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ITV’s hopes that I’m A Celebrity could return Down Under to the jungle have been dealt a blow – after the Australian government said they don’t expect their borders to reopen until 2022.
In the country’s budget plan this week it confirmed in documents that “inbound and outbound international travel is expected to remain low through to mid-2022, after which a gradual recovery in international tourism is assumed to occur”.
It means the hit series could well return to be held at Gwrych Castle in Wales for a second time this November.
Aussie Prime Minister Scott Morrison said this week he did not believe Australians had an “appetite” for opening borders if it meant having to deal with more coronavirus outbreaks, lockdowns and social restrictions.
“We have to be careful not to exchange that way of life for what everyone else has,” he said.
In a later post on Facebook, he warned borders would only be opened “when it is safe to do so”.
For ITV to be able to go to Australia now to film the show under the current rules, each member of cast and crew as well as celebrity contestants coming from the UK would need to apply for individual exemptions to travel.
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They would each have to explain to the government how they are “delivering services in sectors critical to Australia’s economic recovery, where no Australian worker is available”.
Talks are thought to be ongoing at ITV and a source told the Mirror: “I’m A Celebrity will happen this year it is just a case of deciding the location.
“We have contingencies and plans for all options and a decision will be made summer.”
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Previously it was thought a final decision needed to be made by September but the news from Australia this week may change things.
A delay in getting vaccine doses sent to Australia is partly to blame for the border closures and it means the ITV series is more likely to be filmed at Gwrych Castle near Abergele in North Wales.
The ruins were the home of the show last year, and ITV is understood to already have an agreement in place to return in 2021 as a back up in case going to the Australian outback was not an option.
The celebrity contestants would normally fly out to Australia in November to start the show.
But Australia’s national airline Quantas has now delayed its plans to restart international flights by at least two months, after the federal government pushed back its schedule.
It’s international flights will now take-off from late December instead of the planned restart at the end of October, which would have been just in time for ITV.
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Last week Ant and Dec said plans were “up in the air” for the series this year but insisted it would not be an issue if they did return to Wales.
Dec said they were “made to feel very welcome” and Ant added: “Having the castle as a backdrop really helped with the challenges and the reference points, and I think all the celebs who were in there absolutely loved it. So we would happily go back to Wales if we had to.”
The tourism sector has slammed the Australian government for its vague plans on borders, suggesting Australia could become the “hermit kingdom of the South Pacific”.
Delays in the vaccine rollout, one of the main reasons for the block on travel, have been blamed on supply pressures and changing health advice.
Currently on the official Australian government website it states: “Australia’s borders are closed. The only people who can travel to Australia are Australian citizens, permanent residents, immediate family members and travellers who have been in New Zealand territory for at least 14 days."
One reason for exemption is “delivering services in sectors critical to Australia’s economic recovery” and that includes “film, media and television production where no Australian worker is available” which would at least give ITV the option of applying to try to get the show made there, but with no guarantees everyone needed for the show would receive exemptions.
- ITV
- Im A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here
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