The previous series saw a massive 11.7m viewers watch us fly in the celebrities in five helicopters for the opening episode. For the 2021 series we didn’t only film the arrival of the celebrities. This time Ant and Dec also got in on the action with a flight in their very own helicopter.

Before the show aired, the public had the chance to vote for who would take part in the first challenge.  Six celebrities were chosen and then split into two teams.

Each team flew in one of our AS355s, either OLCP or VGMC. Both helicopters feature complementary paint schemes, making them perfect as matching picture ships for productions. The celebrities flew to their first challenge. And like in 2020, it was a test of how they deal with heights.

Ant and Dec, were provided with VIP treatment and flown in by our AW109SP luxury helicopter. They looked right at home in their leather seats, in sharp contrast to the conditions the celebrities were about to endure for the next three weeks.

Providing the aerial filming for the celebrities’ arrival, and for Ant and Dec’s travels, was another of our twin squirrels. Mounted with our GSS C516, we filmed air-to-air in addition to flying the celebs to their destinations.

Months of preparation and hard work went into making the first episode happen it was a spectacular watch. We hope you enjoyed it. The show airs every evening at 9pm on ITV.

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Due to this year’s ongoing situation. It was not possible for the show to take place in its usual location of Murwillumbah, New South Wales. Its new home for 2020 would be Gwrych Castle in North Wales.

The opening episode was viewed by a massive 11.7m viewers. Usually, it features half the celebrities making a grand entrance into camp, and this year’s show would be no different. So, ITV went looking for five helicopters for the celebrities and another one to film them. As one of the few aerial filming companies in the country with this number of aircraft, we were ideally suited to fill this role. With all the aircraft and filming equipment in-house, production had the confidence that we could provide everything required without having to rely on third parties.

The show required that the helicopters carrying the celebrities were to be twin-engine, and black. With six of our ten aircraft being twin-squirrel AS355’s, this was fine. However, only one is currently completely black, and that’s G-CMRA. So, in order to meet this requirement, we had four of our helicopters painted black over two days (G-LINE, G-DCAM, G-OLCP & G-VGMC).

Finally, we nailed down the shot list and formations we would be flying to achieve them. Our pilots have a wealth of experience flying in formation with another aircraft when aerial filming but flying as part of a five-aircraft formation was going to be a new experience for a few of them. However, the principals behind this remain the same; so there was little doubt that they’d all excel at the task.

After all the preparation and painting was complete, it was time for the fun part, a practice flight. From our base in Cheshire we got all the pilots, camera operators and ground crew together and lined up the aircraft. Six helicopters, all rotors running and engines roaring, took to the skies in what was an epic display of machines and noise. The I’m A Celebrity production team were going to be in for a treat.

_{Huge thanks to drone operations Lec Park & Andy L for this video}

Next up was rehearsal day, one week prior to showtime. The weather could not have been better for a day in mid-July, let alone in November. Once again, six helicopters took to the skies. Will Banks flying the camera ship (G-TVGB) with DoP Mike Parker. The duo left base armed with the GSS C516 and the Sony P1. They headed to Snowdonia to get shots of the sunrise over the Welsh mountains. Completely still conditions gave perfect views and crystal-clear reflections from the lakes dotted around the valleys.

The first formation flights would take place before heading north and flying over Gwrych Castle and Abergele. The five twin squirrels arrived later, and this caused quite a stir. Reports of helicopters over the I’m A Celebrity castle were everywhere! Photos and videos of us making it to social media and news sites. Speculation went into overdrive and there was a noticeable spike in excitement surrounding the preparations for the show.

The rehearsal had gone perfectly and everyone was thrilled with the results. We now had to do it all over again the following week, on Friday the 13^th, and the weather was looking awful. Anxiety levels were rising as the day approached and the weather hadn’t improved. Then, two days before the shoot, the weather looked to be in our favour. Twelve hours later however, it was back to wind and rain. But with less than 18 hours to go, the weather decided to behave and gave us a weather window of clear blue skies for the shoot. For two days, one week apart, in November, in the Welsh mountains, we had nearly identical weather.

Then came the big day. With the pilots final briefing the night before and a good night’s rest, they were ready to head off. Once again Will and Mike left early to get shots of the sun rising over North Wales, while the main fleet took off to a secret location, ready for the celebrities to arrive. Landing at the site, lined up nose to tail, they waited for this year’s (un)lucky contestants to appear.

One at a time, the blindfolded celebrities where loaded into a helicopter, which then took off and made its way to our camera ship. As each helicopter joined they formed up to allow the celebrities to see each other for the first time. Once all of them were onboard and all six helicopters formed up, they made their way through Wales and Snowdonia. We flew through gorgeous valleys, above lakes and over mountain peaks in various formations. Allowing us to shoot stunning footage as we flew.

The Celebrities were dropped off at a remote location, going straight into their first task. We returned to base for a debrief.

All that was left to do now was put the aircraft away and strip away the paint. While we wait until Sunday to see the results.

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