It’s that time of year when the British public sits down every evening to watch celebrities undergo gruesome bushtucker trials just for their entertainment.
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In the past month, there has been a lot of speculation about who will brave the Australian jungle—some suggesting that Coleen Rooney is among the celebs this year…those rumours were correct.
The annual video introducing the celebrities heading down under has now been shared on the show’s various social media pages. Here is the full list of celebrities taking up the challenge this year.
Who’s on I’m a Celeb 2024?
Coleen Rooney
Up first we have Coleen Rooney, wife of former football star, Wayne Rooney. Coleen, 38, is from Liverpool. In 2019, she made headlines after Rebekah Vardy accused her of leaking personal information about her to the press.
According to rumours, producers are hoping that Rooney will spill the tea on what went down between the two WAGs.
As per Metro, it is said that Coleen could earn up to £5 million, which would make her the highest-paid celebrity on the show. Last year, Nigel Farage was rumoured to have earned £1.5 million for his time in the jungle.
PR expert Lynn Carratt explained:
Coleen could definitely make around £5 million if she does well in fashion and family brands. Asda paid her £3 million back in 2010 to front a George campaign and Littlewoods paid her £2 million.
Adding:
She’ll likely bring out her own fashion edit with one of the affordable brands, which could earn her a big sum.
Coleen has revealed that her husband, Wayne, is ‘supportive’ of her entering the jungle, claiming that if he could, he would also be on the show. She also joked that the footballer won't miss her snoring.
Wayne is supportive, he's fine with it all. If he had the time, he'd have a go.
GK Barry
Next in the celebrity line-up is GK Barry. GK’s real name is Grace Eleanor Keeling. She found her fame through social media, mainly TikTok, as reported by Hello!. Since her rise to fame in 2020, she has amassed 3.6 million followers. Since August, the 25-year-old has become a regular on ITV’s Loose Women.
Dean McCullough
Our third contestant for 2024 is BBC Radio 1 DJ, Dean McCullough. The 32-year-old is from Northern Ireland and hosts the early breakfast show on Radio 1. As reported by Daily Mail, ITV bosses are hoping that Dean will stir up some trouble with his outspoken views.
Danny Jones
In 2024, viewers will get to see another member of the popular band McFly head into the Australian jungle. Lead singer, Danny Jones is our fourth celebrity. You may remember in 2011, Dougie Poynter headed down under. Jones has some big shoes to fill as his bandmate won the show. The 38-year-old is also a judge on The Voice UK.
Oti Mabuse
Up next we have professional dancer, Oti Mabuse. Ballroom fans will know her from Strictly Come Dancing. She was one of the professionals on the show and won in 2019 and 2020. She then left the show and became a judge on ITV’s Dancing on Ice. The 34-year-old dancer is from South Africa. She is also a panellist on The Masked Singer.
Barry McGuigan
It seems that I’m a Celeb has some ‘traditions’ as they always seem to get a boxer in the jungle. This year’s boxer is Barry McGuigan. Nicknamed The Clones Cyclone, the 63-year-old is from Ireland and has a very impressive boxing career. In 1985 he was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
He held the WBA and lineal featherweight titles from 1985 to 1986. He is also the president of the Professional Boxing Association, which he founded.
Tulisa
Our next celebrity is pop singer Tulisa. Tulisa rose to fame in the mid-2000s with the R&B/hip hop group N-Dubz with her cousin Dappy and friend Fazer. She then went on to join The X-Factor judges in 2011. In 2023, Tulisa released her fourth album with N-Dubz.
As per The Sun, Tulisa was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy in 2020. The singer has described her condition as feeling like ‘ants crawling’ along her face.
Alan Halsall
You may be thinking, ‘Wait a minute, Alan Halsall was in the jungle last year’. Well, that was almost the case. It was rumoured that he would appear on the show. However, the Coronation Street star was forced to pull out due to an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, which resulted in major surgery.
As per Daily Mail, Halsall underwent knee surgery in November 2023 and was told that it could take him up to a year to recover.
Melvin Odoom
Our ninth celebrity heading for Australia is Melvin Odoom. The 44-year-old is best known for hosting Kiss FM’s breakfast show as well as the weekly late-night show on BBC Radio 1. Odoom appeared on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2016. According to Daily Mail, Melvin was asked to head to Australia in 2021 but turned it down last minute.
Jane Moore
Our final celebrity so far - not including the high chance of two surprise celebrities, rumoured to be Maura Higgins and Reverend Richard Coles - is Jane Moore. Moore is best known as a panellist on Loose Women, which means she is likely already well acquainted with GK Barry.
Moore is also a columnist for The Sun. She has worked on the Channel 4 programme Dispatches and was a regular contributor to Question Time and The Andrew Marr Show.
As per Mirror, the 62-year-old has been asked to join I’m a Celeb previously but turned down the offer. However, she decided to bite the bullet this year, explaining that she wants an ‘adventure’ after ‘rattling around an empty house with lots of 'me time'.
She also admitted the heartbreaking reason why she decided 2024 was the year to head to Australia. She revealed that ‘close friends have died too young’ adding the sad fact that her mother has Alzheimer's and needs ‘24/7 care’.
The journalist explained that these factors reminded her that life is short.
Added in to the mix is that my elderly mother is living with dementia and is in need of 24/7 care.
Seeing her once vibrant life being slowly eroded by Alzheimer's has brought my own in to sharp focus and, cliché I know, reminded me that our time on this planet is short.
So when this once-in-a-lifetime experience was offered to me again, my immediate thought this time was, 'Why not?'.
Read more:
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Sources used:
Mirror: ‘I'm a Celeb's Jane Moore shares heartbreaking reason why she's taking part in ITV show’
Metro: ‘I’m A Celebrity’s highest-paid stars ever after 2024 campmate ‘set to rake in £5,000,000’
Daily Mail: ‘Corrie legend Alan Halsall is the second I'm A Celeb campmate to arrive in Australia as he fights through pain of knee injury pain to make it to the jungle’
Daily Mail: ‘I'm A Celebrity's 2024 lineup is CONFIRMED! Coleen Rooney and ab-flashing Tulisa get a jungle makeover in first look snaps - but two noticeable names are missing’
Hello!: ‘I'm A Celebrity official 2024 line-up revealed’
The Sun: ‘horrific pain' Inside I’m A Celeb’s star Tulisa’s 12 year health battle that could rule her out of trials’
