Netflix is reportedly spending £1 million on security while filming Bear Hunt to protect the stars, including Holly Willoughby.
Holly, 43, is travelling to Costa Rica with Bear Grylls, 49, and at least ten other celebrities.
Holly’s second TV job follows her departure from This Morning after 14 years in October.Following an alleged kidnapping and murder plot, she released a statement saying it was a ‘difficult goodbye’ but she had to’make this decision for me and my family’.
The series will follow adventurer Bear as he hunts down famous faces in the jungle, with Jesy Nelson and Leigh Francis rumoured to try to evade capture.
The streamer has reportedly hired ex-special forces and former military personnel to protect the cast from potential criminal attacks.
The overall budget is said to be £10 million, which will go towards an impressive lineup, with an additional one million set aside for this purpose.
‘Keeping Holly and everyone fully protected in Costa Rica is the priority,’ a TV insider told The Sun.
‘That means hiring specialist teams of guards, many of whom will be ex-military and special forces experts.
‘They’ll also need specialist vehicles, safe accommodation and a secure location in which to film.’
The source added that it will be costly and complicated in the South American country that has ‘a very luxurious tourist trade combined with a dangerous underbelly’.
Costa Rica’s murder rate was 17.2 per 100,000 people in 2023, its deadliest year on record; in 2018, it was 11.7. This compares to one in every 100,000 in the United Kingdom.
According to the Judicial Investigation Agency, out of Costa Rica’s 5.1 million people, an estimated 1,000 are involved in organised crime activities.
Filming for Bear Hunt is expected to begin in May, with viewers able to see what happens in 2025.
Source My Celebrity Life.