Inside I’m A Celebrity’s pre-camp accommodation where wifi is BANNED and phones confiscated

IT’S that time of year again when we all come down with Jungle fever, spending weeks dosing up on all the drama from ITV’s I am a Celeb.

Now that the pics have landed of those famous faces including Coleen Rooney and Maura Higgins, arriving at Brisbane airport in their tracksuits, where do they go before being let loose in the jungle?

Rumour has it they’re put in a top secret luxury hotel with zero contact with the outside world to keep those pesky paps at bay.

Here our two insiders share the lowdown on the all the juicy pre-camp gossip from behind the leaves..

HOTEL NAMES CHANGED

Former X Factor contestant Jake Quickenden who competed on the show in 2014, revealed that hotels were often changed at the last minute to keep the paparazzo off the scent. 

The reality star said that the experience left him feeling like he was in the FBI, as he was in ‘stealth mode’ having to keep his presence a secret. In an interview in 2022, Jake, 36 confessed that he was even forced to swap hotels mid way through.

He said: "They want to keep you under wraps and they don’t want the press knowing who you are or getting a photo of you. So it’s all very like stealth mode.’

THE A-LIST TREATMENT

Before roughing it in the Aussie jungle, the celebs are treated like royalty, as they’re put up in a five-star hotel with saunas, spas and wellness treats.

Jake says all the VIP touches left him feeling like an A-list pop star, as he was given his own suite.

He said: “I felt like Justin Bieber. It was great. I could have just lived in the suites for the whole time. You didn’t even need to leave.’

PHONES BANNED

But all the pampering and luxury could be mistaken for a gilded cage, as stars have their phones confiscated and zero access to the internet. 

This is to stop them from reading any tittle tattle around the show.

"You don’t really have your phone on you because they don’t want you to check who’s going in with you," one star said.

"You can’t really even look at the internet or write on your Instagram or anything like that."

Meanwhile former Strictly star AJ Pritchard, who starred on the show in 2022, revealed that while they were permitted to watch movies, the TV’s in the hotel suites were all unplugged. 

Indeed AJ appeared when it was filmed in Wales post pandemic and he admitted that while he wasn’t locked in his room, he wasn’t allowed to wander outside the hotel.

But he had a chaperone who was able to make last minute trips to the shops on his behalf.

THE LAST SUPPER

Before crunching on creepy crawlies and chowing down on kangaroo in the dreaded bushtucker trials, the celebs are allowed to eat whatever they want in the hotel.

As well as a mini bar full of drinks the celebs have access to the best grub cooked by some top chefs.

AJ said he stocked up on a good meal before entering the camp, he said: “My final meal was a good steak with chips and loads of vegetables. And then I ate loads of cereal bars before going into the castle, I was stocking up.”

Meanwhile Jake said he made sure to fill up on chocolate and burgers and said his final meal before entering the rainforest was a snickers bar.