In November 2020, moving from their usual Australian jungle setting, ITV filmed the ‘I’m a Celebrity’ TV series at Abergele’s Gwrych Castle.

The move to the castle and grounds in Abergele showcased our North Wales town to a wide mainstream TV and press audience.

To celebrate the town‘s enthusiasm, Oriel Colwyn’s curator Paul Sampson teamed up with acclaimed photographer Niall McDiarmid to highlight some of the local businesses, people and personalities of ‘Celebrity Town’. We photographed over 120 people, and this first set of portraits are proudly displayed on Pensarn Prom.

With ‘I’m a Celebrity’ returning for 2021 we took the opportunity to add to the portraits and photographed another 47 people. Many of these people, now displayed on Slaters hoardings, were chosen after last year’s call-out to nominate others.

This series of photographic portraits are a small snapshot of our community and only just scratch beneath the surface of our wonderful town. It shows that if we look, there is celebrity in us all.