ITV bring the Legends of the Castle back for I’m a Celebrity retrospective

The 21st series of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! returned to the historic Gwrych Castle, Abergele in North Wales last month, and now the celebs who took part return to reminisce…

Twelve celebrities left their plush pads and luxuries far behind and spent three weeks taking on the surroundings of the castle and Welsh countryside.

This year’s celebrities were Pop Star and Presenter Frankie Bridge, Broadcaster and ex BBC Breakfast host Louise Minchin, Music Producer Naughty Boy, Coronation Street star Simon Gregson, TV Presenter and Journalist Richard Madeley, Olympic Gold Medalist Matty Lee, Paralympic Gold Medalist Kadeena Cox MBE, Football Legend David Ginola, ex EastEnders star Adam Woodyatt, Choreographer Dame Arlene Phillips, Radio 1Xtra DJ Snoochie Shy and Emmerdale Star Danny Miller.

Tonight on ITV they reunite for a look back at their time in the castle of trials and windy tribulations…

 Talking about the helicopter ride to the plank Danny said “I’ve never been in a helicopter in my life and to be taken up there and swung around for what seemed like a lifetime and be sick next to 3 people I didn’t know was just embarrassing.”

Talking about the plank, Louise said “I just can’t explain how terrifying it was because that plank got narrower and narrower and as you got to the end it just bounced” Danny added, “The drop for me was the worst bit, I don’t like the feeling of your stomach dropping.”

Talking about Hellholes, Matty noted, “I was actually really buzzing at this point because I was about to put my hand in a box and that was the moment I knew I was on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!”

Frankie said, “I was excited to get to do the things I’d seen so many people do year in, year out but I was scared about the Trials.”

Attention then turns to The Clink, “I thought the clink would have been a gimmick, that whatever it was it couldn’t be that bad, I couldn’t have been more wrong.” recalled Richard.

Arlene said “It was the grimest of grim, worse than any of us could ever have imagined, the shower was a hell hole.” Talking about doing all of the main camp’s chores, David noted “At one stage I wanted to send back the logs and say do it yourself.” Danny said, “In reality, it was 3-4 days but to us who experienced it, it felt like an eternity, it felt like 4-5 weeks.”

The celebrities then turn their reflections to the dreaded trials. Snoochie said “The one thing that made me really prettified was the cow’s nose. It wasn’t just a nose, it was the fur bit and it was in a burger, I wasn’t expecting that” Naughty Boy said “The worst one by far was the savage steak out, I thought I’d be coming home with steak, little did I know.” Naughty Boy added, “I became the veteran of doing Trials which meant I had the pressure of providing for camp.”

Talking about the Trials and Challenges, Danny said “I was proud of myself for not backing out of them.” David noted, “If you think they are easy, they are not, they are miles away from that.” Frankie observed, “The Trials were so much harder than I imagined, I had to push myself so far out of my comfort zone and battle my fears.”

Of course, time in the castle for the iconic This Morning presenter Richard Madeley came to an unexpectedly early end, when he was shooed out of the castle to hospital – in what some have called a desperate publicity stunt on ITV’s part to get press coverage and boost falling ratings at Richard’s expense – when he suffered a minor illness. Due to Covid rules he was then unable to return to the camp.

“I think what happened was, I can only describe it as a funny turn, so I was carted off to hospital.”, Richard noted. Arlene said, “It was really hard for me when Richard left because he was my friend, my ally and he was closest to my age, I had a hard time picking myself up from that.”

And if Richard had been a bit of a stunt, it was entirely un-needed as just after a Storm Arwen caused chaos to the castle site, and took the show off-air with live outings for three days. At this point the tumble of ratings at the start near nine million fell to under five as the gap proved too much for many viewers. Snoochie said “We didn’t know the extent of how bad the storm actually was when we were inside.” Frankie recalled, “I remember walking into the bedroom and there were leaves everywhere, we soon realised things were getting serious when they moved us into the Grand Hall.”

Danny noted, “For me the storm was a massive pause in that whole journey, it was something I was gutted about as we’d just started to get used to camp life in this crazy but amazing show.” Kadeena said, “People may think we had an easy ride but I think it made it harder.”

Louise added, “It was weird to be separated and then come back in again but yeah, the storm was part of our stormy journey.”

Despite the fall in ratings, the controversy of Richard’s departure and a storm nearly blowing the show off air, when the final came it seems everyone agreed the King of the Castle was the right choice. Simon said, “I so wanted Danny to have that crown and I couldn’t be happier for him.”

Frankie notes “I knew Danny would be the King of the Caste the minute he stepped foot in the castle. He loves the show” Danny said “Apart from having my son it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It’s a memory I’ll cherish for the rest of my life”

Legends of the Castle airs tonight at 9.00pm on ITV/STV/UTV and ITV Hub/STV Player