WEBVTT - 'I'M A CELEBRITY' HAS BACKSTAGE SECRETS 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:01.720 It's in the news today, but it was actually on 0:00:01.800 --> 0:00:05.400 TV Reload the podcast last week. I'm right, welcome back 0:00:05.400 --> 0:00:08.520 guys to TV Reload. My name's Benjamin Norris, and on 0:00:08.560 --> 0:00:11.320 this podcast I go behind the scenes with the biggest 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:12.360 players in television. 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:15.120 Yeah, great questions. The show's about the game. There's a 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:17.520 lot of great television out there in Australia. 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:20.040 But I've also got to go behind the scenes with writers. 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:22.239 The truth is, when I started writing it, it wasn't 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:25.119 had nothing to do with the news and casting agents. 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:27.400 They know from a casting point of view what they need. 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:30.880 And editors because that's what we do as editors where storytellers. 0:00:31.040 --> 0:00:34.360 Not to forget some incredible executive producers who are making 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:37.040 some of the best TV in Australia. I have been 0:00:37.080 --> 0:00:39.559 on the program since the beginning and it's kind of 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:42.680 in my DNA. So thanks for joining me each week 0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:45.280 and I hope the podcast continues to give you real 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:49.159 insight into the magic of television today. On the podcast, 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:52.360 I returned to Talk Television for twenty twenty two and 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:55.120 I thought a lot about who to relaunch the show with, 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:58.360 and of course I thought of Alex Maverdikers, who is 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:01.560 not only an executive producer I've worked with, but someone 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:04.240 who is currently at the top of their game. He 0:01:04.280 --> 0:01:06.720 has started the year for his seventh time with the 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:09.640 Australian staple I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here, 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:12.480 which is again won the hearts of its audience with 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:16.880 his mantra, which we will get into shortly. Alex is smart, 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:20.119 funny and is very generous with his insights into television. 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:22.959 I honestly love catching up with him, and I'm sure 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:25.800 that you will too. This season of I'm a Celebrity 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:28.520 will have its season finale on Sunday night at seven 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:31.600 thirty on Channel ten, and today we will unpack the 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:34.440 whole series and also ask him all the questions that 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:38.679 most producers would never answer, from bo Ryan's exit to 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:42.120 how he made a nobody a celebrity, plus what he 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:44.600 thinks of the all stars concept and if we will 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:47.520 see that happen in the jungle. However, let's get started 0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:51.240 on today's episode. I'd like to welcome Alex Maverdagus to 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:54.280 the first edition of TV Reload for twenty twenty two. 0:01:55.920 --> 0:01:59.720 I just think the audience loves real Everything about this 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:03.640 show is horrendous, A lot of untruth, so I can 0:02:03.640 --> 0:02:05.160 tell you what definitely is not true. 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:06.800 I'm completely out of my depth here. 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:09.400 In all honesty, we could probably shown more of it 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:12.720 and keep you think that's on the show, I've never 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:14.680 seen it. Control them all with the heart and their 0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:15.720 mouth as much. 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:19.359 Who will quit? 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:22.079 The hardest thing with I'm a celebrity is going to 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:28.040 be that we're running out celebrities. I'm a celebrity. Australian's 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:30.760 love an underdog. He could easily win it. 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:32.920 Hi, Alex, how are you mate? 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:34.880 Good to hear from you again? Am I the first 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:36.000 person that's done this twice? 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:36.959 Absolutely? 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:40.040 You just run out of people to ask or am 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:40.600 I special? 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:41.040 Well? 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:43.560 To be honest, I launched the podcast last year with 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:46.960 you and it was the highest downloaded podcast for the 0:02:47.040 --> 0:02:49.760 year and had people stopping me in the street and 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:53.240 asking me about things that you said. So it would 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:55.040 be remiss of me not to have you back. 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:58.000 You're a good fluffer mate, that's good fluffing will done. 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:01.079 If anyone would know about my bullshit skills, it's you. 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:03.280 I don't know if that's a compliment. 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:05.600 Well, look at one you were one. You were massive 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:08.080 reality show, so you must have done something right. 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:12.200 Well, let's get into this. You make two massive shows 0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:15.040 a year, one for Channel nine and one for Network ten, 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:18.880 amongst other projects. I'm sure, what do you enjoy about 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.120 Channel ten when you come back each year for I'm 0:03:21.160 --> 0:03:22.280 a Celebrity. 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:24.800 As in the network? I mean, look, I'm a celebrities 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:27.280 lot coming home for me. You know, I've done seven 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:30.080 seasons for now and obviously you know there was something 0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:33.160 really special about coming to Africa every year. That hasn't 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:34.720 be impossible for the last two years. But I think 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:37.840 we've done a pretty bloody good job of getting a 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:40.560 decent product to wear. Obviously, it's not the way we 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:43.120 would like to make. The show that I'm Celebrity is 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:45.520 supposed to be a twenty four hour turnaround show, like 0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:48.440 you know, like Classic Big Brother, like Love Ireland. But 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:51.640 you know, this, this fun pandemic that keeps rolling around us, 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:54.560 keeps changing the game. Going back to the question, look 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:56.520 ten are a great network to work for, I have 0:03:56.560 --> 0:03:58.320 to say, I mean, look, all the networks have got 0:03:58.360 --> 0:04:01.840 their pros and their cons are great. With on the 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:04.960 Celebrity Stephen Tate, who I've worked with many many years, 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:09.120 knows the show so intimately and so well, we just 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:14.240 go straight into shortcut talk. We don't need to we 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:16.599 don't need to play games around each other. If we 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:18.760 know an ideas crap, we'll just tell each other our 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:20.280 ideas are crap. And if we know it's good, we 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:22.400 know it's good. And I seem to be able to 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:25.200 push the envelope more and more with Beverly mccavey, who's 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:26.920 you know, the boss of Channel tens. Every year we 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:30.120 go into the boardroom and I'd pitch something a little 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:32.440 bit more full on than the year before, and she 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:35.279 started to say yes, now, so you know who knew 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:39.080 that she would let me call something in a scrotal 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:43.240 recall or end the challenge with my nuts are fully loaded. 0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:47.560 Okay, I think I'm just going to lead that. 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:48.880 I feel like I've gone over. 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:51.359 But you know what I'm gonna that's I'm done. 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:54.920 That's my nuts are fully loaded. 0:04:58.120 --> 0:04:59.800 Just you know, some of the stuff that somebody en 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:03.719 so I'm pushing nowadays are would have been rejected straight 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:05.880 up three or four years ago, but now somehow they're 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:07.960 slipping through it. So so good on them. 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:11.240 I can't imagine you being intimidated by anyone. But I 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:14.760 want to know. Are you intimidated by Bev McGarvey, you know, 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:16.360 the big boss at Network ten. 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:20.800 Oh look, look you're always intimidated in the boardroom setting. 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:24.280 Bev is fantastic. She's just such a straight shooter. She 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:29.240 will cut you down immediately if if she doesn't like, 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:32.400 you know, you'll put someone's picture on the table, of 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:34.440 someone that you might want in the cast, and she'll 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:37.240 just be like nah, or you know, haven't heard of them, 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:40.479 or you know, just immediately, no, straight away if they've 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:43.600 got any chance. And that enables you to, you know, 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:45.880 to decide how far to push it or how not. 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:49.039 She's she's very much a straight shooter. No, not intimidated. 0:05:49.160 --> 0:05:51.719 That intimidated is the wrong word. Always had a lot 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:55.320 of respect for Bev, as I have all of the networks, 0:05:55.520 --> 0:05:57.120 you know, you have to have a lot of respect 0:05:57.160 --> 0:06:00.440 for them. But it's always been a really collaborative room 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:02.760 whenever we're dealing with I'm a celebrit because it's you know, 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:04.920 it's a fun show and if it's made any other way, 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:06.559 it won't work. 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:10.160 Were there any notes that you took into the series 0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:12.840 from Network ten or say, you know, from the bosses 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:16.240 at ITV? Studios such as you know what to look 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:18.520 for from some of your contestants, or you know what 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:20.520 did you need to focus on more for this season. 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:23.960 We've had a pretty good run on I'm a celebrity 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:25.520 for the last few years. I'm going I'm going to 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:27.760 go back all the way to series four now, just 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:30.279 for context, we're in series eight now. Series four was 0:06:30.360 --> 0:06:33.839 not very good. And now I don't know whether that 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:36.640 was the celebrities that we chose. None of them were terrible. 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:38.680 You know, we had some great celebrities Spieno Lachlan who 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:40.840 won it. We had Shannon Noll, We had you know, 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:44.919 Anthony Mundine, Danny Green, Pete rose Thorn. You know, we 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:48.599 had some really good names. But it just didn't click. 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:53.000 And for whatever reason, it just didn't feel warm and fuzzy. 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:55.159 Whether it was a comic year as well. You know, 0:06:55.520 --> 0:06:57.840 it might have been too many sportsmen, it might have 0:06:57.920 --> 0:07:00.320 been not you know, they they just didn't like each 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:02.600 other as much as previous years. But that that was 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:04.480 a real turning point year and I feel like we 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:08.600 scraped through by the skin of our teeth that year. 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:11.400 It almost didn't come back. And I'm sure Bev and 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:13.480 Steven wouldn't mind me, wouldn't mind me saying that, you know, 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:17.440 it didn't rate amazingly well, but look good on ten. 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:19.640 They took a chance and we came back in series 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:22.040 five and it was, you know, an absolute belter. You know, 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:26.720 that was the Richard Reid series in South Africa. And 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:31.040 from that series on we decided, I mean certainly it 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:34.360 was a thing that I adopted and you know, and 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:37.080 we all kind of well, luckily everyone agreed with me. 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:39.520 We were going to make it like the Cast of 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:41.960 Friends from then on in I'm a celebrity. To get 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:45.160 me out of here works really well when you love 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:49.320 all of the characters and you care about who goes 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:52.640 home and you just want to have your fun hour, 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:54.640 hour and a half with them every single night of 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:57.200 the week, and it's like it's like you're joining in 0:07:57.280 --> 0:08:00.640 the fun. So we really cast five for fun and 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:03.200 Richard was the kind of the ants and he won. 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:06.360 Then we had the Miguel Meistra year, which again was 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:09.120 again just a lovely group of humans. Last year this 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:11.600 season at Abby Chatfield won you know, with Grant DNA 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:15.680 and you know, Tony Perrin and everyone else. Lovely group 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:18.360 of humans and this year. We've just followed through and 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:20.760 this is going to sound really really wanky, and I 0:08:20.800 --> 0:08:22.800 don't know if I've said this you in our first podcast, 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:26.240 but you know we it's the three h's, it's heart, 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:30.920 humor and heroes and if the series has that, it 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:33.400 will always it will always work. And as you know, 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:37.440 everything I do in TV is I try to make 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:39.440 as funny as possible. When I was in charge of 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:42.800 Big Brother, we would we would try and make our 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:46.240 tasks very funny, and then the challenges that we would 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:48.600 give people to do in the Big Brother House very funny. 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:52.520 I'm a celebrity naturally. A funny show Love Ireland completely 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:54.800 made with tongue in cheek. So I've always come from 0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:57.640 the place that funny wins and if it's funny then 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:00.440 it will succeed. And that's obviously why they putting me 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:02.200 on these shows, because they want them to be funny. 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:04.880 They won't put me on anything that isn't supposed to 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:08.360 be funny anymore. I don't think else to do it. 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:11.400 It's true, It is so true. And something that I've 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:13.560 noticed as well is that you seem to leave the 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:17.440 camera on your contestants for longer letting the audience truly 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:20.080 get to know your talent, and it seems to be 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:22.959 a part of your brand. Is that a conscious decision that. 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:26.400 You make one hundred percent the conscious decision? You know. Luckily, 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:29.280 I work in formats that give us the ability to 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:31.960 do that. I don't like the reality shows that are 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:33.959 cut within and into their life. I don't like them, 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:36.160 you know, at all. And you know which ones I'm 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:40.240 talking about where they literally use a grab and you know, 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:43.280 let's be honest, it's it's it's frank and grabbed. You know, 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:46.120 it's like, you know, it's not a real grab. It's 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:48.680 not so you are literally not looking at a real person. 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:52.320 I love on my shows to show the real people, 0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:55.120 whether that be Love Island or I'm a Celebrity or 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:57.240 Big Brother going back in the day. I just think 0:09:57.280 --> 0:10:01.480 the audience love real. I just love real And as 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:04.320 I said, 'unfortunate that I have the formats that gives 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:06.640 us time to breathe. A lot of people would argue 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:09.160 that the shows are too long, and some definitely are. 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:12.840 You know, that's obviously a part of the business of television, 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:16.400 but it does give you the ability to hear people out. 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:18.560 I'm going to use Steve Price as an example and 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:22.040 when he did The Jungle. Now, Steve Price is a 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:25.400 very polarizing figure, as you know, and a lot of 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:27.280 people would completely disagree with a lot of things he 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:29.680 says in his politics. But before he did The Jungle, 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:32.719 Steve was only ever heard in soundbites, whether it was 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:35.080 on the Project or on Q and A or you 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:37.560 know whatever. You would literally hear one line at a 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:39.720 time from Steve and it only it took him coming 0:10:39.760 --> 0:10:41.680 on time a celebrity, get me out of here. We 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:46.439 could actually hear him debating things with Nazim Hussein or 0:10:46.440 --> 0:10:49.560 whoever else he was talking to, and he actually went, ah, okay, 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:51.839 I might still not disagree with them, but at least 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:54.199 im now I get his point, or I naturally now 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:56.840 do agree with him. And it is that the sort 0:10:56.840 --> 0:10:59.280 of show that gives people the ability to do that. 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:02.400 I like to think that we really show the real 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:05.080 side of the celebrities. Look at Divina Rankin in this series. 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:09.000 You know, Devena was the bitch from Help, you know, 0:11:09.480 --> 0:11:12.679 after Maths. It took her coming into the Jungle and 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:15.839 you know, jumping off a bloody tower and hanging out 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:18.320 with some other nice people to show that it's actually, 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:21.200 you know, a real human and in fact not a 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:21.800 bit at all. 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:24.400 And it's and it's becoming harder and harder to keep 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:26.880 that kind of stuff. I mean, there was a moment 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:31.280 that the television commentary website TV Tonight highlighted and that 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:34.400 we get to see genuine conversation in this format, which 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:37.520 is becoming rare and rarer amongst you know, the reality 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:41.280 TV space. Is there ever a pressure to say hurry 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:43.440 things up or to make things faster paced? 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:47.040 No, no, no one. I'm a celebrity again credit to 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:49.720 Channel ten. You know, of course you've got the opener, 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:52.200 which is Tonight you know, boom boom, boom, boom boom, 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:54.760 and it's you know, fast grabs and big paste. But 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:58.080 you know, the feel of I'm a Celebrity is, you know, 0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:00.240 you're in the jungle with them, You're living in this 0:12:00.360 --> 0:12:03.199 experience with them. So of course we have to edit 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:05.360 within an inch of its life because it's twenty four 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:08.000 hours cut down to ninety minutes. But no, there's not 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:11.439 really been any pressure on you know, that conversation that 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:15.360 you're referring to that David Knox wrote about between Nathan 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:18.440 Buckley and Derek Kicktt was you know fantastic. 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:25.040 That's part of history. You can't deny that, you can't 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:25.520 hide from it. 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:27.720 So do you think how do we move forward if 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:29.880 we're getting taught in schools and if. 0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:32.199 It's going to be taught in schools. But also the 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:37.640 government has to acknowledge and say, yeah, we know that 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:40.640 we stuffed up and we made the mistake and we 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:43.400 had all this policy in places with the genocide and 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:46.040 try to wipe out the aven your people, and it's 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:46.640 a long way to go. 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:49.840 It's a long way. 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:55.880 In all honesty, we could have probably shown more of it. It's, 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:58.400 you know, an important conversation. Those are the sort of 0:12:58.400 --> 0:13:00.360 conversations that we that we welcome on the show. The 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:01.959 hardest thing with our a celebrity is going to be 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:05.120 that we're running out celebrities. That's I mean, that's the truth. 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:07.839 And we were eight seasons in how good are you 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:10.920 at Maths? Right? Seasons in let's say fourteen celebrities a series? 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:12.240 What's that that's going to be there's got to be 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:13.720 one hundred celebrities that we've used. 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:17.720 Now, yeah, Math's not probably my forte but I would 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:21.439 say that you've probably burned through one hundred celebrities by now. 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:24.640 Yeah, well, well I reckon one hundred celebrities we've used 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:27.840 and you know, and now you've got sas and you 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:32.160 know Celebrity Printers and you know Master Chieft of the 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:36.800 Celebrity Series and Survivor and talk about doing celebrities and 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:40.080 you know Big Brother Vip and you know, god knows 0:13:40.120 --> 0:13:43.880 what else is selibrity lego masters. I mean, you know, 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:47.760 in a a in a country where there's already a 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:51.640 pretty shallow celebrity pool, we've now got four or five 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:54.640 celebrity shows all vying for this for the same people. 0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:57.680 It's not easy, but I like to think that we've 0:13:57.760 --> 0:13:59.520 we've got it right, like we've got it right the 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:01.800 certain the last four years in a row, and we'll 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:04.280 get it right again next year because we know that 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:07.040 it is all about those characters. If you don't like 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:09.280 those characters, you will not watch a show. If you 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:11.720 like them, you will. It is as simple as that. 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:15.439 You know, with the actual challenges, trials, you know, et cetera. 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:19.000 You know they're becoming more elaborate. What is one that 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:21.840 you would never do? What's one that you would say 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:23.920 I'm a celebrity. Get me out of here. 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:27.040 Oh my god. Although I mean I wouldn't do any 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:29.640 of them. I'm the biggest pussy in the world. I 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:31.840 ate a scorpion wants just to show that I was 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:34.680 part of the team. That was my first year as 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:39.000 an EP. I decided to show the you know, the 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:41.880 team that I was one of the people, and I 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:44.240 ate a scorpion when we were testing on the eating trials. 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:46.920 I'll never do that again. But oh god, no, the 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:50.520 skydiving and the bungee jumping and you know, they're getting 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:54.200 covered in the ship and I'm sorry, but the celebrities 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:56.640 have paid a decent amount of money to do the show. 0:14:56.640 --> 0:14:58.360 That's not my job. Someone else can do it. There's 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:01.640 not a chance I'd do it. So yeah, So there's. 0:15:01.400 --> 0:15:04.440 Not one challenge that is still giving you nightmares all 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:07.760 these years later. I mean, I've watched the show every series, 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:10.880 and while the challenges get more and more elaborate each year, 0:15:11.360 --> 0:15:13.560 there was this one that you did back in Africa, 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:16.880 which was like on this cliff top and I remember 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:19.520 thinking at home, you can't do this to people. 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:21.840 I'll tell you a story about that day. So that's 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:25.200 that trial was called Trouble Bath and for anyone listening, 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:26.720 basically what we ended up doing was put them in 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:29.400 a bath tub and they went down a kind of 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:32.680 a ramp and they thought that they were going to 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:34.800 go off the edge of this cliff. But what in 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:37.120 fact happens the bath stopped and tipped a little bit, 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:39.080 and then you just kind of laughed at their reaction, 0:15:39.160 --> 0:15:42.240 but it was still terrifying because this cliff Africa, it's 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:46.280 called Maurice Corp. It's like thirteen hundred meters off the ground, 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:49.880 like it is a proper mountain, and they're all shit 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:52.040 their pants and it was all hilarious. And now the 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:55.440 actual story about that day is that a fog rolled 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:58.680 in and we were unable to do what we were 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:01.640 supposed to do, which was that they were actually going 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:04.720 to be harnessed to a helicopter, So they were going 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:06.720 to the bath was going to run down the track 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:09.880 and tip them, and they were actually going to go 0:16:09.880 --> 0:16:12.120 off the edge of the cliff. But they were but 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:14.840 they were picked up and attached to a helicopter which 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:16.600 was then going to lift them and drop them a 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:19.680 couple hundred meters down down the road. So it was 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:23.520 actually more full on than that it ended up being. 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:27.040 But the fog ended up killing that idea. But hey, 0:16:27.240 --> 0:16:28.920 it worked and how you remember it. So it was 0:16:28.920 --> 0:16:31.040 obviously a bloody con travel. Yes, I wouldn't have done 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:34.120 that one that I've never seen it control them all 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:37.400 with their heart and their mouth as much was two 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:41.560 years ago. So it was Miguel Mith, Warhurst, Tom Williams, 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:45.280 and I want to say, Ryan Gallagher and Charlotte Crosby 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:48.240 and they were jumping out of a helicopter attached to 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:51.560 a bungee cord and then literally getting dangled upside down 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:54.440 and delivered a few one hundred meters down the road. 0:16:54.840 --> 0:16:57.400 So Charlotte said no, Charlotte said I'm slip to get 0:16:57.400 --> 0:16:59.520 me out of it straight away, and she didn't do it. 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.920 I think Miguel went first, and we were all watching 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:08.320 from the control and honestly, my heart was pounding. We'd 0:17:08.359 --> 0:17:11.400 never done bungee and helicopters before, and you know, all 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:13.920 these horrible thoughts go through your head. And then Miguel's 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:15.560 got safely on the ground. But then it was Myth. 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:19.120 Because everyone loves Myth Warhurst. It was like, please, can 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:22.080 we not kill Myth Warhurst. Luckily we didn't. You know, 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:25.080 obviously all the trials are incredibly safely, like they just 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:28.399 go through so many pairs of hands of safety and 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:30.479 everyone got on the ground safety. But bloody hell, that 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:33.280 was a like that. That was a twenty five cigarette 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:34.200 and three hours day. 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:37.240 Is it also tempting with pre records to take advantage 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:40.359 of controlling some of those elements or heightening the situation 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:43.119 with production to make the show look more elaborate? 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:47.040 That that looked budgetary constraint, Skinner, Look, I'm a celebrit, 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:48.159 get me out of here as a twenty four hour 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:50.440 turn around show, and truth be told, whether it's pre 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:53.320 recorded or twenty four hour turnaround, the budget is the same. 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:56.359 So the answer to that is no, based on purely 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:59.160 on mommy just so you know and everybody knows. Yes, 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:00.800 it's pre recorded and you know it might have been 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:02.199 in the camp a couple of months ago. But we 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:05.320 make the show in exactly the same way. The celebrities 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:07.359 are in the camp every day and we make an 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:10.720 episode every single day. That's why it looks and feels 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:13.160 the same as it does when it's in South Africa. 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:16.120 They still give themselves twenty four hours to cut an 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:18.879 episode by In fact, it's less than that and deliver 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:21.680 an episode, and that's why it looks and feels the same, 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:24.240 So there is no less pressure. In fact, there's even 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:28.600 more pressure to deliver a pre recorded season than alive one. 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:31.359 It is funny though, because on some of these shows 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:34.240 these days that are pre recorded, they take advantage of saying, 0:18:34.240 --> 0:18:36.800 you know, climbing through the air vents, which of course 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:39.439 would never happen. And I kind of thought, you know, 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:42.560 with you this year that you may have staged a 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:44.960 part of Poe's entrance where she sort of fell through 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:47.399 the ground and ended up in this bunker. But that 0:18:48.040 --> 0:18:50.600 I thought surely was stage. But then I was told that, 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:53.480 you know, that was all real, and Poe really had 0:18:53.520 --> 0:18:56.760 no idea what was going to happen, and she absolusolutely 0:18:56.760 --> 0:18:57.800 slipped into this bunker. 0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:01.919 That's correct. Poe and and Joey all had no idea 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:06.000 what they were sliding down into. So yes, that's correct. 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:08.240 So look, there are some very elaborate builds. We have, 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:10.720