Level 1 — Absolute Beginner

I'm A Celebrity is a TV show in Britain. Famous people live in a camp in Australia. They eat strange food and do hard tasks.

On Monday, newspapers said who will be on the new show. There are twelve names. The TV channel has not said yes or no.

One name is Wayne Rooney. He was a famous football player. Another name is Joanna Page, an actor from Gavin and Stacey.

Ade Adepitan is also on the list. He is a Paralympian. Reports say he will be the first person to go into the camp in a wheelchair.

celebrity

A very famous person.

camp

A place where people live outside, often in tents.

task

A job you must do.

newspaper

Printed pages with news in them.

channel

A TV station that shows programmes.

actor

A person who plays a part in a film or show.

football player

A person who plays football as a job.

wheelchair

A chair with wheels for someone who cannot walk easily.

Level 2 — Elementary

I'm A Celebrity is one of the biggest shows on British television. Famous people live together in a camp in Australia, eat unpleasant food and face frightening challenges, and the public votes to decide who stays. Ant and Dec have presented it for years, and this will be the 26th series.

On Monday, British media published what they described as the full line-up. The twelve names include Wayne Rooney, the former Manchester United forward, the comedian Leigh Francis, who is better known as Keith Lemon, and Joanna Page, who played Stacey in Gavin and Stacey.

Other reported names come from music, sport, radio and fashion. Ricky Wilson, the singer of the Kaiser Chiefs, is on the list, as are the Big Brother host AJ Odudu, the broadcaster Mariella Frostrup, the model Leomie Anderson, the radio host Chloe Burrows, the actor Claire Sweeney, the YouTube star Sharmarke Mohamud and the comedian Jack Skipper.

One name stands out for a different reason. Reports say the Paralympian Ade Adepitan will be the first person to take part in the competition in a wheelchair. Readers should remember that ITV has not confirmed any of this, and that some of the names are supported only by newspaper claims. The singer Jesy Nelson was reported to have pulled out because her daughters were unwell.

line-up

The full list of people taking part in something.

challenge

A difficult task that tests you.

vote

To choose, usually by marking a paper or sending a message.

present

To host a programme and speak to the audience.

series

A set of programmes shown one after another, usually once a year.

forward

A football player whose main job is to score goals.

broadcaster

A person who works on television or radio.

confirm

To say officially that something is true.

Level 3 — Intermediate

Few rituals of the British television year are as reliable as the slow leak of the I'm A Celebrity line-up. On Monday the reports arrived in full: a dozen names said to be heading for the Australian camp for the show's 26th series, with Ant and Dec presenting as usual. The list is worth reading twice, because it is less confirmed than it looks.

The marquee signing is Wayne Rooney, the former Manchester United forward, whom producers were previously reported to have described as the biggest signing in the show's history. His wife finished second in the 24th series, which gives the booking a neat symmetry. Also named are Leigh Francis, the comedian behind the character Keith Lemon, Joanna Page of Gavin and Stacey, the Kaiser Chiefs frontman and former Voice coach Ricky Wilson, and the Big Brother host AJ Odudu.

The remaining names reach into radio, fashion, journalism and online video: the broadcaster and long serving Observer advice columnist Mariella Frostrup, the model Leomie Anderson, who made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2020, the radio presenter and former Love Island contestant Chloe Burrows, the actor Claire Sweeney, the comedian Jack Skipper, and Sharmarke Mohamud of the online group Beta Squad, who has more than 1.5 million subscribers on his own channel.

The most significant entry may be Ade Adepitan, the basketball player and Paralympian, who according to reports will be the first contestant to take part in the competition in a wheelchair. That caveat, 'according to reports', applies across the whole list. ITV has confirmed nothing, several names are sourced to a single newspaper, and the start date has not been announced beyond the promise that the show returns within weeks. The network's own trailer, in which Ant and Dec led a choir covered in worms and gunge through a jungle version of The Twelve Days of Christmas, gave away no names at all.

ritual

Something done in the same way every time, like a tradition.

leak

Information that escapes before it is meant to be made public.

marquee signing

The biggest and most attention-grabbing recruit.

symmetry

A pleasing balance between two matching parts.

columnist

A writer with a regular section in a newspaper or magazine.

contestant

Someone who takes part in a competition.

caveat

A warning that limits how far a statement should be trusted.

trailer

A short advertisement for a film or programme.

Level 4 — Advanced

The annual unveiling of the I'm A Celebrity line-up is less a news event than a negotiated one. Names reach the tabloids before the broadcaster will say a word, publicity accrues to everybody, and the audience learns to read the hedges. Monday's reports duly produced a dozen names for the show's 26th series, with Ant and Dec presenting, and almost as much hedging as information: Joanna Page is named 'according to The Sun', Ade Adepitan and Ricky Wilson appear because 'reports claim', Claire Sweeney is 'reportedly on board', Wayne Rooney 'is said to be' taking part. Several other names arrive with no attribution whatsoever.

Read as a piece of casting rather than as journalism, the slate is shrewdly balanced. Rooney supplies the mass-market football audience and a narrative hook, his wife having finished runner-up in the 24th series; Leigh Francis and Jack Skipper cover comedy; Joanna Page and Claire Sweeney bring the affectionate recognition of long-running British drama; Ricky Wilson and AJ Odudu span music and reality-television hosting. Mariella Frostrup, two decades an advice columnist at the Observer, is the broadsheet ballast, while Leomie Anderson and Sharmarke Mohamud, the latter of the online collective Beta Squad with a personal following above 1.5 million, are plainly aimed at viewers who do not watch much linear television at all.

The entry that would genuinely matter, if confirmed, is Adepitan's. The basketball player and Paralympian would become the first person to compete in the camp in a wheelchair, which turns a format built on physical ordeal into a test of whether the production can design its trials for more than one kind of body. That is a harder commission than booking a famous footballer, and a more interesting one. It is also, at present, sourced to the same reports as everything else.

What remains unknown is almost everything structural. ITV has confirmed no line-up, named no start date beyond the assurance that the series returns within weeks, and disclosed nothing about format changes; the promotional trailer, which showed the hosts leading a worm-and-gunge-covered choir through a jungle rewrite of The Twelve Days of Christmas, was careful to reveal no names. Jesy Nelson, previously expected to take part and to use the platform to raise awareness of spinal muscular atrophy, was reported to have withdrawn because her daughters were unwell. Until the broadcaster speaks, the sensible position is that this is a well-sourced rumour rather than a cast list.

unveiling

The moment something previously hidden is shown to the public.

accrue

To build up gradually over time.

hedge

A cautious word or phrase that avoids committing to a claim.

attribution

A statement of where a piece of information came from.

slate

A planned set of participants, programmes or projects.

ballast