The highly anticipated new series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! is set to kick off in the Australian jungle, pitting a fresh roster of celebrities against Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly’s notoriously gruesome Bushtucker Trials. Among the confirmed stars for the 2025 lineup is Emmerdale actress Lisa Riley, whose participation in the most stomach-churning challenges is expected to be severely limited (Digital Spy).

Riley, known for her long-running role as the formidable Mandy Dingle on the ITV soap, is understood to be exempt from the show’s infamous eating challenges due to her dietary choices. The actress is a vegetarian, a status that grants her automatic dispensation from consuming the traditional, often grotesque, animal-based foods served up in the Bushtucker Trials, which typically include animal testicles, fish eyes, and "vomit fruit" (Entertainment Daily).

A Veteran Actress Ready for the Jungle

Lisa Riley joins a star-studded cast this year, including fellow television personalities like Loose Women's Kelly Brook, Martin Kemp, Jack Osbourne, and sports pundit Alex Scott MBE. The lineup also features comedian Eddie Kadi and actress Shona McGarty (ITV Press).

Ahead of her stint in the jungle, Riley expressed enthusiasm for the challenge but issued a playful warning: “It’s going to be ace! I will be there for everyone but I don’t suffer fools gladly. My inner Mandy Dingle will come out if someone is mean!” (Entertainment Daily).

While she will likely avoid the eating trials—which historically have caused some of the most dramatic celebrity reactions—she remains eligible for the terrifying, non-food challenges. Contestants frequently face trials involving swimming with crocodiles, being locked in confined boxes with various critters, or dangling from extreme heights to win meal stars for the camp (The Mirror).

Show Bosses Promise the "Toughest" Series Yet

The show's executive producer, Olly Nash, has insisted that the 2025 series will be the "toughest" year yet, promising viewers that the celebrities will have to work harder for their meals and screen time. "It’s a tough and gruelling show, and there’s nothing wrong with driving that home," Nash told The Daily Mail. "We need to see more celebrities earning their keep, that’s the most important thing" (Daily Mail).

In a key change aimed at making the competition fairer and more dynamic, bosses have implemented a new rule: no celebrity can be voted into a Bushtucker Trial for a third consecutive time, meaning they can only do two in a row. A source commented that this is a "great move for fans of the show so we don’t see the same faces doing the trials, as well as uncovering new favourites," ensuring that more contestants get a chance to prove their personality to the audience (The Sun).

Ethical Shift in Trials

The show’s rules regarding animal welfare and consumption have been under scrutiny for years. In 2019, I’m A Celebrity made a significant, ethically-driven change to its challenges following sustained criticism from animal and wildlife campaigners, including Chris Packham.

Packham publicly welcomed the rule change at the time, calling it "a first step," after years of concern over the "abuse and also exploitation for entertainment" of live animals, specifically the insects that were sometimes required to be eaten alive (BBC Radio 5 Live). The ongoing exemption for vegetarians like Lisa Riley reflects a continued effort by the production team to balance the show’s traditional shock value with increased sensitivity toward the contestants' personal ethics and evolving animal welfare standards (Metro UK).

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! premieres this Sunday at 9 pm on ITV1 and is also available on ITVX (ITV Press).

---