ITV has ditched the iconic Palazzo Versace Hotel from this year’s I’m A Celebrity… with evicted stars and their families now booked into a local Marriott instead.
The show’s cast has checked into the glitzy, £1,000 a night resort after their stint in camp ever since the show first moved to Queensland, Australia 18 years ago, for its third series in 2004.
Now they’ll relax at a hotel called the JW Marriott Gold Coast Resort and Spa, where rooms start at £256 and offer a fresh, modern look.
A telly insider said: “ITV has used the Versace ever since the series came to Queensland in 2004. Those classic scenes of the muddy, exhausted celebs arriving in the glamorous, gleaming lobby are part of I’m A Celeb’s very fabric.
“The new hotel is lovely, but just different to the bouji opulence of the Versace, which is so well-known to viewers.”
ITV says the change is part of an overhaul of the show’s many elements after its time away from Australia during the pandemic.
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The channel was forced to stage the programme in Gwrych Castle, north Wales in 2020 and 2021.
A show source told The Sun: “We’re constantly looking at ways to refresh the show and being away from Australia during the pandemic gave us the opportunity to look at all aspects of the show including the hotel the celebrities stay in upon their jungle exit – for the new series we’ll be using a different hotel on the Gold Coast.”
One of the JW Marriott’s high-end suites with an ocean view costs around £650 a night, so even the most demanding of this year’s cast will cost less for ITV to accommodate.
This year’s cast includes big names like Boy George and the show’s first ever Royal signing, Mike Tindall.
So far Hollyoaks’ hunk Owen Warner, Love Island’s Olivia Attwood, Corrie’s Sue Cleaver and radio DJ Chris Moyles have landed on the Gold Coast ready to check into camp after completing a seven day quarantine.
The first show will air on November 6.
