I’m A Celebrity Australia, Love Island in doubt for Byron filming

Byron’s mayor is considering a ban on reality shows filming in the area, including the upcoming Love Island after the region’s latest lockdown.

Byron Shire mayor Michael Lyon said his council was now considering banning reality shows being filming in the area after a positive Covid case travelled to the region from Sydney to work on I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here.

Mr Lyon said he was working to determine whether council could withdraw its approval for the upcoming Love Island, another “from the same studios that brought I’m a Celebrity, and Covid, to the region.”

Cr Lyon said Love Island was now “unlikely to proceed.”

“It is so devastating to be in lockdown again and it is clear the ‘honour’ system relied on by the state government is deeply flawed,” he said.

“It is worth noting people coming here for work don’t actually have to show a negative Covid test, this was thankfully part of the filming protocol that allowed this early detection.

“Perhaps our calls for a tightening of restrictions will now finally be heeded.

Byron Shire mayor Michael Lyon said Love Island was now “unlikely to proceed”.

“Our local community is once again paying the price for the lack of consideration as to how Covid can spread to the regions,” he said.

“People are allowed to leave Sydney for a range of reasons and it’s time the NSW Government looked very closely at further tightening these rules allowing people to travel or, at the very least, restricting their movements while they are here.

“We have been placed on an ambitious timetable of mid-October of a statewide opening up, for economic not health reasons, which leaves our community and region exposed and without any consultation, or the supply of vaccines to be able to prepare for it.

“This needs to be reconsidered and more widely consulted on.”

I’M A CELEBRITY … GET ME INTO ISOLATION

Some celebrity contestants are believed to have been forced into isolation after coming into contact with a Covid-infected crew member on set of reality show I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!

The Daily Telegraph understands that the production staffer who flew to Byron Bay to film for the final few days of the show was working on ‘title sequences’ or opening and closing segments for the show.

That means some celebrity contestants competing on the show, which wrapped production at the weekend, have been deemed close contacts despite the crew member wearing PPE at the time of coming into contact with them.

It is believed the shoot was limited to less than 10 people, all of whom have been tested for Covid and have come back with negative results.

Chris Brown and Julia Morris the hosts of I'm a Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here.

Sources close to the production say the close contacts however will serve out the full two week quarantine period and will be retested on day 12.

The woman, aged 31, was charged on Wednesday for multiple breaches of the public health orders in the state’s north. Her infection triggered a seven-day lockdown in Tweed, Byron and Kempsey on Tuesday afternoon.

Police claimed the woman had been granted an exemption to travel to the area for work-related purposes but allegedly attended several businesses and venues in Byron Bay and Kingscliff, in breach of her exemption.

Police said she did not check into the locations using the Service NSW QR code.

The Rushcutters Bay woman was issued a court attendance notice for five counts of failing to comply with electronic registration directive. She will appear in Tweed Heads Local Court on November 8.

Wide expanses of white sand and long clear waves at The Pass in Byron Bay. Picture: Media Mode

Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed there have been no new cases in Northern NSW overnight as she refuted flaws with the travel exemption system.

chief health officer Kerry Chant said the woman was recently vaccinated, but that the vaccination might not have had time to “take effect”.

Byron Shire mayor Michael Lyon said the news of a positive Sydneysider case coming into the region was a bitter blow.

“Our local community is once again paying the price for the lack of consideration as to how Covid can spread to the regions,” he said.

“People are allowed to leave Sydney for a range of reasons and I think it’s time the NSW Government looked very closely at further tightening these rules that are allowing people to travel or, at the very least, restricting their movements while they are here.

“We have been placed on an ambitious timetable of mid-October of a statewide opening up, for economic not health reasons, which leaves our community and region exposed and without any consultation, or the supply of vaccines to be able to prepare for it.

“This needs to be reconsidered and more widely consulted on.”

Premier Gladys Berejiklian refutes that there are flaws with the travel exemption system. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

During the Wednesday press conference, Ms Berejiklian again pointed to Byron and Mullumbimby’s “pockets of resistance” as an answer for the region’s low vaccination rates.

Ms Chant said she would like to see more community engagement to encourage vaccination and hoped the latest lockdown would bring home the message.

“This gives them the warning no one can be complacent,” she said.

Meanwhile, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk showed no signs of easing border restrictions when asked about the Wallangarra/Jennings border business divide at a Toowoomba press conference.

“Yeah and guess what, we’ve also been trying to move the checkpoints of the Tweed,” she said.

“Unfortunately these are matters for the NSW government because they are NSW residents”

Originally published as I’m A Celebrity Australia, Love Island in doubt for Byron filming