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It was somewhat hard not to despair when ITV reality smash I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! was first advertised in 02. As part of the original Celebrity premise, eight (later increased to ten) 'celebrities' from various walks of life headed off into the Australian jungle and lived as nature (or rather, Granada Television) intended. That is, until the British public entered the frame to decide on who should stay in the jungle, and who should come home.

Set over two weeks, the Celebrity celebrities were obliged to face a public vote as to who should take the dreaded Bushtucker trials to win their food rations. Creepy crawlies, sweaty nights and a whole lot of arguing have ensued since 02 in what has become a guilty television pleasure for millions of winter viewers.

Within the rules of Celebrity, after being voted off one-by-one, eventually a King or Queen of the jungle is crowned and then gets to escape the chummy horror that is Ant & Dec. Famous past winners have included bronzed DJ Tony Blackburn (02), cricketer Phil Tufnell (03), Kerry Katona (04), Joe Pasquale (04), Carol Thatcher (05), ex-Busted member Matt Willis (06) and last year, the gloriously entertaining Christopher Biggins.

However, whilst the Celebrity winner often benefits from a temporary career boost for their efforts (as well as being paid for their time, of course), the audience gets its reward in the form of bickering, personality clashes and strained celebrity relations, epitomised perhaps most succinctly in Natalie Appleton's fear of the jungle culminating in a yelped "I touched a tree!" after being forced into yet another trial by the Great British public. And then there have been the constant arguments between Nigel Benn, Rhona Cameron and Christine Hamilton, and the unexpected joy of David Guest being, well, David Guest.

Top of the tree though has to be the relationship which spawned a thousand Hello! spreads and reality TV series, when 04's Series 3 placed über-glamour model Jordan and hapless ex-popstar Peter Andre in the jungle together. Love bloomed, spin-offs span and babies ensued - a successful pairing of sorts, and all thanks to television.

The series has since been syndicated to America, Italy, Germany and France, as well as having proved itself to be a bona-fide ratings hit for ITV, though its success is nothing compared to the super-ratings-slayer that is ITV's other big-cash earner, X-Factor.

06's series (perhaps Factor's most successful to date) was won by the bashful yet stunning Leona Lewis (a sort of black Barbra Streisand with genuine international appeal) and her debut single, A Moment Like This, promptly went on to sell 600,000 copies, making it the biggest selling debut by a female artist of all time. Equally, series 05 winner, Shayne Ward's debut single, That's My Goal, sold a staggering 1.3 million copies (though try humming it today and see how far you get), whereas 04 winner Steve Brookstein appears to have slipped completely off the radar, though Cowell is no doubt contented with the two megastars he has (so far) from the franchise.

The X-Factor format remains largely the same as it did when it originally launched, although one (slightly controversial) change for 07 was the lowering of the age limit to 14 rather than 16. Apart from that, few things have altered on the show since it started; after the ragged entertainment of the auditions four groups of contestants are formed; girls and women aged 14 - 24, boys and men aged 14 - 24, all performers aged 25+ and the groups. Australian sometime pop singer Dannii Minogue joined the judging panel in 07, just in time for Sharon Osbourne to flounce out, and despite the tears and the (apparent) friction with newcomer Cheryl Tweedy, Minogue appears to be a stayer.

"I've been a fan of The X-Factor since the show started, so I have to pinch myself that I'm here," Minogue beams. "I'm working with the best TV personalities in the business and they have all been very generous in showing me the ropes. Simon would have to be the cheekiest, naughtiest boy I've ever met and he's constantly making me laugh.We all try to stay out of his way when he is slaying people with his honesty, but most of the time we agree on who the good and bad contestants are. If not, I tell him he's wrong - it's the funniest way to wind him up."

Minogue's arrival was somewhat overshadowed by the fact that Irish pop Svengali Louis Walsh was sacked for the start of the series (filming had actually begun with dance choreographer Brian Friedman sitting as a judge), though of course that didn't last long.

"The decision was made that this year we'd freshen up the judging panel, so we replaced Louis Walsh with Dannii and Brian, but it didn't work out," explains Series Producer Mike Sidaway. "We soon realised that the chemistry wasn't working, so Brian asked to be given a different role on the show. He's now the Creative Director and we've used his talents to oversee the choreography, styling and performance. As a production we had to make the difficult decision and phone Louis to ask him to come back."

"It was fantastic to be back," confirms Walsh. "Being sacked was one of the worst experiences I've ever been through, but I'm delighted I was rehired and back on the show. I've actually forgotten I was sacked. I would have missed the show and Simon would missed me have too, but he probably wouldn't admit it. If anything, I'm probably better friends with Simon now. He's always very honest with me and I think he's loyal, although I'm hoping I can wipe the smile off his smug face by winning another series."...more

words: Andrew Laughlin

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