Strictly Come Dancing star Shirley Ballas is set to swap her dancing shoes for the jungle wilderness, which she deemed the “scariest thing ever”.
Ballas, 64, has taken part in Holly Willoughby’s new Netflix show, Celebrity Bear Hunt, which also stars Bear Grylls. It sees a group of famous faces battling the elements in the Costa Rican jungle and taking on some terrifying tasks as Grylls “hunts” them.
The celebrities taking part also include Spice Girl Mel B, Ted Lasso actor Kola Bokinni, model Leomie Anderson, presenter Steph McGovern, The Inbetweeners star Joe Thomas, tennis player Boris Becker, rugby star Danny Cipriani, TV chef Big Zuu, The Saturdays singer Una Healy, Kate Moss’s sister and model Lottie Moss and TV interior designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.
Grylls, 50 teased: “I have done many wild things in my life but I have never hunted celebrities. The celebrities won’t come out of this the same.”
Willoughby added: “I don’t think they knew what they were signing up for.”
Some of the grueling tasks include the celebrities attempting to cross a rope bridge with missing slats which spans across a huge gorge.
Shirley Ballas is swapping the ballroom for the jungle in the new Netflix series
BBC
Ballas shared a trailer on her Instagram on Tuesday, writing: “One of the scariest things I’ve ever done… out 5th February @netflixuk.”
Ballas is best-known now for her role as head judge on BBC Strictly, but has recently featured in ITV’s The Masked Singer, where she was unveiled as Rat.
The new Netflix series has been labelled the ultimate survival challenge, but there seems to be a fair amount of personal drama thrown in too.
The group appear to be sharing a living space in the middle of the jungle, and the trailer suggests tensions flare between the celebs at some points.
Shirley Ballas admitted the show had been one of the “scariest” things she had done
Responding to Netflix UK and Ireland’s official post on its social media pages announcing the show’s official date, fans seem keen to tune in.
Grylls himself commented: “The jungle is a tough environment to survive in -let alone escape in! Well done you 12… but as you know, at the end there will be only one!”
Willoughby added: “Not long to wait now… sooooo EXCITED!”
Reality star Vicky Pattison shared: “THIS LOOKS AMAZING”.
“This actually a good celebrity line up!” one fan wrote, while another commented: “A great lineup especially Una Healy and Mel B.”
Speaking ahead of the series premiere, Grylls also posted a touching tribute to his co-host as he shared a snap of him and Willoughby on Instagram.
“There is no better person to have help host this adventure than the unstoppable @hollywilloughby,” he began in an Instagram post.
“Thank you Holly for bringing so much light and positivity to this @netflix adventure,” he added.
The snap shows Grylls sporting combat gear and covered in mud while Willoughby stands beside him, smiling broadly.
