Image source, ITVImage caption, Gavin and Stacey star Joanna Page is to take part in the 26th series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here
ByCharlie BucklandBBC Wales- Published11 November 2026, 14:01 GMT
Gavin and Stacey star Joanna Page has confirmed she will appear on the upcoming reality TV series I'm a Celebrity, with her former co-star Ruth Jones urging her to "have a crackin' time".
Page, who played Stacey Shipman in the BBC comedy, is joining this year's line-up of celebrities on the forthcoming show in Australia.
The 49-year-old, from Swansea, said she had her sights on becoming the first Welsh Queen of the Jungle.
"You makes Barry very proud, I'm not gonna lie," said Jones - assuming her former Gavin & Stacey character Nessa Jenkins - on Instagram.
"They're gonna make you stick all manner of matter in your gob. And I'm not talking Gwen's omelettes... Just don't over do it, alrigh'? You knows what a weak constitution you has."
Image source, PA MediaImage caption, Joanna Page, pictured with Ruth Jones (right), has her sights on becoming the first Welsh Queen of the I'm a Celeb jungle
Speaking ahead of her trip down under, Page said she believed her co-stars will be "shocked" when she arrives in the jungle for the ITV reality show.
"I also know they will find it funny. They know exactly what I am like and they will laugh."
Page said being the first Welsh queen would be a "pretty good title to take home", but added she was just as excited to see how long she could last.
"I'm not going to crumble," she said.
"I'm going to see this to the end and I'm going to be strong. I am going to get the most out of this."
Image source, ITVImage caption, Eleven celebrities will enter the Australian jungle camp on Monday
As a mother-of-four, Page said she hoped her part in the show will help her "reconnect" with who she was before becoming a mum.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I'm very much an impulsive person and I just make a gut decision, so I said 'yes' straight away," said Page.
She said she hoped to find "peace and time for my thoughts" away from the everyday worries about feeding the children and getting everyone ready for the school run.
"I can be me, I can be Jo and not just mummy all the time. I think that will be nice."
"I will never get to do anything like this again. I am telling myself, 'Come on Jo, let's take yourself off to Australia and give yourself an experience'.
"It's exciting and it's going to be life-changing."
Image source, BBC/Toffee International Ltd./Tom JacksonImage caption, Ruth Jones - aka Nessa - said she was "so excited" to see Joanna Page head to the Australian jungle
Page will enter the jungle alongside footballer Wayne Rooney, TV personality Chloe Burrows and soap star Claire Sweeney.
Rooney will follow in his wife Coleen's footsteps after she finished as runner-up on the 2024 series, and said he hoped "people will see me for who I am".
He said he had "always wanted to do" the show, joking that because of his short-lived football managerial career, he had more time on his hands.
"I like to have fun and I like to think I am actually a fun guy to be around.
"I do like to mess around a bit and I do talk a lot. People will have their own opinions, but I hope they will see me as a genuine person."
Page will be also joined by Paralympian and TV presenter Ade Adepitan - who will be the first contestant in a wheelchair to appear on the show – something he said his eight-year-old self would not believe.
"Words like 'honour' and 'privilege' are the ones I feel, but I don't think they sum it up enough," he said.
"For me, this is a moment in time. Even if I go out in the first week, I will always be remembered as the person in a wheelchair. I am slightly overwhelmed.
"It's never been done before, and it never crossed my mind I would be the first.
"This is a huge opportunity."
I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! starts on Monday, 16 November at 21:00 GMT on ITV.
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