I'M A CELEBRITY, GET ME OUT OF HERE
Premieres Monday, 7.30pm (AEDST), Network 10
Veterinarian Dr Chris Brown is used to dealing with animals of all shapes and sizes so spending time in a jungle crawling with slithering, scuttling, tail swishing creatures is something he is happy to endure.
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Mind you, he says he and his I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here co-host comedian Julia Morris spend their downtime, during filming, in a three bedroom house by the beach and eat takeaway every night.
"It's a bit cruel," Brown says, their [celebs] sense of smell becomes amazing. If you see them in the morning they can tell you what you had for breakfast or if you had a glass of wine with dinner."
Would he be up for the challenge?
"I actually would. I like the idea of being challenged. But I don't think I'd handle the lack of food very well."
With a 1.96 metre frame to fill, you can understand why.
He says it's usually the bigger guys that struggle most.
"But by week two, everyone's pants don't kind of fit.
"Sometimes I'm jealous of the experiences the celebs go through. I think it might be what I need in my life. It would certainly be therapeutic and a hell of a way to cleanse."
But we're not likely to see a shirtless Brown in the jungle any time soon.
"I know how the tricks work. I know too much now, they'd never have me."
Although, he is waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak.
"Surely one year, when we go in to announce about a trial, our paranoia that they will shut the gate behind us will come true," Brown says.
"I mean you never want to go into the prison as an informant."
Brown says he could certainly handle anything to do with snakes and spiders, but lack sleep not so much.
"They don't actually know what time they go to bed and when they wake up. It's generally about midnight and they wake-up at six."
The popular host puts the show's popularity down to the fact it is always surprising, uplifting, and never nasty.
"You are seeing people surprise each other and themselves and getting to understand the story behind their lives."
Are Brown and Morris behind the diabolical tests the celebs endure?
"We have a team who come up with the challenges. I'm always surprised how they tinker with how to press the buttons of the celebs.
"We've had a few mishaps, but everything is planned.
"Sometimes Julia and I question if we can we really do a certain thing."
Brown says when we see the trials and challenges this year, it is obvious they have stepped it up.
"Everything is new this year," he says.
"The wild life encounters happen organically, and this year they were there [on location] in snake breeding season.
"A banana plantation is also a breeding ground for bigger spiders."
According to Brown, the location this year has a natural creek and waterhole from which a native crayfish emerges at night.
"When he appears they think he's a prop. There are also koalas in camp, which was a nice surprise."
Brown and Morris do put forward names of celebrities for the challenge.
"People seek us out during the year and ask us, so we tip off the casting people," Brown says.
"We kind of know what makes a good celebrity candidate."
As for those annoying promos - "We know people see a lot of the promos, we can't ever step back from them".
"We have a ball with it [filming]. The team behind it are very creative. They [the promos] are about two minutes long and are then cut so you see different ones of different lengths.
"I guess the show is a reward for having to see me singing and dancing."