Yahoo News I’m A Celebrity's highest paid stars as Coleen Rooney set for 'big pay day'
Nigel Farage and Noel Edmonds are included on the list of highest paid stars in the ITV show's history
I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here attracts some of the best known stars in showbiz thanks to the huge fees on offer.
Not every contestant is paid the same on the ITV show and some of the biggest names can command a generous amount of money to persuade them to give up their luxurious lifestyles for a spell in the Australian jungle. This includes controversial political figures too.
The rumoured I'm A Celebrity line-up has been leaked with just weeks to go until the show return on Sunday, 17 November, with Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly at the helm.
Every year the talk of money comes up but rumours suggest this year TV bosses have broke another record as reports suggest Coleen Rooney has been paid in excess of £1.5m to appear on the show. Over the years, all of the leaked fees have been published by The Sun.
According to the reports, who are the highest paid stars in the show's 22-year history?
1. Coleen Rooney
Rooney is said to be the highest paid star to date, with the newspaper reporting she will bank in excess of £1.5m for her time on the show.
I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here's 2022 star Scarlette Douglas told Yahoo: "They're saying that Coleen Rooney has been offered over £1.5m and that's the highest ever, more than Nigel Farage. Everyone's going to be asking about the Wagatha Christie trial.
Read more: I'm a Celebrity
"Everyone will want to know all the ins and outs and the gossip but I don't think she'll be allowed to talk about it, obviously there's a court case that's ongoing, so who knows? I think she could be pretty good in there."
2. Nigel Farage
Last year, Farage was reported to be the highest paid I'm a Celebrity contestant in the show's history. Arguably, he was also the most controversial person to appear on the jungle show.
The politician — who come third — defended his £1.5m pay day when given a grilling by Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain last year. Asked whether it was the reason he signed up to the show, he said: "The money of course! What's wrong with that?"
He added: "I gave up a very successful career in the city of London. My friends are on the rich list, and I live a modest life, I gave it up for a career in politics. Is this the biggest pay check I have ever had? Yes, what's wrong with that."
3. Noel Edmonds
Noel Edmonds seemed to get a good deal out of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here as he was rumoured to be paid £600,000 in 2018 but was the first campmate to leave the show. The Deal Or No Deal star was also a late arrival to camp.
Unlike Farage, Edmonds was not happy to talk about money on breakfast TV. Back when Piers Morgan hosted Good Morning Britain, he tried to give the game show host a grilling over his pay cheque but Edmonds refused to entertain him.
"Good morning both, can we forget talking about the money?" He told them, laughing, while shutting down the conversation.
Morgan said: "No, let’s talk about the money! I have always said I would never do I'm a Celebrity with all the kangaroo testicle munching and so on, unless I got paid an unfeasible amount and can guaranteed I got kicked off first. Which is what’s happened to you."
He added: "It makes your day rate one of the best in TV history!" The Sun reported Edmonds would have been paid £2,272 an hour for his appearance on the reality series.
4. Caitlyn Jenner
Ant and Dec joked there would be one winner of I'm A Celebrity in 2019 as rumours Caitlyn Jenner was being paid £500,000 were addressed in the first episode of the series. In typical Ant and Dec style, the Geordie duo poked fun at the money side of things.
Dec said: "We’ve got reality TV royalty Caitlyn Jenner. Most people come into the jungle to lose a few pounds…"
Ant quipped: "But she’s going to be gaining 500,000 of them according to the papers."
Dec told him: "Don’t believe everything you read in the papers, Ant. You know that."
As the campmates were about to be introduced, Ant told viewers: "I’m a Celebrity 2019 can only have one winner."
"Caitlyn Jenner's agent... by the sounds of it," Dec jested.
Natasha Hill, talent agent responsible for getting Jenner the gig on I'm a Celebrity, shut down the £500,000 rumours but refused to confirm how much she was paid. The talent agent said there was a fee and negotiation talks took place before they reached an agreement.
"The papers lie," she told the BBC. "I wish it had been that much but it was wrong." She added: "I wanted to put an American forward for it and someone who was really well known."
5. Harry Redknapp
Harry Redknapp was rumoured to be paid £500,000 in the 2018 series which he would go onto win. While he stayed tight lipped on the rumours surrounding what he was paid, the former football manager said he would go back to the jungle for two months for Farage's fee.
Last year, he said on GB News: "£1.5 million? I’d go back in for that. I’d go in for a month! I’d go in for two months for that money. "
He added: "Every year you hear people getting more and more money, where’s it going to end? I’d think he’s top of the tree on £1.5 million if that’s what he’s got. I don’t think anyone would have earned that sort of money in the past."
6. Boy George
Boy George was rumoured to be paid £500,000 — one of the highest paid fees — when he starred on I'm a Celebrity in 2022, alongside former health secretary Matt Hancock. However, last year the singer said he would have charged £1m if he had known what the experience would truly have been like.
Boy George told The Guardian in 2023: "I don’t know what possessed me to do I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! I was glued to the recent South African series, but I kept thinking to myself: bloody hell, it’s a show you watch from the comfort of your own home, not one you actually sign up for. I was rumoured to have been the highest-paid contestant ever, but if I’d known what I’d go through I’d have charged double."
7. Katie Price
Katie Price has one of the most memorable I'm A Celebrity journeys and she would also remain one of the celebs to get the highest fees, although it wasn't for her first time in the jungle.
Back in 2004, the former glamour model fell in love with Mysterious Girl singer Peter Andre and they would go onto have one of the most talked about marriages in the UK showbiz world. The high-profile couple split in 2009 and this time round, Price would be offered £450,000 to appear on the jungle series — according to the Daily Mail.
Yahoo reached out to ITV for further comment.
