I’m a Celebrity: Ant and Dec praise ‘monumental effort’ to get show back on screens

Series has not aired a new episode since Friday after filming was hit by Storm Arwen

Ant and Dec have praised the efforts of I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here’s crew to restore the show to screens.

The long-running reality series is currently airing its 21st series, which is being filmed for the second year running in Gwrych Castle, Wales.

Producers were forced to cancel episodes over the weekend and on Monday night (27 -29 November), after extreme weather conditions related to Storm Arwen impacted the area.

The series is returning to screens tonight (30 November), however, with the show’s hosts attributing the swift return to a “monumental effort” by producers and crew.

Appearing on This Morning, the presenting duo (full names Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly) said: “We got a call on Saturday morning to say that basically the wind had pretty much destroyed the tech base, the marquees had come down, trees had been felled, boulders had moved so the site was unsafe.

“They could have quite easily said there was too much damage done to the production base and that we won’t be able to get back on air but they worked round the clock, the team have been magnificent.

It was stressed that the castle itself was “absolutely fine”, and the celebrities were removed because it would have been “mean” keeping them cooped up in the castle without cameras rolling.

“So it was decided to take them out of the castle and put them into single quarantine like we had them before they went into the show, so they have no phones, no internet, they are completely cut off from the rest of the world, just how we like it,” they continued.

Ant and Dec, as seen on ‘I’m a Celebrity' (ITV)

“Interestingly, they were all gutted – they have been in there for the best part of a week and they’ve all really bonded. They were absolutely gutted to leave and they were like ‘just get us back in there as soon as you can’.”

The topic of Richard Madeley’s sudden exit from the show was also discussed.

Madeley was rushed to hospital last week after falling ill on the show’s set. Due to breaking the strict Covid restrictions, he was then unable to re-enter the programme.

“We have tried to get him for so long and every year we were battering him to do it and this year he finally said yes, and he unfortunately had a bit of a funny turn and had to come out,” said Ant and Dec.

“It was just that he had broken the restrictions, which was just so frustrating.”

I’m a Celebrity continues tonight at 9pm on ITV.