The Prize For Winning 'I'm A Celeb' Is Really Not What You'd Expect

It may be November, but I'm still missing Love Island. I mean, what a summer that was. But thanks to the return of I'm A Celebrity on Sunday (Nov. 18), my longing for the villa will be somewhat soothed over the next few weeks. And while I'm super excited to see which celebs will brave the Australian jungle this year, I'm finding myself more intrigued about a certain aspect of the show... what exactly is the I'm A Celeb prize?

Obviously, whoever manages to tough out the jungle and simultaneously win over the hearts of the voting public is granted the title of King or Queen of the Jungle. But is there more to it than that? Is it like Celebrity Big Brother, where the winning contestant is given a large sum of money to then donate to a charity of their choice?

Kind of. If you're familiar with the CBB format, you'll know that contestants are given a fee for entering the house. According to the Mirror, the celebs are given a fee "depending on their star power", which can range between "£25,000 to £400,000". Boxer Amir Khan reportedly received one of the biggest fees at £300,000 in 2017, but he donated part of his money to children's charity Barnardo's, of which he is also an ambassador of, the Mirror reported.

So it seems that although celebs are given a fee to appear in the jungle — which they can do whatever they want with once they've left — no money is given to the winner of the show. I contacted a representative for I'm A Celeb to confirm this, who told me nothing more than whoever makes it out on top will "win the coveted title of King or Queen of the Jungle."

And TBH, winning that title is better than a fee altogether. I mean, have you seen what Georgia Toffolo and Scarlett Moffatt been up to recently? Both have been regular presenters on the likes of This Morning and Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, and are basically just slaying life as Queens of the Jungle.

But who will be stepping into that role this year? While the official list has yet to be revealed, there have been sightings of certain celebrities making their way through Australian airports over the past few days, including Nick Knowles, Rita Simons, Emily Atack, and Fleur East, as The Sun reported.

Radio Times have also reported rumours that Nick Leeson might be on his way to the jungle thanks to a snap he posted on Twitter of plane tickets with the caption "Long trip to Australia starting now." If you recall, Leeson finished fourth in this year's Celebrity Big Brother, and was pretty uncontroversial during his time in the house.

The magazine also addressed the rumours that Nigel Farage could be going down under. I mean, he's pretty far down on the list but I can't be the only one hoping that's not true.

I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! will premiere on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 9 p.m.