The new season of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Australia – AKA I’m A Celeb – is just around the corner, and co-hosts Julia Morris and Robert Irwin are raring to go!
But before they flew to the South African jungle, both Julia and Robert sat down with The Weekly to talk about all things I’m A Celeb – from whether they already know who the 2025 contestants are to why they consider themselves “Goody Gum Drops…”
Read The Weekly’s full interview with Julia and Robert below!
What are you looking forward to most about the upcoming season of I’m A Celeb?
Julia: Oh my God, just everything about being there.
Robert: I mean, how long do you have? I have a list. I’m so excited to be back in the South African jungle. I mean, it is the most incredible place. It’s a place very near and dear to our hearts. I’m so excited to catch up with our amazing celebrities.
And most of all, I’m excited for all the fun that we’re going to get up to, Julia and I. It’s going to be a crazy time, and my bags are packed and I’m ready. Let’s go.
Julia: Plus, we get to reunite with our South African crew who have become family over the years. And, yeah, it’s a reunion of note whenever we all reconverge in our little sweet bush town.
Julia, this will be your 11th season! How do you keep the energy and humour fresh season after season?
Julia: I just get excited about being paid. What motivates me is that cash coming into the account [laughs].
No, actually, do you know what? This is an incredibly rare, rare thing in show business, in that from morning to noon to night, we are genuinely having fun. And that could not be clearer on camera; you can’t fake it for that long in that type of heat, in that type of environment.
And I think that fun is why every single year, we’re actually seriously desperate to get back there.
And Robert, do you agree? Is the ‘fun’ what made you want to come back for a second season, or was it cash as well?
Robert: [Laughs] I’ll tell you what, after the first season, I was like, ‘If you guys want me back, I will get on a plane right now. I’m ready to go.’ It was just such an incredible opportunity. And as a real fan of the show – I’ve loved it for so long – just to be part of it was awesome. It was really fun.
Julia: There’s not a lot of jobs where you get to flex your comedy chops, your presenting chops, your knowledge chops in terms of what animals are in South Africa.
Robert: Oh, and that’s another thing. We work with an anti-poaching group called The Black Mambas. We’ve helped to fund a lot of their work for a long time, and they’re just amazing. And so to get to go over there and catch up with a lot of the brilliant animal preservation efforts we’ve been part of for decades, it’s a real privilege. It really is.
It’s just, it’s a place that’s becoming a bit of a second home. You know, I was just there last month, and I just love it dearly. It’s really wonderful to be back.
If you two were contestants, what jungle challenge would you refuse to do?
Julia: Oh, signing the contract. I wouldn’t be able to sign the contract. I think that would be my greatest challenge [laughs]. Would you find it a challenge?
Robert: [Laughs] I would find the eating trials quite a challenge. I don’t think I would– nope, that’s a no go for me.
All of the other stuff looks, you know, not really any different to what I do every day. I will say, it is different when you’re starving. I mean, you don’t have food. You have to really earn it. And you’re sitting in one place for 24 hours. I mean, that’s challenging in itself.
There are so many aspects to it that would be incredibly challenging. But for me, the one thing that would just make it impossible is the food trials; I couldn’t get my head around that.
Do you two know which celebrities are heading to the jungle or does Channel 10 keep that secret right up until filming begins?
Julia: We have a tradition where we find out the entire cast list when we arrive. It’s been a sort of ceremony that we’ve done for many, many, many years.
But just by way of life, I think, you know, people contact us saying, you know, ‘Should I go for it?’ or ‘I’ve signed, have I made a mistake?’
So oftentimes, cast members will leak through to our ears. But thank God, I’ve got no memory, otherwise I’d bust it wide open.
You two have such great chemistry on screen, how did you two develop that so quickly?
Robert: Well, it’s nice because I don’t think we ever felt like we had to develop it, because it was pretty much already built in. It was there. You know, we’ve known each other here and there for, well, the better part of a decade, really.
Julia: Easily.
Robert: And so this was the first time we both got to work on something together, which was just so exciting. And I think we instantly knew as soon as we went live that first time, we went, ‘Yeah, this is going to work. This is going to be really awesome.’
Julia: I feel like we have a very similar sense of humor. I think we both; we’re kind of Goody Gum Drops. We’re a nice combination of Goody Gum Drops that get together. There’s just a yumminess that can’t be faked.
Robert: I love that! That’s such a good way of putting it. ‘We are Goody Gum Drops with a yuminess that can’t be faked.’ That is amazing; I love that analogy!
And finally, Robert, do you think Bindi would ever compete on I’m A Celeb?
Robert: [Laughs] No.
Julia: To be fair, I think Bindi has proven herself for just about her entire life that she is resilient beyond most recognition.
Robert: Whether or not she could do it isn’t a question. She would absolutely romp it in; she would be incredible. I’d be so proud of her doing it. But I tell you what, I don’t think it’s on the cards for her.
And I wouldn’t want to put her through that. I don’t think I could sit by and just watch all of those things happening; I’d be like, ‘Sorry Bindi!’
Julia: She’s the original jungle girl [so she’d be] way too efficient.
Robert: She would, she would be incredible on it. But, yeah, I’m not gonna put her through that.
The new season of I’m A Celeb, co-hosted by Julia Morris and Robert Irwin, will premiere on Channel Ten and 10Play on Sunday, January 19, 2025.
