I’m A Celeb South Africa is back on our screens for the 2026 series with an incredible line-up of All Stars who have been in the jungle before, but it just doesn’t feel right because the whole thing has been filmed in advance and isn’t live.

There’s no voting for who you want to eliminate, seeing Ant and Dec go into camp or watching the celebs walk along that bridge and emotionally reunite with their loved ones. So, when was the show recorded? And why isn’t it live?

Right, when was I’m A Celeb South Africa 2026 filmed?

The show was filmed over six months ago now, in September 2025, at the Kruger National Park in South Africa, one of the largest game reserves in Africa.

Credit: ITV

This is why I’m A Celeb South Africa isn’t live

The decision to pre-record the All Stars version of I’m A Celeb will mainly be due to operational reasons. It takes a huge amount of time and effort to film, edit and get hour-long episodes out every single night, while also filming live. This requires a huge number of crew members who all have to work around the clock on extreme hours due to the time difference.

Pre-recording the series means they can take a lot more time with the production, having months to edit the episodes together rather than just a few hours, making it a lot easier to make and saving money.

The first I’m A Celeb South Africa series was filmed in July 2022 as a backup, just in case they weren’t able to go back to Australia due to covid restrictions, after the show was filmed in Wales for two years in a row.

“This is a brilliant reserve plan in case Covid restrictions come round again in the Autumn and the cast and crew can’t get Down Under, as has happened for the past two years,” a source told The Mirror. “There is no appetite to go back to Wales. It was great while it lasted but it’s just too dark and damp. Everyone’s had enough, including the viewers.”

However, they were able to go back to Australia as normal, so they ended up airing the All Stars series as an extra one in April and May 2023. “It’s slightly different from the show we do in Australia because they go head-to-head in trials and whoever loses leaves. It’s quite brutal, so that’s how we decided the winner,” Ant previously explained.

It will never be the same as the Australian version, but it’s still entertaining. Mainly because of Gemma Collins.