Former NRL forward Luke Bateman has confirmed he will appear on the upcoming season of I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, revealing he is the “rugby league Romeo” teased by Channel 10 in the lead-up to the show's premiere.
Bateman announced the news on social media ahead of Sunday night's launch, saying he would be “trading the Australian outback for the African jungle” as part of the 2026 cast.
The former Canberra Raiders forward played 71 NRL games between 2015 and 2019 before retiring at just 27 due to a combination of injury setbacks and mental health struggles.
In later years, Bateman openly admitted he had battled depression and a gambling addiction during his playing career.
Since stepping away from rugby league, Bateman's profile has surged in unexpected fashion.
After joining TikTok in April 2025, his popularity exploded almost overnight, with his first-ever video amassing more than two million views.
He has since built a following of nearly 400,000 by posting content focused on fantasy and romance novels, which is a niche that quickly resonated with a wide audience.
Bateman is also set to debut as a fantasy author himself, after Atria Books Australia signed him to a two-book deal, with his first novel expected to be released in early 2027.
Speaking to news.com.au before entering the jungle, Bateman admitted he has received plenty of attention online, including some particularly outrageous direct messages.
“There is a group within society that do send outrageous messages, and that is gay men,” Bateman laughed.
“Some of the messages I've got from that section of society are just wild.”
While some of the messages have been explicit, Bateman said he largely finds them amusing, adding that he gets “a real good laugh” out of most of them.
Bateman also explained why he jumped at the opportunity to appear on the show, saying the decision was an easy one.
“When someone tells you that you get to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience that not many other people get to do and they will pay you to do it, your answer is yes,” he said.
