Filming location
2022–)
The UK, German and the 2003 US versions of the series take place in New South Wales, Australia, at a permanently-built up camp and filming studios on a disused banana plantation facility called Dungay Creek in Dungay near Murwillumbah. [2] However, the first UK series of the show (aired in 2002) was filmed on a smaller site close to King Ranch (officially El Rancho del Rey) in Cardstone, [3] with a temporary studio built on the banks of Kooroomool Creek, [4] near Tully, Queensland, in Australia. [5] For the fifth British series in 2005, there were reportedly plans to relocate the show to the coastal town of Cardwell (also in Queensland); however these were subsequently dropped due to logistical problems and time constraints in building the new set and required infrastructure. [6]
The leaseholder of the privately owned Dungay site is the British production company ITV Studios, formerly Granada Television, which extensively redesigned and built on the previously open site and equipped it with camera and sound technology for TV broadcasting. About 600 mostly Australian crew members, including 136 from the UK, are involved in the yearly production and in excess of 100 cameras are used. [7] Inside the entrance to the filming location is an open area allocated to buildings which accommodate on-site medical facilities, containers for the storage of props, and other backstage facilities. Families and friends of the celebrities are housed here each morning during evictions. A restricted access road ascends to the location of the studios from this area. The four-wheel drive access to the show's set then descends into a valley.
In August 2020, it was confirmed that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related travel restrictions, the 20th UK series would be filmed in Gwrych Castle in Abergele, North Wales. [8] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 15th season of the German version was originally planned for 2021 to take place for the first time in the history of the show not in Australia, but in North Wales, at Gwrych Castle. [9] However, on 22 October 2020, it was announced that production in Wales had been cancelled and that broadcaster RTL was working on a new concept. [10] On 2 August 2021, it was announced that, due to Australia's border remaining closed amid COVID-19 restrictions in the country, filming for the UK version would again be taking place at Gwrych Castle in Abergele, Wales. As part of the agreement with Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust, ITV announced it would continue to help support the ongoing restoration project of the site. [11]
The Australian series is usually filmed in Blyde River Canyon near Hoedspruit and Kruger National Park, in South Africa. [12] The seventh season, however, was pre-recorded in Australia during late 2020 at the site used by the British and German versions since 2003. On 18 October 2021, it was announced by RTL that the German version would now be filmed at the same location in South Africa instead of its usual home in Australia, taking the filming slot previously occupied by the Australian version. [13] In September 2022, it was confirmed that ITV would pre-record a special "All-Stars" series in South Africa, featuring former campmates and scheduled to air in 2023. [14]
Other versions of the show have been filmed in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Suriname, Indonesia and Malaysia.
