Last week, it was revealed that EastEnders legend Adam Woodyatt—who has played Ian Beale on the BBC soap since 1985—had signed up for the upcoming series ofI’m A Celeb. Now it looks like he’ll be joined by a rival soap legend—Coronation Street’s Steve McDonald, actor Simon Gregson.
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Ian Beale vs Steve McDonald
Like Adam, Simon has stuck with his soap for over 30 years. The now-47-year-old joined the cobbles back in 1989 when he was just a teenager. Since then he’s featured in countless storylines as his character has been through 6 marriages, welcomed 6 kids and dealt with clinical depression and the death of his son.
A source told The Sun:
To have both Simon and Adam on this series is a real coup. Bosses think they’ll provide some real comedy moments together. Bosses know Corrie fans will get right behind him. Everyone knows Simon as Steve but now they’ll get to see a completely different side of him for the first time.
They continued:
Simon has previously shunned all reality shows and he has turned down I’m A Celeb a number of times before. But now his children are older, Simon started to think the timing was right. And after the show was moved from Australia to Wales it made it easier for him to commit.
Corrie vs EastEnders
While three EastEnders actors have won I’m A Celeb in the past - Joe Swash in 2008, Charlie Brooks in 2012 and Jacqueline Jossa in 2019—the show has never been won by a Corrie actor. Andy Whyment came closest when he was runner-up in 2019. Does this mean Adam will have an advantage, or could Simon make show history by being crowned King of the Castle?
