I'm a Celeb: Ant and Dec would be 'very happy' to do it all again in Wales

WS040221 ANT AND DEC
Ant and Dec said they thoroughly enjoyed their time filming in Wales Credit: ITV

I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! host Ant McPartlin has said he would be "very happy" for the show to return to Wales.

The last series of the ITV programme was filmed in the UK for the first time after the coronavirus pandemic forced producers to abandon plans to make the programme in its usual base in Australia.

Although McPartlin told Digital Spy that, despite being happy at the prospect of a stay in the UK, he would miss the Australian weather.

"If during coronavirus we have to stay put and do it in Wales again, I'd be very happy," said McPartlin, who hosts the programme alongside Declan Donnelly.

He said they were "welcomed" in Wales, adding: "There were cardboard cutouts of me and Dec in the butcher's, and the local school did a tribute.



"We'd happily go back there. We'd miss the sunshine, mind."

Donnelly added: "The people in Wales were lovely. They made us feel very welcome.

"I had a lovely time. I will miss the sunshine, but I will not miss the jetlag of coming back from Australia.

"I'd love to go back to Oz. But if we had to go back to Wales, I wouldn't be disappointed."

Giovanna Fletcher won the competition after a gruelling couple of weeks in Gwrych Castle Credit: ITV

The last series of the programme was filmed in Gwrych Castle near Abergele in North Wales.

Viewers tuned in in record numbers, with the show's opening episode pulling in a record 14.3 million strong audience.

Giovanna Fletcher, a podcast host and author, emerged as the winner after making it to the final with favourites Vernon Kay and Jordan North.

On the show's closing night, North Wales Tourism told ITV Wales they believed the production brought around £1m into the Welsh economy and offered a "lifeline" to 50 local businesses.

The celebrity reality television show caught the imaginations of people across Wales with a local school making its own little camp and performing bushtucker trials, a superfan getting a Gwrych Castle tattoo and two women living off rice and beans to raise money for charity.

Memorable moments from the series included Jordan North vomiting ahead of the group's very first challenge, which involved abseiling down a steep cliff face.

Jordan North became a fans' favourite as the show progressed Credit: ITV

"I can't believe I was sick, I've only been here five minutes and I'm puking up already" he said.

There also appeared to be a celebrity tiff brewing when Shane Ritchie and AJ Pritchard came to a disagreement over who was responsible for completing the camp chores.


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