A-list Aussie actress makes reality TV debut as I’m A Celeb contestant

One of Australia’s best-loved actresses is heading into the jungle, for her first-ever reality TV appearance. So what made her take the plunge?

There were familiar grumbles last week when Ten unveiled the cast for the latest season of I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!, with the usual complaints from some quarters that.this year’s contestants lacked some star power.

Turns out, they were saving the best – or at least, most A-list – til last: In tonight’s episode of the show, Australian acting royalty Sigrid Thornton makes her reality TV debut as the latest contestant to enter the show

Ten somewhat misleadingly teased Thornton as a “mega movie star” before her reveal: Sure, she’s appeared in a ton of movies (including one of the highest-grossing Australian films of all time, 1982’s The Man from Snowy River), but with roles in Wentworth, Prisoner, All The Rivers Run and of course the massive late 90s hit SeaChange, she’s surely better known as one of the most beloved actors on Australian television.

Thornton’s career has stretched more than 50 years, but until now, she’s never appeared on a single reality TV show. Speaking to news.com.au before entering the jungle, she explained why, at age 65, she’d finally said yes to one.

Why Is Sigrid Thornton going on I’m A Celeb? “Why not?” Picture: Mark Stewart

She’d better be bringing some campfire tales about the SeaChange days.

“The short answer is ‘why not.’ I felt like if I was going to say yes to a challenge like this, then this was the time for me. I mean, I’ve never done reality television; I’ve never done anything remotely like this,” she said.

“But I don’t hold any particular judgement around it; I’ve removed all potential judgement because I don’t know what it’s going to be. All I know is that it will be extraordinary, exciting, unexpected, and I hope a little bit wonderful.”

We’ll see how she feels once she’s eaten her first buffalo testicle while being pelted with offal. But to be fair, Thornton does seem to be entering the show with the right attitude – one she shares with her friend, Home and Away actress Debra Lawrance, who competed in the show’s 2023 season and won praise from viewers and campmates alike for her zen approach to all the challenges I’m A Celeb threw at her.

“Deb described it a ‘life-enhancing experience,’ and you know, I can’t see what else it could be. It’s so extraordinary. And I want to live a rich and full life. Her experience did reassure me that it was something worth getting your teeth stuck into,” said Thornton.

Thornton was nominated for seven Logies across SeaChange’s initial dream run.

Her starring role on The Man from Snowy River made her a household name.

She also has a very personal reason for playing: Thornton is competing in the hopes of raising money for the charity Alzheimer’s Australia, having lost her mother Merle to the disease in August last year.

“My career decisions tend to be made fairly instinctively, and there seemed to be quite a few things pointing me in this direction,” she said of her decision to take the plunge.

“I’m sure at every turn I’ll be nervous, but the thing is: That’s always been a part of life and my work. Being nervous, having a bit of fear around a decision? That’s a recommendation to me. It says, ‘move forward into that place’. And coming out the other side is the greatest exhilaration.

“Moving through fear … it’s one of life’s great gifts.”

I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! Sunday At 7.00pm And Monday to Thursday At 7.30pm on 10 and 10 Play.