I’m A Celebrity trends: What does it take to be crowned king or queen of the jungle?
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I’m A Celebrity trends and betting odds
I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! is back for a 23rd series, with a new batch of famous faces set to battle it out to be crowned King or Queen of the Jungle.
The 2023 line-up is headlined by broadcaster and former politician Nigel Farage, with This Morning host Josie Gibson, First Dates star Fred Sirieix, Britney Spears’ sister Jamie Lynn and Made In Chelsea’s Sam Thompson among the other celebrities bidding for votes Down Under.
We have analysed every haggard contestant, stomach-churning trial and tearful exit in the show’s history to work out what it takes to win.
Will we see a King or Queen of the Jungle?
I’m A Celebrity has crowned 12 Kings and 10 Queens of the Jungle since Tony Blackburn won its inaugural run back in 2002.
While the first decade of the show was dominated by men, with eight of the first 11 winners being proclaimed King, women have garnered the popular vote in recent years.
Seven of the last 11 series have produced a Queen of the Jungle, with 2022 victor Jill Scott maintaining a trend that has seen six women triumph compared with two men since 2015.
TV presenter Josie Gibson – currently priced as 3/1 favourite – appears the most likely to follow in the footsteps of previous female winners, although there are a host of male contenders on her heels in the early betting stakes.
Sirieix, Farage, Thompson and rumoured late entrant Frankie Dettori are all priced in single digits.
It would be foolish to rule out this year’s would-be Kings, with 19 men having reached the final in the last 10 series, compared with only 11 women.
How much does age matter?
There is a 33-year age gap between the youngest and oldest contestants in 2023. YouTuber and social media influencer Nella Rose is the baby of the group at the age of 26, while former UKIP and Brexit Party leader Farage is the senior statesman at 59.
History favours Rose’s chances of going far, with 33 per cent of competitors in their 20s having finished first, second or third, compared with just 12 per cent who were one of the first three to depart the jungle.
Farage – meanwhile – is aiming to reverse a trend that has seen 26 per cent of over-50s make an early exit, compared with 15 per cent who were part of the final three.
Which types of celebrity do best?
As ever with I’m a Celebrity, this year’s campmates have embarked on wildly different career paths on their way to becoming famous.
Results from previous series bode well for former singer and member of JLS Marvin Humes, with 37 per cent of musicians to enter the jungle having finished in the top three.
Reality TV stars and social media influencers have done almost as well in terms of final appearances (36 per cent), but they have also divided opinion with 43 per cent having been one of the show’s first three departures.
On the other hand, Farage must rely solely on Matt Hancock for inspiration. The ex-Health Secretary became the first politician to make the show’s final last year, with four of his seven predecessors – Robert Kilroy-Silk, Lembit Opik, Nadine Dorries and Kezia Dugdale – having exited in the first three eliminations.
Who has done the most Bushtucker trials?
One area in which Farage might be more reluctant to emulate Hancock is in his popularity for taking on the show’s infamous Bushtucker trials.
The Conservative MP had insects and slime poured over him in the first of his six trials in consecutive days following his arrival in the jungle. He eventually racked up 11 Bushtuckers in total, which is the second most in I’m a Celebrity history.
Adam Thomas is the only contestant to have endured more trials than Hancock in a single series, with the former Emmerdale actor having participated in 12 of the show’s challenges in 2016.
Being the public’s Bushtucker favourite is no bad thing – all seven celebrities who took part in 10 or more trials finished in the top three – but it rarely leads to overall victory.
Scarlett Moffatt and Jacqueline Jossa, of Gogglebox and Emmerdale fame, are the notable exceptions as winners of series 16 and 19 respectively. Jossa impressed viewers by winning 76 stars across her 10 trials, the most of any celebrity to appear on the show.
How often do we see a late arrival reach the final?
Although the initial line-up of 10 contestants has been announced, I’m A Celebrity has a long-held tradition of adding extra campmates during the first week of a new series.
Jockey Frankie Dettori and ex-boxer Tony Bellew are rumoured to be this year’s late arrivals, and recent history suggests that one or both could be a decent bet to reach the final.
Six of the last nine series have seen a late arrival finish in the final three, including 2015 winner Vicky Pattison. The reality TV star is one of two champions to join the show late, alongside Christopher Biggins who was King of the Jungle in 2007.
Biggins bucked an initial trend of early exits by celebs who entered camp after everyone else, with 21 out of 22 fellow late arrivals between series 4 and 13 having finished outside the show’s top three.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
