THE RUNDOWN
- I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! Australia has returned for a 2026 season.
- The show has a new eviction format with contestants evicting each other throughout the season.
- The finale is voted on by the public with three pre-recorded “winner” episodes filmed beforehand.
- I’m a Celeb screens on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday on Channel 10 and 10Play.
Australia’s most chaotic reality experiment is back, with I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! returning for its 2026 season. Filmed once again in South Africa and hosted by the ever-reliable duo Robert Irwin and Julia Morris, the new season has already delivered on tension, culture-clash casting and more than a few squeamish moments.
This year’s jungle lineup for I’m a Celebrity includes a mix of nostalgic TV favourites, internet heart-throbs and reality TV veterans — with early fan attention quickly settling on names like Love Island Australia alum Matt Zukowski (also known as Tammy Hembrow’s former flame) and BookTok favourite Luke Bateman and new addition George Calombaris. But while viewers are already forming strong opinions about who deserves to stay, the mechanics of elimination have changed dramatically in 2026.
If you want to know who has been evicted on I’m a Celebrity or how eliminations are actually working, here’s what you need to know.
The biggest shift this season has nothing to do with snakes or spiders — it’s how the show has been made. For the first time in the Australian series’ history, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! was fully pre-recorded before airing, meaning the traditional nightly public votes are no longer driving eliminations in real time.
With live-voting scrapped, contestants will vote among themselves to decide on who faces the Tucker Trial, a change that’s guaranteed to ratchet up tension amongst the campers. How much drama did it cause? New contestant, former MasterChef judge George Calombaris, says the system has posed some challenges, but overall the group found a way to keep things (mostly) civil. “The new format for putting celebrities into trials, which end up being eliminations, meant that we had to make those decisions. What we had to work out very quickly was a good way to do it nicely and fairly,” Calombaris told ELLE Australia. “Occasionally, it does get a little bit itchy, but can I say, we do it really well.”
But it’s not all left to contestants. The public will have a chance to have their say. Three pre-recorded “winning” episodes were filmed with the three finalists and the audience will vote on their favourite live. This means that finalists flew home from filming without knowing if they were winners or not.
Morris has described the new format as a way to inject unpredictability back into the camp itself, while Irwin has emphasised that the core spirit of the show — endurance, resilience and unlikely friendships — remains intact. The result is a season that feels more tightly produced, but arguably more psychologically intense, as contestants no longer have a clear sense of how they are being received outside the jungle.
At the time of writing, no celebrities have been eliminated from I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! Australia 2026. Despite teasers suggesting looming departures, all campmates remain in the jungle so far, with no official exits confirmed on-air. Because the season was pre-recorded, eliminations will be revealed episode-by-episode rather than driven by live audience voting, meaning viewers will need to wait for each broadcast to learn who has been sent packing.
While the full cast spans television, comedy, sport and online culture, early attention has centred on a handful of familiar faces. Matt Zukowski, Tammy Hembrow’s former husband, has arrived with reality TV experience firmly under his belt, while Luke Bateman’s BookTok popularity has made him one of the most talked-about campmates online. Alongside them are recognisable Australian personalities and legacy stars, creating a dynamic cast that’s diverse and primed for comedy (and friction!).
As the season unfolds, it’s clear that endurance alone won’t decide who makes it to the end. Personality, adaptability and how contestants navigate the new elimination structure may matter more than ever.
Deni Hines
Last night we had our first celebrity leave the jungle, but it wasn’t exactly an eviction. The singer chose to leave and revealed to TV Week that she was unprepared for the jungle lifestyle, both physically and mentally.
On the show, Deni announced that she was suffering constipation from the bland diet of rice and beans. “I want to leave the jungle because I can’t s**t. I can’t rice and beans again I refuse to sit in the long drop longer than five minutes and I know when it happens it will be longer than five minutes. So I’m a celebrity get me out of here please. I want to go to a real toilet,” she said in the diary room.
But there weren’t just lifestyle reasons behind the announcement.
“I spend a lot of time by myself. I’m not used to being around so many people in such a small space with so much chatter,” the pop-star continued.
Deni also clashed with former Married At First Sight star Cyrell, who said she didn’t recognise her and asked if she was a singer, referencing her more famous mother, iconic Australian singer Marcia Hines. Deni, meanwhile, criticised Cyrell for hogging the mirror.
Cyrell was left unimpressed with Deni’s remarks and accused her of “always having something to say”.
“Oh, you’re feisty, aren’t you?” Deni raged.
“I am very feisty, very, very feisty,” Cyrell said, before Deni told her to “watch” herself.
“You’re boring me, please don’t talk to me,” Cyrell then fumed.
“You don’t know me, so don’t assume, and if you want to know me, Google me when you get home,” Deni snapped.
Cyrell, meanwhile, told TV Week that “I bit my tongue, but she’s very in your face and there’s only so much a person can take.”
Deni told the publication that BookTok favourite Luke will have her vote for the jungle crown. “I want Luke to win this. He is such a gentleman. He is such a beautiful boy. He’s only 30, he’s just a baby but no one does it better than Luke.”
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! Australia airs on Network 10, with episodes also available to stream on 10 Play. New episodes screen Monday to Wednesday at 7:30pm and on Sunday nights at 7:00pm.
The 2026 season of I’m a Celebrity Australia was filmed in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.
