I’m a Celeb’s Gwrych Castle IS haunted according to a paranormal investigator who says she was ‘chased by a glowing woman wearing a red dress’ when she camped overnight there.
Gemma Williams, 35, from North Wales, told MailOnline she ran away from a haunting figure in Victorian clothes with blonde curly hair when she slept at the ITV show’s new location.
The mother-of-one said her sighting of the red dressed woman took place when she was 20 and the terrifying ordeal proved to her that ghosts do exist.
Underway: Construction work has started on Gwrych Castle in Wales just days after it was announced it would play host to I’m A Celebrity this year
Adapting: It was revealed last Friday that the hit show will be filmed in Wales and not the usual venue in Queensland, Australia, because of coronavirus
The castle has been rumoured to be haunted by a number of spirits for years, including previous owner the Winifred Hesketh, the Countess of Dundonald who died in 1924.
Legend says she is angry at her husband for taking all of her former homes’ valuables, with some people claiming she, or another spooky spirit, stalks the area in a white dress.
A chilling photo taken there ten years ago shows a pale, shadowy young woman on the first floor — in what used to be a magnificent banquet hall.
Some locals also believe that the spirit of a servant girl who died falling off a horse haunts the land. While others say ghosts of former caretakers have been seen around the 200-year-old castle, which boasts 250 acres.
Ghosts?: The castle is said to be haunted by the Countess of Dundonald (right) with other visitors reporting they have seen a woman in white on the grounds (left, a picture from 10 years ago)
Different look: Viewers will have to adjust to the castle aesthetics instead of the jungle camp site this year (pictured is one of the castle’s rooms)
Terrifying: I’m A Celeb’s Gwrych Castle IS haunted according to a paranormal investigator who was ‘chased by a glowing woman wearing a red dress’ when she camped overnight
In an exclusive interview, Gemma said: ‘I wasn’t really supposed to go to the castle but I ended up camping there a couple of times.
‘Four of my friends and I decided to go there one evening 15 years ago just for the fun of it.
‘I know there’s something out there’: After her experience at the castle, Gemma was inspired to become a paranormal investigator in North Wales (Gemma pictured this year)
‘We were at the bottom of a path round the back of the castle and I just happened to look to my left and there was a black figure coming down towards us quite quickly.
‘I didn’t know if it was a human but I saw it and said “run.”
‘We crossed the courtyard to get further away but then I realised the figure I had seen didn’t have any features, it was just the shape of a person but with no face.
‘Then this lady in a red dress just walked out of the wall. She was glowing even though it was getting dark. We could see the colour very brightly.’
Gemma saw the woman at Gwrych Castle, which will be the new location for November’s series of I’m A Celebrity, hosted by presenting duo Ant and Dec.
She warns this year’s campmates that the derelict castle is also the home of a mysterious presence that put her and four pals into an unnerving trance.
She continued: ‘My friends and I stood there in absolute shock looking at her.
‘She had an old fashioned red dress on, a white shawl going over her arms and curly blonde hair.
‘We heard an almighty scream from her, it was really, really loud, which made us run again, it broke the trance. We ran down the front of the castle at full pelt.
‘We all got to the bottom and said one by one that we had seen a lady in a red dress. There was no explanation for it at all.’
‘She was glowing’: The mother-of-one said her sighting of the red dressed woman took place when she was 20-years-old and the terrifying ordeal proved to her that ghosts do exist
Scary: Gemma said the mysterious woman put her and four pals into an unnerving trance that was broken by an ‘almighty scream’ when she camped at the castle in her teens
After her experience at the castle, Gemma was inspired to become a paranormal investigator, which she does at an events company called Haunted Houses in North Wales.
Ordeal: Gemma Williams from North Wales said she ran away from a haunting figure that wore Victorian clothes at the show’s new location (pictured at Gwrych Castle aged 20)
She said: ‘I have always been interested in the paranormal but seeing her definitely cemented that I know there’s something out there. There is a legend of the lady with a red dress at that castle.’
Contestants will swap the jungle of New South Wales for wintery North Wales this year after coronavirus restrictions made planning in Australia impossible for ITV producers.
The plummeting temperatures may impact the mood of celebrities taking part more than being faced with paranormal activity.
Gemma said: ‘The show starts in November and it will be freezing.
‘The castle is right on the coast, there are literally a few fields in front of it, a motorway and the sea.
‘If there’s any wind and rain they will really feel the cold. There are no creature comforts. It will be very uncomfortable.’
ITV are said to have paid £1million to rent the 200-year-old castle in Abergele for six weeks with blueprints of the historic building revealing damage in the stone wall and towers.
A large crane was seen operating above the historic site at its entrance earlier this week, seemingly lifting and moving things inside the entryway and turrets ahead of the show’s return.
A post on the castle’s Facebook page on Monday said: ‘Day one of our planned emergency works to conserve the central keep at the castle.
‘This area is a mix of medieval timbers and Georgian masonry.’
New look: Contestants will swap the jungle of New South Wales for wintery North Wales this year after coronavirus restrictions made planning in Australia impossible for ITV producers
Worth the expense: ITV are said to have paid £1million to rent the 200-year-old castle in Abergele for six weeks as I’m A Celeb returns to screens this winter