Rachel Hunter reveals the blunt warning she left the I’m a Celebrity cast with after jungle exit

Rachel Hunter was the first campmate eliminated from I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Australia 2026, after a major shake-up that has seen the show ditch fan voting in favour of a new elimination challenge.

Reflecting on the new twist, Rachel told Chattr that she had warned the rest of the cast that it would dramatically change the camp dynamic, and not necessarily for the better.

“I was like, to self-eliminate against each other, it’s just going to cause [chaos]. I warned them when I left, I was like, you guys, this all changes now, like it all changes because of this, because of the elimination process of how it’s going without the fan vote,” she told Chattr.

“I mean, it’s an alliance. It’s definitely an alliance unless, like, I haven’t seen the rest of the show, unless it is an elimination process through the challenges [without any voting].”

Rachel pointed out that without the fan vote, there’s less chance the camp’s most beloved personalities will stay on our screens for long.

“Because you do want the ones who are real sparky and feisty in there! But, my journey in there… it was what it was. Like, what can I do? But, yeah, I’d love to come back and do more on TV in Australia,” she said.

Although she was a fan favourite, Rachel became the first to be eliminated after losing a challenge against Matt Zukowski, though she stayed humble about her elimination.

“I don’t want to get into, oh my god, like, you know, could I have gone any further? Is it unfair? Is it all this? It was what it was,” she said.

“Obviously, I wanted to stay longer. But, I said to Rebecca, God, if I stay any longer, and we were just talking about the self-preservation of, like, wanting to stay longer. And how you how your strategy would have changed. It probably wouldn’t have changed because I am who I am, but I was bummed [to leave].

Why isn’t there a fan vote on I’m a Celebrity Australia 2026?

Unlike the previous season of I’m a Celebrity, this year’s was pre-recorded and filmed in November 2026.

Because the show isn’t aired live, it wasn’t possible to include a fan vote in the challenges and eliminations throughout the season. However, fans will have input into deciding the winner.

The final three I’m a Celebrity contestants will be put to a public vote, with the contestant receiving the most votes crowned the season’s winner, with Julia Morris telling Chattr that even she doesn’t “know who wins”.

Those three celebrities have reportedly already filmed a segment in which they win the show, and only the real winners will play out on TV during the grand finale night. Not only does this help stop spoilers from leaking, but it also means the winner finds out their fate in real time with the rest of Australia.