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‘You’re not even allowed to know the time!’ I’m a Celebrity’s strict, hidden rules revealed

Dominique Hines
·2-min read
Jennie Bond has spilled the jungle beans that I’m a Celeb keeps from the audience (ITV)
Jennie Bond has spilled the jungle beans that I’m a Celeb keeps from the audience (ITV)

I’m a Celebrity’s contestants have to adhere to a series of strict rules that are hidden from viewers.

Series three runner-up Jennie Bond revealed that celebs are given survival training before the show starts, are woken up with a loudspeaker and are never allowed to know the time. The TV host, 72, exclusively revealed some surprising revelations about camp dynamics that fans of the show do not ever see or hear about.

"You get woken up by some loudspeaker at some unearthly hour. And then you’ve got hours and hours and hours and hours to do nothing,” the former BBC journalist told the Sun.

Former royal correspondent Jennie Bond pictured ‘losing it’ in series three (ITV)
Former royal correspondent Jennie Bond pictured ‘losing it’ in series three (ITV)

"You’re not allowed to know what time it is," she added.

Bond starred on series three of the show – one of the most talked-about in the whole run – alongside the likes of Katie Price and Peter Andre, who famously sparked up a romance after the show.

Bond also explained that the celebrities would often have rows just out of boredom and getting on each other’s nerves, and put themselves forward for tasks just to get away from the camp where they would be stuck for hours on end.

She said: “With trials, this causes a lot of conflict within the camp, actually, and I think particularly with action men like Mike [Tindall], because it’s incredibly boring, the days are so long.

Despite the alleged rows between campmates off-screen, some have struck up unlikely friendships, including this series’ campmates Babatúndé Aléshé and Matt Hancock (ITV)
Despite the alleged rows between campmates off-screen, some have struck up unlikely friendships, including this series’ campmates Babatúndé Aléshé and Matt Hancock (ITV)

“Unless you are voted to do a trial, which may be quite unpleasant but at least it gets you out and about for a few hours."

During her time in the jungle, Bond took part in a string of challenges including eating creatures in the now axed Witchetty Grub task to win meals for camp.

“I must say, I think it is the most real reality show that I know anything about,” she added.

"I really did imagine, like so many people do, when you go in there that, yeah, yeah, you say you’re starving and actually people say: ‘Actually, you’re gonna get a cheese sandwich’ or something behind the scenes.”

"There was and there is nothing. And those portions of rice and beans are tiny. It’s not unlimited. It’s tiny."