ITV has finally announced the cast of I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! ahead of its 2026 series – and they’ve bagged a number of big stars.
Given the high calibre of contestants the BBC managed to recruit for The Celebrity Traitors, ITV has been under pressure to pull out the stops when it comes to selecting those heading into the jungle this year. Now, the official line-up is out and fans can expect a Gavin & Stacey star, a member of the Kaiser Chiefs and a former England player.
As previously rumoured, former forward Wayne Rooney will be following in his wife Coleen’s footsteps after she came in second place on the 2024 series. He’ll be joining the likes of TV presenter AJ Odudu, Coronation Street’s Claire Sweeney and social media influencer Sharky.
Now in its 26th series, the series is heading back to the Australian jungle this autumn with Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly hosting once more.
The presenters will likely be hoping for an easier go of things following the biggest showdown in reality TV history between Adam Thomas and Jimmy Bullard, which took place on this year’s all-star series.
Below, you’ll find the full list of stars who’ll be taking part in I’m a Celebrity 2026...
Ade Adepitan
Paralympian Ade Adepitan, 53, will make I’m a Celeb history by becoming the first wheelchair user to compete on the show.
A TV personality and former Team GB basketball player, Adepitan is collaborating with bosses to ensure the camp is adapted for accessibility.
Adepitan, who lost the use of his left leg after contracting polio as a child, will be the third Paralympian to join the series after Hollie Arnold and Kadeena Cox.
“Words like ‘honour’ and ‘privilege’ are ones I feel, but I don’t think they sum it up enough. For me, this is a moment in time,” he said ahead of entering the jungle. “Even if I go out in the first week, I will always be remembered as the person in a wheelchair. I am slightly overwhelmed.
“It’s never been done before, and it never crossed my mind I would be the first! It’s the biggest show on TV and this is a huge opportunity. How often do you get to spend three weeks in the jungle doing this crazy stuff?! This is the sort of thing you dream about as a kid. If someone spoke to my eight-year-old self, he wouldn’t believe it. I know their jaws will hit the ground when kids I grew up with at school watch the programme!”
AJ Odudu
A surprise addition to this year’s list of is Big Brother presenter AJ Odudu, given her busy Big Brother presenting schedule.
But with the social experiment reality series having wrapped on Thursday 5 November, the former Strictly Come Dancing finalist Odudu will be ready to jet off to compete in the jungle.
“I think we have only one life and we might as well live it to the fullest. I want to enjoy all the experiences and do all the things,” Odudu said. “But it is definitely going to be my scariest TV project I’ve ever taken on. It also feels quite weird the tables have turned on me.
“One minute I’m watching all the housemates and people unravel, now I’m the one out of my comfort zone!”
Chloe Burrows
Rising to fame on Love Island in 2021, Chloe Burrows, 31, has spun her time in the villa into a successful broadcasting career.
The host of the Kiss breakfast show, Chloe is swapping the recording studio for the Australian campsite.
Ahead of the show, Burrows said that signing up to I’m a Celebrity was “the easiest yes ever”.
“I’ve watched every single episode. I love I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! It’s like a British Christmas staple and it’s the funniest, loveliest show,” she added. “I’ve had a selfie with Ant & Dec at the NTAs before, but it feels so surreal to be sitting here talking about going on the programme. I am going to be starstruck when I see them in Australia. It’s my favourite place in the whole wide world and where I met my boyfriend.”
Claire Sweeney
Taking on the obligatory soap star spot is Coronation Street star Claire Sweeney, 55, who rose to fame on Brookside and has appeared on stage extensively.
Having recently wrapped her three-year run as Cassie Plummer, Sweeney is joining a long line of Corrie favourites to compete on I’m a Celebrity, including Beverley Callard and Andy Whyment. In fact, Alan Halsall, who competed on the 2024 series, convinced Sweeney to take on the challenge.
“I’m a super fan of this show and I’ve wanted to do it since it started. To finally get to do it is brilliant,” she said. “If I’d been asked to do this 15 years ago, I would have been a different person back then. I’d not had my son, Jaxon, I was fearless and I'd already done a show called Challenge of a Lifetime.
“As I’ve got older and become a mum, you become aware of things. I want to conquer some of those fears. I've also got loads of mates who have done it before. Alan said it was one of the best things he’d ever done. He said: ‘If you ever get the chance to do it, then do it’. And so it was a no-brainer for me when they approached me. I am really excited.”
Jack Skipper
A carpet fitter turned comedian, Jack Skipper, 36, has worked for years on the stand-up circuit while scoring legions of fans online with his viral comedy clips.
The Live at the Apollo star has toured with Russell Kane, as well as appearing on ITV’s The Stand Up Sketch Show.
And if Joel Dommett can use an I’m a Celebrity to launch a presenting career and become a household name, we don’t blame Skipper for wanting to give it a go too.
“Taking part in I’m a Celebrity is mad! I didn’t have to give it a second thought when they approached me,” he said ahead of the 2026 series. “I've watched this programme for years and so I said ‘yes’ straight away. I am most excited about mixing with a good bunch. I was fitting carpets a few years ago, so I will be a bit starstruck when I am in camp. It’s crazy. It is going to be a very surreal, ‘pinch me’ moment standing in front of Ant & Dec in camp. I don’t think it will sink in until I am there.”
Joanna Page
Also heading into the jungle is Gavin & Stacey star Joanna Page, who will be taking part just weeks after her on-screen mum Melanie Walters got the boot on Strictly.
A mother of four, Page, 49, hosts the podcast Lush! with her husband James Thornton.
“I absolutely love the show. I've watched it since it first started and this is my build up to Christmas. This is a once in a lifetime experience,” she said ahead of the series. “I'm very much an impulsive person and I just make a gut decision, so I said ‘yes’ straight away. I like to live in the moment. I won't allow myself to worry and I will deal with it when I’m standing in front of Ant & Dec with a fish eye in my hand!”
Leomie Anderson
A Victoria’s Secret Angel and presenter, model Leomie Anderson, 33, is one of the most internationally-known stars said to have signed up this year.
The host of Glow Up, Anderson got a taste of surviving in difficult circumstances after she took part in Bear Grylls’ Celebrity Bear Hunt on Netflix – although she admits that camping isn’t her forte.
“I went to Glastonbury once and I was going to stay there for five days,” she said. “After day one, I had to drop out. It rained so much, the water spoiled my glamping tent!
“I have a lot of young girls who follow me and I want to show them that they can be more than a pretty face. I definitely want them to know they can get stuck in, they can get dirty, try new things, take risks and truly be themselves.”
Mariella Frostrup
Journalist and Loose Women panellist Mariella Frostrup, 63, is one of the stars competing on I’m a Celebrity this year.
Explaining why she chose to take part, Frostrup said: ”A good 50% of the reason that I am doing this is I am constantly telling other women we should grab our chances. We shouldn’t allow ourselves to be written off at a certain age. So, I think this is me having a taste of my own medicine! I am putting myself through something I am frightened of. I have been wary in the past but this time is right. I want to test myself.”
Ricky Wilson
After years of “politely declining” offers to appear on the show, Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson, 48, has signed up to this year’s series.
The former The Voice coach said that he reckons doing the show will be easy work. “I have been hanging about for years,” he said. “And in the camp, it won’t be hard work because you are just hanging out! I am easygoing and I hope when I arrive it will be a bit like the first day of a new school, where you can be whoever you want to be.”
Sharky
Hoping to follow in the footsteps of reigning King of the Jungle Angryginge is YouTube star Sharky, AKA Sharmarke Mohamud.
In addition to having 1.5 million subscribers of his own, Sharky, 30, is also a member of the Beta Squad, a YouTube collective that also includes The Celebrity Traitors finalist King Kenny.
“I’ve always wanted to do this show but when I was asked, I did go to my family and friends first to see what they thought,” he said ahead of the jungle. “I am full-on on YouTube, but this show is so big and some people may not have heard of me (because they don’t watch Beta Squad). But they told me they thought it would suit me and so I said ‘yes’. Now I have, I’m feeling nervous but also very excited.”
Wayne Rooney
Two years after his wife Coleen came second on I’m a Celebrity, footballer and pundit Wayne Rooney, 41, is following in her footsteps and jetting off to Australia imminently.
It wouldn’t be Wayne’s first foray into reality either, with him and his wife having starred in their own reality show on Disney+ titledThe Real Rooneys.
“It's a show I've always wanted to do,” he said. “Me and Coleen would sit there watching and we both always said: ‘If we were going to do one, it’s the show to do’. Coleen did it a couple of years ago and then this year it came about because of the way it fell – me not being great as a manager! And obviously not working full time as a player has given me time where I could do it, so I thought, why not?”
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