'I'm a Celebrity is without doubt the show Ant & Dec host the best in my opinion'
OK, I'll admit I'm getting a bit excited now for the return of I'm a Celebrity on ITV.
That could be because I'm in Brisbane for the first time and will get to greet and chat to the contestants this week.
But it could also be because the show is the 'Wimbledon of reality TV'.
Sound odd? Well let me explain the comparison.
Back at the end of August, ITV boss Peter Fincham praised I'm a Celebrity during his Q&A controller session at the Edinburgh TV Festival.
At the time journalists were more interested in his comments on Good Morning Britain and other drama shows, but it is worth revisiting what he said.
'It started the same year as Big Brother on Channel 4,' Fincham said
'It is not just going strong, I think last series was the highest rating series.
'The fact it is 13 years old and it's secret - I compare it to Wimbledon - is that it disappears for most of the year and then comes back for a couple of weeks. Every year you think you are watching it for the first time.
'There is never a year that goes by when someone doesn't come up to me midway through I'm a Celebrity and says 'Ant and Dec are jolly good this year', as if they were rubbish last year!
'They are always very good, and people rediscover it because they haven't seen it for 49 weeks of the year.'
Mr Fincham's tennis analogy is spot on and he is right about Ant and Dec too. People seem to also forget how they make this show the success it is with their gentle mocking of situations and in-jokes which are funnier if you watch every episode.
This is without doubt the show they host the best in my opinion.
It is also a series where you can miss an episode and still tune in again without having missed too much or lost the plot.
I'm a Celebrity is a rare reality smash that has its place in the TV calendar like Wimbledon.
Lets just hope Mr Fincham's team have got decent names in the jungle 'tournament' this year.
* Mark Jefferies flew to Australia to cover I'm A Celebrity with British Airways. The new series starts on ITV on November 16
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