I'm A Celebrity South Africa 2026: New Public-Vote Twist

The jungle's tougher, sun-baked cousin is coming back — and this time, the power is shifting to the sofa. I'm A Celebrity…South Africa, the all-stars spin-off of ITV's flagship survival format, is lined up for a second series, and it arrives with a format change significant enough to reshape how the whole game is played: for the first time, the public will decide who is crowned the ultimate legend, rather than that decision being settled by the show itself.

That may sound like a small tweak, but for a spin-off built entirely on returning fan favourites, it is a meaningful one. The premise of the South Africa edition is distinct from the main autumn series. Rather than a live, vote-driven competition unfolding in real time, the original run gathered celebrities who had already braved the jungle in previous years and pitted them against one another in a pre-recorded gauntlet, with the winner determined by performance and producers rather than nightly public ballots. The result was a punchier, more concentrated series — all killer, no filler — but one where viewers were spectators rather than kingmakers.

Handing the final decision to the public rewires that dynamic. Suddenly the returning stars are not only competing to survive the trials; they are competing for the nation's affection all over again, knowing that likability, not just grit, could decide the outcome. It reintroduces the element that makes the parent show so compelling — the sense that the audience at home is the ultimate judge — while keeping the spin-off's distinctive all-stars, best-of-the-best framing.

The South African setting remains the spin-off's signature. Swapping the Australian rainforest for the arid drama of the South African bush gives the series a different visual identity: dust and heat rather than humidity and rain, wide-open savannah rather than dense jungle canopy. The trials, historically, have been dialled up accordingly, trading on the reputations of celebrities who already know exactly what they signed up for — and who, as returning players, have something to prove.

That "returning players" quality is central to the appeal. The casting pool is drawn from I'm A Celebrity alumni, which means viewers arrive already invested. These are faces with jungle history — some who triumphed, some who cracked, some who left unfinished business behind. Watching them go again, older and theoretically wiser, carries a built-in narrative that a fresh cast cannot replicate. The spin-off is, in essence, a reunion with stakes.

Strategically, the South Africa edition is a clever piece of brand extension for ITV. It effectively turns a once-a-year event into a year-round property, giving the I'm A Celebrity name two distinct outings and two distinct flavours. The autumn series remains the mainstream juggernaut — live, sprawling, nation-uniting. The South Africa series is the sharper, all-stars companion piece, and the move to a public-decided winner suggests ITV is confident enough in its pulling power to give it more of the parent show's defining machinery.

Ant and Dec's involvement continues to anchor the franchise's identity across both strands, and the tonal DNA — affectionate cruelty, celebrities humbled by hardship, unlikely camp friendships — carries over intact. What changes in South Africa is the intensity and the format's willingness to experiment, and this latest twist is very much in that spirit.

For viewers, the second series promises the things the spin-off does well: a compact, high-octane run; trials with genuine bite; and the specific pleasure of watching famous people who have been through this before discover that it does not get any easier the second time. Now, with the crown in the public's hands, there is an added layer — the campaign for the nation's votes, the strategic charm offensives, the sense that being good at the trials might not be enough if the audience decides they would rather champion someone else.

As with several 2026 reality titles, exact transmission details are worth confirming before publishing, but the direction of travel is clear: ITV is doubling down on the I'm A Celebrity brand, and the South Africa spin-off is evolving from a producer-led experiment into something closer to a full democratic contest. For a format that has always lived or died on the public's verdict, handing the ultimate decision back to viewers feels less like a gimmick and more like a homecoming. The legends are returning to the bush — and this time, it is the country that decides which of them earns the title. For a franchise that has spent decades trusting the public's judgement, it is a fitting evolution — and one that promises to make the second series of the South Africa spin-off the most competitive yet.