I'm A Celeb: This is why the series is airing early this year

For the first time in the show's history, I'm a Celeb will be airing three weeks ahead of schedule to avoid clashing with the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

I'm A Celeb: This is when the coming series will air
© Getty/David M. Benett
I'm A Celeb: This is when the coming series will air

In a bid to avoid viewers from having to choose between I'm a Celeb and the much anticipated FIFA World Cup, the former will be airing on 30 October .

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I'm a Celeb vs the FIFA World Cup

A first for the hit reality TV competition I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here, producers of the show have decided to change up its usual scheduling. This year, the show will start airing on 30 October and finish on 20 November—one day before the the start of the FIFA World Cup. The football tournament will be taking place from 21 November until 18 December in Qatar this year. A well connected source explained:

The best thing for viewers was to just avoid the clash altogether. The last thing anyone wants is for the audience to have to choose between the latest from the jungle and an England game.

And added:

Two of ITV's biggest juggernauts—not just of the season but the whole year—are I'm a Celeb and its international football coverage. So it makes sense to keep them apart, and as the World Cup isn't going to budge, it makes sense to move Ant and Dec.

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No more Welsh countryside

The news comes after confirmation by ITV bosses that the show will go back to its jungle roots in Australia and ditch the Welsh countryside. In light of the recent coronavirus pandemic that shook the world in early 2020, the show was forced to change its usual location.

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