL DOLLARS for the series.
And yet, the prize for “winning” is a $100k donation to charity.
But, at the very least, if he wins it’ll go to a good cause, right? Like… it won’t go to a charity he set up in his own name that’s about to cease operations after evidence of gross financial mismanagement and general shady doings emerged.
That won’t happen, right?
For what it’s worth, Warnie posted a video prior to leaving the country that explained his reasons for joining the series (beyond, y’know… the whole “millions of dollars” thing).
The full video Shane left us before he flew to join the other celebs in the jungle on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here Australia!To keep Shane in the jungle, SMS “Shane” to 1995 10 10. (Australia only)(we hope he IS forced to eat a nasty critter hahaha)#CelebShane #TeamWarne #ImACelebrityAU – G
Posted by Shane Warne on Sunday, 31 January 2016
Warnie, a known arachnophobe, also apparently has a strict “no spiders” clause in his contract.
Whether that’s strictly adhered to or not remains to be seen. Tune in to find out, we guess.
I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! continues tonight at 7:30pm on Ten.
Photo: Channel Ten.
