This year’s I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! (Virgin Media One, 9pm) looks set to be an Irish triple-threat, amid rumours Co Longford’s Maura Higgins will be parachuted in to join already confirmed contestants Clones Cyclone Barry McGuigan and Belfast radio presenter Dean McCullough.
But there is no sight of Higgins as the series starts with a bumper-length opening episode that introduces the first 10 participants and sees boxing champ McGuigan come unstuck in his very own bungled rumble in the jungle.
The former flyweight title-holder is chosen alongside McFly’s Danny Jones to take part in the season’s first Bushtucker Trial, the Mausoleum of Misery. This involves the two celebs locked in dimly lit chambers and solving clues while avoiding snakes. All in a quest for tokens that can be traded for bonus suppertime treats.
McGuigan isn’t bothered by the slithery interlopers. He is instead flummoxed by the poor lighting and fails to claim any of the all-important stars. It’s an inauspicious introduction for the chipper Monaghan native who cuts a quietly competitive figure as the show kicks off its traditional three-week pre-Christmas run.
TV guide: the best new shows to watch, starting tonight
The Young Offenders Christmas Special review: Where’s Jock? Without him, Conor’s firearm foxer isn’t quite a cracker
When Claire Byrne confronts Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary on RTÉ, the atmosphere is seriously tetchy
‘We jumped the shark in the very first episode!’: 35 years of The Simpsons
Launch night has lots of what we have come to expect of I’m A Celebrity. This includes awkward meet-ups between C-listers who aren’t quite sure who the other person is (YouTuber GK Barry does not recognise McGuigan – and vice versa). The exception is Coleen Rooney, whom everyone knows – and is on the receiving end of an early gag about participating in a trial that “doesn’t involve Rebekah Vardy” (a reference to the Wagatha Christie controversy).
She is among the second batch of celebs introduced – alongside McGuigan, DJ Melvin Odoom, Coronation Street’s Alan Halsall and Barry (much mirth is extracted from the fact McGuigan and GK both answer to “Barry”).
But first, we meet BBC Radio 1′s McCullough – who is “throwing up in his mouth” after being required to drink liquidised fish guts at the end of his first trial – alongside dancer Oti Mabuse, Loose Women star Jane Moore, Jones from McFly and N-Dubz singer Tulisa Contostavlos. Having convened at a clifftop mansion, they are handed their first challenge – a race to I’m A Celebrity jungle HQ, where first and second place finishers will get to live in the relative luxury of a camp leader chalet.
It’s all a bit ho-hum. What’s missing is a lightning rod politician such as Brexit tub-thumper Nigel Farage or former UK health secretary Matt Hancock, who participated in recent seasons. Both were hugely divisive. But other campmates did seem to hang on their every word (especially when Hancock was singing Ed Sheeran). Perhaps Maura Higgins will bring some zip if and when she arrives. For now, this Barry McGuigan-themed series of I’m A Celeb lacks punch.
