I’m A Celebrity 2026: Why Wayne Rooney Is the Bookmakers’ Favourite — and Why the Jungle Crown Rarely Goes to the Biggest Name

The khaki shorts are being pressed, the rice and beans are being measured out, and somewhere in the New South Wales rainforest a campfire is waiting to be lit. I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! returns to ITV1 on November 16 for a three-week run, and before a single Bushtucker Trial has been attempted, the bookmakers have already made their minds up.

Wayne Rooney — the former Manchester United and England talisman, now 41 and working in football management — has been installed as the early favourite to be crowned King of the Jungle. Ladbrokes make him the 3/1 frontrunner. According to The Sun, it is the football legend’s “banter and brute strength” that has seen his odds surge ahead of the field.

It would, on the face of it, be an extraordinary piece of casting: one of the most famous footballers of his generation swapping the dugout for the jungle shower. But there is a caveat that matters more than the odds. None of it is officially confirmed. ITV has yet to announce a single campmate, and every name currently in circulation comes from newspaper reporting — principally The Sun — rather than from the broadcaster. The official line-up reveal is expected later this week.

That distinction, between what the bookmakers believe and what ITV has actually said, is worth holding onto. The jungle has a long habit of confounding expectations, and the distance between a 3/1 favourite in November and a crowned winner in December is where most series are actually decided.

BLUF: Bookmakers Ladbrokes have installed Wayne Rooney as the 3/1 favourite to win I’m A Celebrity 2026, ahead of comedian Leigh Francis at 5/1, with TikTok comedian Jack Skipper and YouTuber Sharky joint third favourites at 6/1. The Sun reports that 12 celebrities are heading to Australia for the new series, which launches on November 16 on ITV1, runs for three weeks and is hosted by Ant and Dec — but ITV has yet to officially confirm any of the names.

I’m A Celebrity 2026 at a Glance

• Series: I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, 2026 series
• Launch date: November 16, on ITV1
• Duration: Three weeks
• Hosts: Ant and Dec
• Bookmakers’ favourite: Wayne Rooney — 3/1 (Ladbrokes)
• Second favourite: Leigh Francis — 5/1
• Joint third favourites: Jack Skipper and Sharky — 6/1
• Reported campmates: 12, according to The Sun
• Officially confirmed campmates: None so far; ITV is expected to reveal the line-up later this week

Why the money is on Rooney

On paper, the case for Rooney as favourite is straightforward. He is 41, one of the most recognisable sportsmen in the country, and a figure whose public image has long combined working-class roots with an occasionally combustible temperament — exactly the raw material the jungle tends to either polish or expose.

The Sun reports that bookmakers have been struck by two qualities in particular: his banter and his brute strength. Both matter in camp. Physical resilience gets a campmate through the Trials; humour gets them through the long, hungry evenings when the rice runs thin and the campfire conversation turns fractious. Rooney, a man who has spent his adult life in dressing rooms, would not be short of stories.

There is also a less obvious advantage. Rooney is married to Coleen Rooney, who is herself a former I’m A Celebrity campmate, according to The Sun. Whatever briefings pass between husband and wife before the helicopter ride in, he would arrive with a clearer picture than most of what the experience actually demands — the boredom, the hunger, the particular psychology of living under cameras with eleven strangers.

None of this, it should be stressed, amounts to evidence that he will win. Bookmakers’ odds reflect where money is being placed, not a scientific assessment of jungle aptitude. But as a statement of public expectation, 3/1 is emphatic.

A twelve-strong line-up — reported, not confirmed

The Sun’s reporting describes a 12-strong group heading to Australia, and The Sun exclusively revealed the twelfth and final name as Jack Skipper, the carpet fitter turned comedian who built his audience on TikTok during the pandemic.

The reported names, with the descriptions given in the reporting, are:

• Wayne Rooney — former Manchester United and England footballer, now 41
• Leigh Francis — comedian
• Joanne Page — Gavin & Stacey actress
• Ricky Wilson — Kaiser Chiefs frontman
• Jack Skipper — TikTok comedian, revealed by The Sun as the final campmate
• Claire Sweeney — Coronation Street and soap legend
• Sharky — YouTuber
• Leomie Anderson — Victoria’s Secret model
• AJ Odudu — broadcaster, known for Big Brother
• Chloe Burrows — Love Island star turned Kiss FM host
• Mariella Frostrup — Loose Women star
• Ade Adepitan — Paralympic legend turned TV host

It is a deliberately broad mix: sport, soap, music, comedy, modelling, broadcasting and the new media generation. That breadth is not accidental. Producers have long balanced the camp between established household names and younger faces who bring their own vast online followings — and their own voters.

But the responsible reading of this list comes with a warning label. Every name above is reported, not confirmed. ITV has announced nothing, and until the broadcaster’s official reveal — expected later this week — the only honest description of this line-up is “according to The Sun”. Casting rumours around this show have a habit of shifting in the final days.

The likability trap: why favourites often fall short

Here is the structural problem with being the 3/1 favourite for I’m A Celebrity. The winner is chosen by public vote, and the public does not vote for the most famous person in camp. It votes for the person it would most like to spend three weeks with — or, more precisely, the person it most enjoys watching spend three weeks eating rice and beans.

That is a likability contest, and fame is at best a neutral factor in it. The qualities that win the jungle crown are warmth under pressure, humour when hungry, grace in defeat during the Trials, and the ability to rub along with strangers. None of those can be established from a football career, however decorated.

This is where the chasing pack becomes interesting. Leigh Francis, the 5/1 second favourite, is a comedian by trade — and comedy is the jungle’s native currency. The campmate who can keep spirits up on day fourteen, when everyone is tired and fractious, is worth more to the group than any trophy cabinet.

Then there is the new-media contingent. Jack Skipper and Sharky, joint third favourites at 6/1, arrive with enormous, engaged, young followings built on TikTok and YouTube. In a public vote, a devoted online fanbase that actually picks up the phone is a formidable asset — arguably more formidable than the general goodwill of the wider public, much of which never votes at all.

None of this means Rooney cannot win. His everyman persona and dressing-room humour could translate perfectly. It means only that 3/1 flatters the size of his name rather than measuring the scale of the task.

What to watch for

The official reveal. The first real test of the reporting comes later this week, when ITV is expected to confirm the line-up. Watch for which of The Sun’s twelve survive the announcement — and who, if anyone, appears from nowhere.

The Coleen factor. According to The Sun, Rooney’s wife is a former campmate herself. If he does enter the jungle, theirs becomes one of the show’s more intriguing domestic storylines: a husband following his wife into the camp, years later, with her advice ringing in his ears.

The generational split. Soap royalty in Claire Sweeney, a footballing icon in Rooney, a Britpop-era frontman in Ricky Wilson — alongside TikTok and YouTube natives in Skipper and Sharky. How those worlds collide around the campfire is the producers’ central bet.

The Trials. Rooney’s reported “brute strength” will meet its first real examination the moment he is voted into a Bushtucker Trial. Strength helps with some Trials and is irrelevant to most of the others, which tend to involve insects, offal and confined spaces.

People Also Ask about I’m A Celebrity 2026

When does I’m A Celebrity 2026 start?

The new series launches on November 16 on ITV1 and runs for three weeks, hosted by Ant and Dec. That much is established. Everything about who will be in the camp remains, for now, a matter of newspaper reporting rather than official announcement.

Who is the favourite to win I’m A Celebrity 2026?

Bookmakers Ladbrokes have made Wayne Rooney the 3/1 favourite, ahead of comedian Leigh Francis at 5/1. TikTok comedian Jack Skipper and YouTuber Sharky are joint third favourites at 6/1. These are betting odds, reflecting where money is being placed — not a prediction endorsed by ITV or the show’s producers.

Who is in the I’m A Celebrity 2026 line-up?

According to The Sun, the twelve campmates heading to Australia are Wayne Rooney, Leigh Francis, Joanne Page, Ricky Wilson, Jack Skipper, Claire Sweeney, Sharky, Leomie Anderson, AJ Odudu, Chloe Burrows, Mariella Frostrup and Ade Adepitan. ITV has yet to confirm any of these names, with the official reveal expected later this week.

Has ITV confirmed the line-up yet?

No. As it stands, every name in circulation comes from press reporting, principally The Sun, which exclusively revealed Jack Skipper as the twelfth and final campmate. ITV is expected to officially unveil the line-up later this week.

Why is Wayne Rooney going into the jungle?

No official reason has been given — indeed, his participation has not been officially confirmed at all. What can be said is what the bookmakers think: Ladbrokes’ 3/1 odds suggest the betting public expects his personality and physicality to play well in camp. Anything beyond that, for now, is speculation.

Is Coleen Rooney going into the jungle as well?

No — the reporting concerns Wayne Rooney, not his wife. The Sun notes that Coleen is herself a former I’m A Celebrity campmate, which is why the prospect of her husband following her into the camp has attracted particular attention.