by Mike Burnett BBC News Online

Former Coronation Street actor Chris Bisson is the youngest contestant

Bafta-winning series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here has returned to screens with a new batch of celebrities and pint-sized Geordie hosts Ant and Dec.

The second series of the popular reality show is both brash and bizarre and should prove to be compulsive viewing over the next two weeks.

This time, 10 celebrities - not eight as there were last year - must battle it out in an Australian rainforest for the title of King or Queen of the Jungle.

And programme bosses seem determined to make their stay as uncomfortable as possible - if Monday's opening show is anything to go by.

From the start, Ant and Dec were only too pleased to inform viewers that some of the world's deadliest snakes, as well as spiders "that can kill" would be sharing jungle space with our intrepid contestants.

This is definitely not high-brow television but the chance to watch famous faces squirm is strangely enticing

"You'll have all our celebrities' ups and downs on tap. Every single day, we've got them covered", Ant declared with glee, and he was not wrong.

Within an hour and a half, TV chef Antony Worrall Thompson narrowly missed concussion after part of a tree fell from the sky and former footballer John Fashanu was nearly left singing soprano after having bundles of scary-looking insects shoved into his pants.

This is definitely not high-brow television but the chance to watch famous faces squirm is strangely enticing.

Wayne Sleep has unlimited energy

The show first burst on to our screens last year, proving an instant hit by combining the twin British loves of fly-on-the-wall TV and all things celebrity.

More than 10 million viewers watched veteran DJ Tony Blackburn win, and a second series was guaranteed.

This year's list of contestants, which includes former EastEnders actress Danniella Westbrook, cricketer Phil Tufnell and weather forecaster Sian Lloyd, once again offers an interesting and varied blend of personalities.

Whether they can produce the same heated rows and comedy capers that kept people glued to their sets last year remains to be seen.

On Monday night, the celebrities were still very much on their best behaviour - in the honeymoon period of the adventure, if that is possible in the jungle.

However, once the lack of food and sleep deprivation set in, tempers are likely to fray.

There were already signs, such as when TV decorator Linda Barker discovered her boot had melted from being too close to the camp fire.

Dancer Wayne Sleep's hyperactive antics were also beginning to wear, and Danniella Westbrook jabbering on yet again about her well-publicised drug problems promised to annoy as well.

Even the opening episode eventually delivered some high emotion as model Catalina Guirado, already looking less than glamorous after just one day, burst into tears when she was voted in to tackle crocodiles in the "Bushtucker" challenge.

It may have been the first hissy fit of the show but it certainly won't be the last.

The celebrities can rest assured that viewers will be there every step of the way.