Luke Bateman was a firm favourite on the most recent season of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, placing in the Top 3 and giving lovers of BookTok even more of a reason to like the retired NRL player. But, since the show has been surrounded by cancellation rumours over the last 24 hours, Luke’s reaction to the news was an unexpected one.
Luke told WHO he had two immediate thoughts when he heard the news that the show may not be returning for another season.
“When you said ‘the rumours’, I was like ‘Oh my god, who had sex?'” he said to WHO, joking he assumed his fellow campmates may have hooked up.
(Who could he be thinking of? We do not know.)
His second thought was that he feared he may have “cursed” the show after appearing on it, since The Bachelor Australia (which ran for 11 seasons) was cancelled after Luke was the leading man in 2023.
“The Bachelor got axed after my season, I am a production curse!” he said. “My strike rate is 100 per cent at getting shows cancelled [once appearing on them].”
Jokes aside, Luke said it would be sad if the show were to be cancelled since he had such a positive experience in The Jungle.
“To be completely honest, I don’t really have any thoughts towards it. It’s not in my realm of thought. Sad to think that no one else will get to go through that wonderful experience. But, the sun comes up tomorrow?”
Has I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here been cancelled?
Concerns about the show’s future were first prompted on Thursday when TV Blackbox claimed Network Ten had “axed” the beloved reality TV show and it was now left scrambling to find another network to host the series.
However, Network Ten told WHO that no decision has been made, and that it’s standard the next season of the show isn’t confirmed at this time of the year — with the latest season, which Luke participated in, only finishing in February.
“Decisions regarding the 2027 program schedule including I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! will be made in the coming weeks,” a Network 10 spokesperson told WHO.
TV Blackbox has stood by its announcement that the show’s future is in jeopardy, claiming its source has provided accurate details about I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here for every other story they have published.
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here‘s major format change
The most recent season of I’m A Celeb included a major format change, with many reports claiming they were introduced to cut production costs as the show’s viewership had declined.
For the first time in the show’s history, the entire season was pre-recorded.
Previously, each episode would include live coverage as well as pre-recorded segments, however, that wasn’t the case this year.
Filming of the show wrapped last year and not one, not two, but three different finales were recorded in a bid to avoid spoilers.
The winner’s finale was the one that aired at the end of the season, despite – at the time of recording – none of the Top 3 knowing if they had actually won or not.
By filming the season in advance, the post-production team didn’t need to be as reactive or work to tight deadlines in order to get the show ready for the new day, effectively cutting costs.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
