In the last episode of season 8, Zietlow and Hartwich confirmed that the show will return for its 9th season in 2015.The contestants were announced in early January 2015. The season started off with a special on 16 January. While the first five contestants moved into the camp on 15 January, the six other campers stayed in a pre-camp on an island for a night and joined the other contestants on 16 January.