WHEN I'M A celebrity Get Me Out Of Here returns to our tv screens, there will be a new DVD game to accompany it - which is set to be a big Christmas hit.

By Paul Geater

WHEN I'M A celebrity Get Me Out Of Here returns to our tv screens, there will be a new DVD game to accompany it - which is set to be a big Christmas hit. PAUL GEATER meets the “celebrities” you could bump into on the streets of Ipswich.

EVER since they were first dumped in the Australian jungle back in 2002, the British public has been fascinated by the antics of celebrities forced to live the simple life while eating wichiti bugs and kangaroo testicles.

Now people have the chance to play at being a celebrity themselves - thanks to a Suffolk company and a Norwich television studio!

And the celebrities in this game are not remote stars you will only see on the television - they're Suffolk residents who are friends and colleagues of the production team.

The new DVD game is expected to be a Christmas bestseller, and has been made by Bentwaters-based company Bruizer Productions, in association with the programme makers Granada television.

It is introduced and narrated by Ant and Dec (Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly) and is due to go on the shelves of department stores, entertainment shops, and toy shops within the next few days.

It should be selling fast by the time the next series of the reality tv show starts next month - the screening date has still to be decided.

Jamie Niblock from Bruizer said: “It was good fun making the game and working with Ant and Dec - they were so professional and such good sports that they made the production much easier.”

Although it appears as if the celebrities were filmed in the jungle, they were actually in a studio in Norwich.

“It looks very authentic - it's had us wondering if they really do go to Australia if you can do it this well in a studio!” added Jamie.

Unlike the tv programme, for the DVD game the celebrities ate special food made to look like bushtucker.

One of the “celebrities” used in the filming is Matthew Simpkins who works with Bruizer producing music for their productions. The 28-year-old plays a television presenter, and players can give him a number of tasks to fulfil.

Matthew said; “It was quite an experience being in front of the camera rather than behind the sound desk, but it was great fun!

“All except for when we had to do the bushtucker trials. They had made bugs out of marzipan and I hate marzipan - I'd rather have eaten real life creepy crawlies. When you see me wincing as I eat, believe me that is for real!”

Matthew and his fellow “celebrities” have been asked to appear at stores in London's Oxford Street for the launch of the game next month.

“That's going to be a bit odd - we're ordinary people pretending to be celebrities and being treated as celebrities. For us, these appearances will be rather like a surreal version of Chantelle from Celebrity Big Brother,” he said.

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Weblink: www.bruizer.co.uk

www.itv.panlogic.co.uk/celeb

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Is I'm a Celebrity still worth watching? Write to: Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk

The show was first screened in Britain when “log-hugger” Tony Blackburn was crowned king of the jungle.

Other winners include Phil Tufnell, Kerry Katona, Joe Pasquale and Carol Thatcher.

Peter André met his wife glamour model Jordan on I'm a Celebrity.

The real series is filmed in the Queensland jungle - just a few hundred yards from a luxury hotel.

Ant is a Newcastle Utd fan and often sleeps in his Newcastle shirt.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk/tyne/Hollywood.