I’m A Celebrity bosses need to decide within the next two weeks whether the show returns to Australia or remains in Wales for a second year.
The ITV series filmed in Gwrych Castle last year after the Covid-19 pandemic made it impossible for the show to travel safely to Australia.
A source told MailOnline: ‘ITV need to decide in the next two weeks whether they go to Australia or Wales this year. It’s decision time!
Decision: I’m A Celebrity bosses need to decide within the next two weeks whether the show returns to Australia or remains in Wales for a second year
‘Wales is pencilled as we know but clearly everyone wants to return to Australia.
‘However if they choose Australia there is every chance it could be cancelled later down the line because of Covid If they choose Wales, it is guaranteed it will happen.’
The source added that if the show does remain in Wales for another series, ITV will have to fork out more cash than they would for Australia.
They added: ‘It costs MORE to film in Wales than fly to Australia as it’s a four month set build.
Change: The ITV series filmed in Gwrych Castle last year after the Covid-19 pandemic made it impossible for the show to travel safely to Australia (Ant and Dec pictured in Australia in 2019)
‘That’s why they have to make a decision now. Time is running out. And there is no show without them. So it’s all pointing to being Wales. Oz is far too risky.’
An ITV spokesperson has since confirmed to MailOnline that bosses have ‘plans in place’ for both locations.
They said: ‘No decisions have been made regarding the location for the new series and we have contingencies and plans in place for all possible options.’
A source told MailOnline: ‘ITV need to decide in the next two weeks whether they go to Australia or Wales this year. It’s decision time!’ (pictured with 2020 winner Giovanna Fletcher)
It comes after reports the show’s location remained up in the air after Australia warned international borders will remain closed indefinitely.
Earlier this week, Australia’s Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, said reopening the borders too soon would expose the country to another and more ruthless outbreak of Covid – with Finance Minister Simon Birmingham pushing the date to 2022.
Due to current regulations, travel to Australia is only permitted if travellers are ‘exempt’ or have been ‘granted an individual exemption’.
According to The Mirror, ‘talks are thought to be ongoing at ITV’ while Gwrych Castle is said to ‘have an agreement’ to host I’m A Celebrity again this year.
Hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly recently said that plans to return to Australia for I’m A Celebrity this year are ‘still up in the air’.
Cost: The source added that if the show does remain in Wales for another series, ITV will have to fork out more cash than they would for Australia
The Prime Minister said Australians had come to accept local lockdowns as ‘part of living with Covid-19’ and that residents did not have ‘an appetite’ for change.
He warned that reopening the borders too soon would expose the country to another and more ruthless outbreak of Covid-19, like the ones experienced in the UK, India and Europe.
‘We sit here as an island that’s living like few countries in the world are at the moment,’ he told The Sunday Telegraph.
‘We have to be careful not to exchange that way of life for what everyone else has.’
Australians have been banned from leaving the country since March 2020 without special exemptions, and only citizens and permanent residents have been allowed to enter under some of the strictest Covid-19 border rules in the world.
But Mr Morrison denied adopting an ‘elimination strategy’ and said suppressing the virus remained the Government’s primary focus.
‘Australia’s COVID suppression strategy has not changed to an ‘elimination’ strategy nor is ‘zero cases’ our goal,’ he clarified on Sunday.
‘There will always be cases as we return Australians home from overseas. As always, we will continue to listen to the medical advice and make decisions in the best health and economic interests of all Australians.’
Last year, the Government predicted international borders would be open in October 2021 after the adult population had been offered a vaccine.
They said: ‘That’s why they have to make a decision now. Time is running out. And there is no show without them. So it’s all pointing to being Wales. Oz is far too risky’
However Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said the date will be pushed back to some time in 2022 amid the slow vaccine rollout and uncertainty over the Covid-19 vaccine’s ability to protect against mutating strains of the virus.
Earlier this month, hosts Ant and Dec said that plans to return to Australia for I’m A Celebrity this year are ‘still up in the air’.
The Geordie duo, both 45, revealed producers are having conversations with Australia ‘to see if they’ll let us in’ for the show which is set to air this autumn, although they added that they would ‘happily go back to Wales’ for the next series.
Speaking on Lorraine, Dec said of the upcoming series: ‘It’s still all up in the air, people are having conversations with Australia to see if they’ll let us in.
‘If not, we’ve got a lovely alternative to go back to Wales, which we had a great time there.
Unsure: It comes after hosts Ant and Dec said that plans to return to Australia for I’m A Celebrity this year are ‘still up in the air’
‘We had a really lovely series and the people of North Wales made us feel very welcome. We’d gladly go back there. But we’ll see whether it’s Oz or Wales, we’re not quite sure yet.’
In March, ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall confirmed that bosses are hoping the show will return to the jungle as that is how the show is ‘meant to be’.
Speaking as the network published its group annual results, she said: ‘If we can go back to Australia – and this show is meant to be in Australia – then that’s what we’ll do. We have a very good plan if not, as we have already done it once (in the castle).’
Prior to the confirmation, hosts Ant and Dec sparked claims that this year’s series will be returning to Wales.
The presenting duo said they’d be ‘very happy’ to remain in the UK for filming when the series returns later this year, joking they ‘wouldn’t miss the jet lag’.
‘It’s a waiting game’: It comes after it was reported last month that I’m A Celebrity will not know if it’s able to a return to its usual home in Australia for the upcoming 2021 series until September (Ant and Dec pictured at Gwyrch Castle in 2020)
Last year’s I’m A Celebrity was relocated to Gwrych Castle in Wales after plans to record the usual show in Australia became impossible due to COVID.
Speaking to Digital Spy magazine, Ant said: ‘If during coronavirus we have to stay put and do it in Wales again, I’d be very happy.
‘We were very welcomed in Wales. There were cardboard cut-outs of me and Dec in the butcher’s, and the local school did a tribute. We’d happily go back there. We’d miss the sunshine, mind.’
Dec added that he ‘wouldn’t be disappointed’ if filming was once again taking place in Wales later this year, adding: ‘The people in Wales were lovely…
‘They made us feel very welcome. I had a lovely time. I will miss the sunshine, but I will not miss the jet lag of coming back from Australia.’
Plans: In March, ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall confirmed that bosses are hoping the show will return to the jungle as that is how the show is ‘meant to be’ (Dec pictured)