News | RTL Group | Cologne/Jungle, 01/10/2022

RTL Jungle Show Starts On January 21 In South Africa

The 15th season of RTL’s hit show “Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!” starts on January 21. This time, however, the reality show takes place not in Australia, but in South Africa. RTL is using a camp near Kruger National Park, where the Australian version of “I’m a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!” was filmed in the past.

Finally, a new jungle show that actually takes place in the jungle. After RTL’s smash hit “Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!” was moved from Australia to the TV studios in Cologne-Ossendorf last year due to Covid, this year it’s back to the real jungle for the 15th season – albeit not to Australia, but to South Africa, near the country’s famous Kruger National Park. The new season starts at 9:30 p.m. on January 21. The twelve stars and starlets who will face the Bushtucker Trials will be accompanied by the tried-and-tested presenter duo Sonja Zietlow and Daniel Hartwich in their usual wisecracking style. Bush doctor Dr. Bob is also on board again to help prepare the contestants for their trials and tribulations.

Lions and leopards instead of koalas and kangaroos


ITV Studios and RTL will stick to the show’s winning concept in northeastern South Africa as well. RTL promises that the 15th anniversary season will be “the greatest adventure of their lives” for the German stars – complete with spectacular Bushtucker Trials. Since 2015, the show’s Australian counterpart “I’m a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!” has been hosted here. As it is not possible to go to the Australian jungle this year either, RTL is making use of the Australians’ camp in South Africa for its German stars to go point-hunting. Designer Harald Glööckler (56), singer Lucas Cordalis (54), “Bachelorette” candidate Filip Pavlovic (27), actresses Tina Ruland (55) and Anouschka Renzi (57), “GZSZ” cast member Eric Stehfest (32), “Prince Charming” candidate Manuel Flickinger (33), and Reality TV starlet Christin Okpara (25) have already confirmed their participation. Meanwhile, as the Australians are no longer filming in South Africa due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in 2019 they moved to Murwillumbah in the Australian state of New South Wales – the very jungle camp where the British and the German version of the international hit format were filmed until then.

Besides tackling the challenges of the South African jungle, which is more like a mixture of bush savannah and tropical rainforest, the candidates will once again be at the mercy of RTL viewers. The viewers phone in their votes to decide who has to face the daily Bushtucker Trials in the first week. The stars will not only get to meet Dr. Bob, but also the odd jungle creepy-crawly. Each day starting in the second week, the celebrity with the fewest calls will have to leave the camp. At that point, the celebrity contestants decide among themselves which of them will have to undergo in the Bushtucker Trials and overcome their fears – because only if they pass the trial successfully will they get anything other than rice and beans to eat.