''Celebrity Circus'' was an Australian

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1 ...

series which aired in May 2005 on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

. The show took celebrities and, with the help of

Silvers Circus Silver's Circus, the original, was an (Australian) circus started by Mervyn King and entrepreneur David Hardie Snr. and his two sons Les and David Jnr. History Original Silvers The original Silver's Circus was founded by Mervyn King and David H ...

, trained them into

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...

acts. In the final show, the celebrities performed in front of a live crowd and showcased what they had learned. It was shown over five one-hour episodes and was hosted by

Bud Tingwell Charles William Tingwell AM (3 January 1923 – 15 May 2009), known professionally as Bud Tingwell or Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, was an Australian film, television, theatre and radio actor. One of the veterans of Australian film, he acted in his ...

. The various skills in the show were high-wire, flying trapeze,

knife throwing Knife throwing is an art, sport, combat skill, or variously an entertainment technique, involving an artist skilled in the art of throwing knives, the weapons thrown, and a target. In some stage performances, the knife thrower ties an assista ...

, fire juggling and

clown A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms. History The most ancient clowns have been found in ...

ing. Some of the performers were also trained in two events called the Human Cannon and the Wheel of Death. The participants were: actors

Cameron Daddo Cameron Peter Daddo (born 7 March 1965) is an Australian actor, musician and presenter. From 1987 to 1988, he hosted dating game show '' Perfect Match Australia''. He won two Logie Awards for his performances in '' Golden Fiddles'' and ''Track ...

and

Kimberley Davies Kimberley Davies (born 20 February 1973) is an Australian actress most famous for playing Annalise Hartman on the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'' from 1993 to 1996. She is sometimes credited as "Kimberly Davies". Life and career Davies wa ...

; former ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a tri ...

'' star

Dieter Brummer Dieter Kirk Brummer (5 May 1976 – 24 July 2021) was an Australian actor. He was best known for his roles in television soap operas, including playing Shane Parrish in ''Home and Away'' from 1992 to 1996 and Troy Miller in ''Neighbours'' from 2 ...

; ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...

'' winner Dylan Lewis; ''

Australia's Funniest Home Video Show ''Australia's Funniest Home Videos'' (''AFHV'', also known as ''Funniest Home Videos'' or simply ''The Video Show'', originally ''Graham Kennedy's Funniest Home Video Show'' in its first season and ''Australia's Funniest Home Video Show'' until ...

'' host

Toni Pearen Toni Michelle Pearen is an Australian entertainer, actress, singer, songwriter and television presenter. She initially became recognisable through her role on soap opera '' E Street'' from 1989 until 1992. She had a limited pop music career in ...

; Vadim Dale (from ''

Outback Jack ''Outback Jack'' is a 2004 American reality TV show filmed in outback Australia. It was produced by Nash Entertainment. It starred Vadim Dale, a 6-foot-tall former underwear model, as ''Outback Jack'', and started with twelve women who vied fo ...

'') and his fiancé, Natalie Franzman;

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of th ...

gold medallist

Kerri Pottharst Kerri Ann Pottharst OAM (born 25 June 1965) is an Australian former professional beach volleyball player and Olympic gold medallist. Pottharst was born in Adelaide, South Australia, and currently resides in Sydney. In addition to her previou ...

; and

Ricki-Lee Coulter Ricki-Lee Dawn Coulter (born 10 November 1985), also known mononymously as Ricki-Lee, is a New Zealand-born Australian singer, songwriter, television, and radio presenter. She was born in Auckland, New Zealand, grew up on the Gold Coast, Qu ...

from ''

Australian Idol ''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program '' Pop Ido ...

''. The first episode, which aired on 1 May, was placed in the top ten of the ratings for that week. The series appeared in the Portugal on TVI in 2006 as ''Circo das Celebridades''. On 11 June 2008 an American version began airing on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

International versions

: Currently airing franchise : Franchise no longer in production

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Celebrity Circus (Australian Tv Series) 2000s Australian reality television series Nine Network original programming 2005 Australian television series debuts 2005 Australian television series endings Circus television shows Television shows set in Melbourne