Peter Helliar on quitting The Project and his I’m A Celeb weight loss

Peter Helliar was booted out of the jungle after 25 days living on rationed rice and beans – and the extreme conditions had a dramatic effect.

Latest I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! evictee Peter Helliar has opened up about his final months before quitting The Project last year, in one of his first interviews since leaving the jungle.

Helliar, who revealed he lost 7.5kg during his 25 days on the show, revealed to B105’s Stav, Abby and Matt that his first few hours out of camp didn’t exactly go as he’d expected.

Thinking he’d be whisked to a nice hotel for a slap-up feed, Helliar instead found that “you meet with a psych for half an hour, you meet with the medical team to make sure everything’s OK … it’s a whole series of meetings you go through. I haven’t really stopped since I came out.”

Pete heading into I’m A Celeb …

… and leaving the jungle 7.5kg lighter.

Fellow I’m A Celeb contestant Nick ‘Honey Badger’ Cummins lost 8kg during his 14-odd days in camp, while Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson lost 6.5kg during his 19 days of living on rice and bean rations.

Helliar was one of several contestants on this season of I’m A Celeb who had been approached to participate since the show’s very first season. He’d always said no, using his usual job as a panellist on The Project as an excuse.

“Whenever they did ask, I was a bit concerned they were trying to get me off The Project. I was wary of leaving the desk for too long,” he told the radio hosts on-air this morning.

But I’m A Celeb’s producers pounced once more after he announced his departure from The Project in late 2022. Helliar was part of the show’s sudden “mass exodus”, with he, Carrie Bickmore and Lisa Wilkinson all leaving in quick succession.

Peter Helliar announcing his Project exit.

He revealed his decision to quit came as he was getting “a little sick of” being on a show that often made headlines just as much as it reported on them.

“It wasn’t the reason I left, but I remember saying to Waleed and Lisa around August that I was getting a little sick of being associated with the news cycle. That’s got nothing to do with the show, but just the way commentary goes these days. News has become pretty toxic, as far as the debate around news … I’m pretty happy to be going into some sillier, fun areas in the future,” said Helliar, who quit to focus developing his own projects.

Helliar (centre) said he told co-stars Waleed Aly (left) and Lisa Wilkinson (right) that he was sick of the show being in the news cycle.

And he conceded it was also becoming more difficult to keep out of trouble as a comedian on live television (just last month, the hosts had to apologise after a guest’s off-colour joke about Jesus drew complaints).

“It used to be that you’d make a joke and you’d know who you were going to offend. You could weigh it up: Is it worth it? Risk vs. reward. Now, you just don’t know. You have no idea who could possibly be offended,” said Helliar.

Helliar’s departure leaves six contestants still in the jungle, with three episodes left to go on this season of I’m A Celeb.

Former AFL player Adam Cooney, boxer Harry Garside, Geordie Shore star Nathan Henry and radio host Woody Whitelaw are the final four men left standing, while reality star Aesha Scott and netball great Liz Ellis are the final two women.

I’m A Celeb airs 7:30pm Wednesday and Thursday on Ten, ahead of Sunday’s season finale.

Originally published as Peter Helliar on quitting The Project and his I’m A Celeb weight loss