Storm Arwen: I'm A Celebrity contestants leave castle while show is off air due to weather damage
The contestants appearing in I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! have been allowed to leave the castle while the show is off air this weekend after its production base was damaged by Storm Arwen.
ITV said the show's production base sustained "significant damage" during Storm Arwen which hit Wales and much of the rest of the UK on Friday night into Saturday.
Three people died by falling trees amid the stormy weather as Arwen lashed the UK with wind gusts of almost 100 miles per hour.
Due to strict Covid rules, the contestants will remain in quarantine until they are able to return to Gwrych Castle when the production is able to safely resume.
ITV said the quarantine conditions for the celebrities will be the same as they had pre-show.
I'm A Celeb will not air on Saturday or Sunday due to the production issues and will instead be replaced by compilation shows voiced by Ant & Dec, featuring best moments from previous series.
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It has been an eventful first week at Gwrych Castle where the programme is being filmed for a second year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
An intruder was removed from the set of I’m A Celebrity earlier this week after a security breach at the castle.
A statement from the programme said: “A security breach was identified and an intruder was removed from the location with immediate effect.
“The safety of both our celebrities and our production crew remains our primary concern.”
On Thursday, Richard Madeley announced he was leaving the show after he was taken to hospital as a precaution when he fell ill in the early hours of the morning.
The TV star later said he felt “fit as a fiddle” and was “gutted” that Covid restrictions meant he was not able to return to the show.
Friday’s episode of the ITV series was the first to be pre-recorded due to the weather conditions.
Co-hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly recorded their links early in the evening as part of “precautionary measures” put in place by ITV following severe storm warnings.
The duo posted a video from outside the castle ahead of the show, with the wind whipping and roaring in the background.
“You’ve probably heard we’ve had to record the show a bit earlier tonight because of the winds here at Storm Arwen,” said Donnelly.
“It’s bad, isn’t it, it’s really windy. You can hear it, it’s rattling the tent, it might blow this away, so we’ve got to get it done and get out of here,” said McPartlin.
“It’s due to get worse later so everyone is afraid that the satellite is going to go down and all of that, so it’s a bit risky to do a live show, so we’re going to have to do it recorded tonight, which is the first time we’ve ever done that,” added Donnelly.