Former TV presenter Kerri-Anne Kennerly is returning to screens across Australia as one of 13 contestants heading into the South African jungle for the 2023 season of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!
However, while the others will be forced to present a natural front to the cameras, Kerri-Anne wriggled her way into maintaining the “glamorous” look viewers have come to expect from her after 40 years in television.
While speaking to Ten’s Nick Bond, Kerri-Anne revealed that the network’s head of entertainment, Stephen Tate, has been trying to get her to participate in the show every year since it began – something that gave Kerri some extra power when she finally did decide to dive in.
She noted that the final offer had been one she “couldn’t refuse”, but that there had been “a few provisos” along with it. The most important of them was that she “get[s] to take makeup”, with Kerri stating that “natural is very overrated.”
“I can’t be bothered doing that much,” she added, “but it won’t be natural because natural takes a long time. Every girl knows that.”
But that’s not the only difference viewers can expect to see between Kerri and her fellow contestants, with the veteran presenter also scheduled to make her entrance a day after the rest.
Not that she’s concerned, instead suggesting to Bond that they should simply “get better management. Not my problem.”
The opinion of viewers doesn’t look set to phase her either. For anyone doubting that she’ll be able to handle the ‘rustic’ side of camp life, from outdoor bathroom facilities to some of the show’s more extreme challenges, Kerri had already dismissed their take, explaining that “I literally have ridden camels, bulls, horses … held snakes, including cobras and red-bellied blacks … been bitten by a ferret, been scratched by a lion cub.”
Coupled with her experience with heights, Kerri-Anne may yet prove hard to beat for the others vying for the crown with her.
12 dropped into camp the day before Kerri-Anne, each eager to face the challenges the jungle has in store for them, and to ultimately come out on top.
Former Australian Idol judge Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickinson was the first to land, with Married At First Sight’s Domenica Calarco following suit, then Yokayi Footy’s Bianca Hunt, AFL Brownlow medallist Adam Cooney, Home & Away’s Debra Lawrance, and Geordie Shore’s Nathan Henry.
Up next came KIIS National Drive Radio Show’s Woody Whitelaw, celebrity chef Anna Polyviou, Olympic lightweight boxer Harry Garside, netball’s Liz Ellis, Below Deck’s Aesha Scott, and comedian Peter Helliar to round them out.
Images: @kerriannekennerly / Instagram
This article first appeared on Over60.