I’m A Celeb: 'Dangerous' thunderstorms threaten production, here's everything we know

Panic rocked the camp of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here yesterday after a thunderstorm struck the set during production. The ITVhit series' crew members were forced to halt preparations at the camp to avoid danger during the chaotic incident. The site was heavily flooded, with water gushing out of contestants' sleeping quarters, soaking all of their utensils, and also causing other inconveniences. The event forced officials to halt production for everyone's safety.

There was no severe damage

Fortunately, no one was injured, but work was suspended for 24 hours, causing massive delays. This happened after their first challenge, which required them to walk along a cliff's edge. A source told The Sun,

The camp was closed yesterday due to the extreme rain. No staff were allowed on site because it was too dangerous.

They were told to get out of the area and totally downed tools.

It meant a precious day of preparation was lost as crew faced a race against time to get the site ready.

But they were all back on site today, so fingers crossed they can make up the lost time.

Speaking to The Sun, an ITV official also said,

We closed site for 24 hours as a precautionary measure due to the inclement weather.

Weather forecast

The show seems to have set off on a bleak note, and might end that way as this incident will most likely not be the last. This is because thunderstorms are reportedly expected to threaten the highly anticipated series during the filming.

According to The Mirror, the Australian government’s Bureau of Meteorology issued a warning earlier on Saturday forecasting severe thunderstorms for South East Queensland in the coming hours. The warning stated:

Damaging winds and large hailstones are likely.

And a TV insider added:

There’s a huge storm coming - the campmates are going to be thrown in the deep end with the Aussie weather. They haven't seen anything yet.

Though the Bureau of Meteorology’s danger area is about 30 kilometers away from the camp, a more localized weather forecast for Murwillumbah shows a 90% chance of rain this evening and a strong chance of severe thunderstorms, The Mirrorreported.

This is not the first time production of the show has been marred by similar conditions. It can be recalled that the previous series, filmed at Gwrych Castle in North Wales, was hampered by Storm Arwen.

However, ITV officials say they are closely monitoring and are well prepared to avoid any unforeseen calamity. This is what a spokesperson told The Mirror:

We monitor the weather on an hour by hour basis and we have contingency plans in place for all eventualities.

I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here was originally supposed to be aired on November 21st, the exact time it was shown last year. However, bosses of the show moved it forward to November 6th to avoid it conflicting with the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.

Sources used:

The Sun: 'I’m A Celebrity thrown into chaos as camp is flooded just days before show launch'

The Mirror: 'I'm A Celebrity chaos as severe storm causes terrible flood that destroys camp'

Read more:

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