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I’M A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here hasn’t even started yet and already some believe they have sussed who will be crowned this year’s jungle champion. 

As the show prepares to kick off in Australia for the first time in two years, the official line-up has been revealed. While there are definitely some fan favourites forming before even watching a second of a bushtucker trial or life inside the camp, there’s one person who seems primed to come out on top. 

This year's campers are getting ready to kick off the 2022 series
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This year's campers are getting ready to kick off the 2022 seriesCredit: ITV
Ant and Dec will be back for more trouble
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Ant and Dec will be back for more troubleCredit: Rex
Owen Warner is the statistically most likely contestant to win
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Owen Warner is the statistically most likely contestant to win

According to statistics, there are apparently three front runners for the winner’s slot – and the answer may surprise you. If they do win, it’ll be a career game-changer for their career. 

Odds experts believe comedian Babatunde Aleshe and music legend Boy George will be in the running, but the chances are Hollyoaks actor Owen Warner will go home as the champion. 

According to historical data of previous I’m A Celebrity winners, 90% of jungle champions are in the original line-up, with late additions coming in at a massive disadvantage. 

So that rules out comedian Seann Walsh, and the newly-announced Matt Hancock, who is already been lined-up for a series of bushtucker trials by viewers and come under fire for being granted special permission to talk with the outside world. 

Men are also statistically more likely to be the winner, but only just. 

Twelve (57%) of winners were male, while nine (43%) were female. Of this, 20% have been soap stars, most recently Emmerdale’s Danny Miller, who won the 2021 series

They’re also typically younger stars out of the campers. 

So as Owen is a young, male soap actor who is an original member of the group, the 23-year-old seems primed to do well while in the jungle. 

However… that obviously comes with a catch. There is also another big factor in the popularity of the contestants – and that’s their performance in the notoriously gruelling bushtucker trials. 

The statistics show campers who go on to be crowned the king/queen of the jungle perform well under this kind of pressure. Most tellingly, winners nearly always come through for the rest of their group, winning between 80-100% of the available stars they’re fighting for whenever they have to step up to the challenges. 

This year’s series kicks off on Sunday evening, where we’ll see the cast take on their first missions to even make it into camp. 

Even this alone has previously been a breaking point for stars, with Jordan North iconically vomiting in 2021 as he struggled to abseil down a cliff. 

Elaine Lordon repeatedly fainted during season five and was forced to quit after two days, and Gemma Collins also broke down in the helicopter on the way into camp, and quit after three days in season 14. 

I'm A Celebrity starts Sunday at 9pm on ITV.

Boy George has also been placed as a likely fave
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Boy George has also been placed as a likely faveCredit: ITV
Comedian Babatunde could find himself a fan favourite too
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Comedian Babatunde could find himself a fan favourite tooCredit: ITV
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