The latest season of Celebrity Treasure Island is nearly here, and so is the scheming and drama as 16 famous faces fight to take home $100,000 for their chosen charity.
The show returns next week, with Northland as the backdrop to what is promised to be its “most emotional season yet”, as teams Wisdom and Fury go head to head.
We’ve got your first look at the fresh batch of celebrity castaways, from rugby royalty Frank Bunce and Portia Woodman, right through to outspoken media personalities Polly Gillespie and Nix Adams.
Expect plenty of tears and thievery, high-vis and high fashion – and it wouldn’t be Celebrity Treasure Island without torrential weather and a vicious attack from a plague of insects.
What else have we spotted in the super-tease trailer for the hit show? (Scroll up and have a watch if you haven’t already.)
In concerning scenes that might not be able to be remedied with topical cream, comedian David Correos appears to have a serious medical event while filming.
Comedian Liv Parker is seen calling, “We need a medic”, before Correos, the face of Burger King and Taskmaster NZ’s most chaotic contestant ever, collapses onto the ground as medical staff provide aid while he clutches his leg.
Will the funny man’s season be cut short?
We also get our first look at Woodman and Simon Barnett as captains. Barnett is seen with an orange buff – could he and his guns be leading team Fury? Meanwhile, Woodman is seen multiple times in blue, suggesting team Wisdom nabbed themselves some major athletic prowess.
“I don’t imagine there will be a coup – I could be wrong,“ Barnett confesses to the camera. Could radio’s nice guy find his captaincy challenged by someone seeking power and his collection of Lululemon cut-off tees?
Not on Fast & Furious star Vinnie Bennett’s watch. The actor proves he don’t have friends, he got family. Bennett reveals he’s out for revenge for his crew, calling the other team “the dirtiest players ever” before declaring, “get the f*** out of our face right now”.
I’d like to introduce you to this season’s bad boy, Vinnie Diesel.
But on team Wisdom, Woodman is seen in tears multiple times before promising that, much like on the rugby field, there will be “no more empathy, this is the game”.
After a deluge of tears from Adams, Correos, Parker, Barnett and radio host Harrison Keefe, we are left wondering if this season has traded in McDonald’s as the sponsor – for Kleenex.
I’ll take one Big Meltdown with a side of cries, please.
We also get our first glimpse of this season’s challenges as Adams tries to stay afloat, Bennett has a slingshot and Barnett pushes harder than Salt-N-Pepa.
“What sick freak made this game up?” asks Keefe, who appears to be being stretched on a medieval torture rack.
Actor Ben Barrington is now Ben Stealing, admitting to a case of shifty hands as sports reporter Zion Dayal and rugby hero Bunce look on in disbelief.
And in true CTI-style, the rain barely stops, puffer jackets are currency, and Davis gives us a blank canvas for a jolly good meme as he balls up his fists and heads into battle.
But wait, what’s that we spot in the final shot – purple buffs being worn by Davis, Adams, Parker, Bunce and two mystery figures?
Could this be a spoiler of who makes the merge? Will the rain ever stop? Did Keefe survive the rack?
We’ll have to wait to find out.
Celebrity Treasure Island premieres on Monday, April 27 at 7.30pm on TVNZ 2 & TVNZ+