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Simon Duke

I'm A Celebrity's Dec Donnelly gets birthday surprise on set after South Africa series confirmed

Dec Donnelly had a birthday to remember on Sunday when co-host and best mate Ant McPartlin and the I'm A Celebrity crew threw a surprise party for him on set as they film a 'top secret' version of the hit programme.

Last week the Geordie presenters finally let the cat out of the bag that a specia l All Star version of I'm A Celeb in South Africa will be on air next year, as well as the upcoming new run of the show, which will see the lads make a return to Australia before Christmas.

The programme, which has now been going for 20 years, somehow managed to finish its stint in Wales last year, despite Storm Arwen battering the set and causing significant damage as the contestants were rushed out of the castle and put into isolation for a few days.

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Ant and Dec will be hoping for a distinct lack of extreme weather as they head back into the jungle Down Under in the not too distant future; but, before then there's the small matter of shooting the All Star series in South Africa. A whole host of names have been linked with a return to the show including Helen Flannagan, Georgia Toffolo, Carol Vorderman, Dean Gaffney, Jordan Banjo and even Gillian McKeith, as filming takes place in Kruger National Park, however the All Stars line-up is still strictly under wraps.

Dec turned 47 at the weekend and, sharing a video from the I'm A Celebrity set on his and Ant's social media channels, revealed that the team hadn't let it pass without a party. In the video Ant could be seen holding a zebra balloon in the background as Dec said: "Hello everybody. I just want to say thank you for all your lovely comments and birthday wishes today. Happy Birthday to all my birthday twins, people who share my birthday and thank you for all your lovely wishes."

As Ant quipped: "He's had a lovely night," Dec joked: "I can't believe I'm 32," before Ant interrupted: "Yeah right!" Earlier in the day, Ant revealed that he had given Dec the present of South African treat biltong for his birthday.

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