When the cameras roll, the setting is just as important as the script. South Africa, with its magnificent topographical diversity and world-class hospitality, has long been a favourite location for international productions. Whether doubling for a Kenyan hotel from the 1920s, providing a brutalist paradise for reality television contestants, or offering a discreet sanctuary for the world’s biggest action star, the country’s diverse locations possess a rare kind of cinematic magnetism.
Here, we tour the luxury estates, dramatic canyons, and historic manor houses that have become off-screen celebrities in their own right.
Ludus Magnus, Franschhoek
As seen on Love Island UK
Located in the rolling vineyards of the Franschhoek Wine Valley, Ludus Magnus is far more than a five-star boutique hotel. Named after an ancient Roman gladiator training school, this off-the-grid estate — powered entirely by more than 260 solar panels — has become the unlikely, sun-drenched headquarters of modern dating drama.
Ludus Magnus is the principal filming location for Love Island UK’s recent winter series, and its association with the franchise has been nothing short of transformative.
The property first gained international attention during Love Island UK Series 9, hosted by Maya Jama. So successful was the partnership that the estate returned as the home for returning contestants across three consecutive instalments of Love Island: All Stars (2024, 2025, and 2026)
Anyone familiar with the franchise knows how punishingly fit the contestants are expected to be, so it is no surprise that the estate is frequently described as an Olympian wonderland.
Its sports and wellness facilities are truly extraordinary: an Olympic-length swimming pool set within a freshwater dam, a 400-metre running track, a state-of-the-art rugby and football pitch, and a mountain bike pump track.
Of course, such production value does not come cheap. Producers reportedly paid approximately £1.2 million to rent the estate for five months during the 2023 filming period, marking the beginning of a long and fruitful collaboration.
For viewers, Ludus Magnus represents glossy escapism. And for the television industry, it has become a reliable, high-spec engine of drama and beauty.
Blyde River Canyon, Mpumalanga
As seen on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
If Ludus Magnus offers man-made luxury, the Blyde River Canyon offers raw, ancient majesty. Located in Mpumalanga, it is the world’s third-largest canyon and uniquely known as the largest green canyon on Earth, thanks to its dense, subtropical vegetation.
Stretching more than 26 kilometres along the Drakensberg escarpment, it delivers dramatic cliffs, deep gorges, and geological formations that have become centrepieces of South Africa’s famous Panorama Route.
Today, the Blyde River Canyon region — specifically near the town of Hoedspruit — serves as the primary filming location for the I’m a Celebrity… All-Stars spin-off series, I’m a Celebrity… South Africa.
While the show is often marketed as taking place in the wild Kruger National Park, the actual set is built on a private reserve within the canyon’s lush, mountainous landscape. Producers deliberately chose this location to provide a “harsher and more unforgiving” environment than the traditional Australian camp, where the show is usually filmed.
The canyon is home to several world-renowned natural landmarks. The Three Rondavels are iconic mountain peaks that resemble traditional African huts, rising 700 metres above the landscape, while God’s Window is a high-altitude lookout offering panoramic views over the Lowveld that can extend as far as Mozambique on clear days.
The area also features spectacular waterfalls, including Lisbon Falls (the province’s highest, at 94 metres), Berlin Falls, and Mac Mac Falls.
This site has since become a global hub for the franchise. In addition to the UK’s All-Stars versions (2023 and 2026), it has also hosted the Australian edition for most of its run, as well as German and French adaptations.
For viewers, the canyon’s sheer scale is a constant reminder that celebrity trials are staged against one of the most awe-inspiring backdrops on the continent.
Kearsney Manor Guesthouse, KwaZulu-Natal
As seen on 1923
Period drama demands architectural authenticity, and few locations deliver it as convincingly as Kearsney Manor Guesthouse. This historic colonial estate and heritage site is situated on a former sugar estate in the heart of KwaDukuza (Stanger), KwaZulu-Natal.
Built in the late 1800s by Sir Liege Hulett, the manor originally housed Kearsney College. Today, it operates as a four-star guesthouse, wedding venue, and conference centre, featuring 20 rooms decorated in English colonial décor with antique finishes.
In the Yellowstone prequel series 1923, Kearsney Manor serves as a primary stand-in for the historic Stanley Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. The production used the manor to represent the Stanley Hotel as it would have appeared in the early 1920s.
While the real Stanley Hotel still exists in Nairobi, it was rebuilt in the 1950s and no longer retains its original 1902 colonial architecture, making Kearsney’s late-1800s English colonial style a far more accurate period double.
For viewers, the guesthouse adds an important sense of authenticity. The worn teak furniture, high ceilings, and soft signs of age all suggest early 20th-century East Africa, even though the location remains in South Africa.
Lawhill Luxury Apartments, Cape Town
As seen on The Real Housewives of Atlanta
Reality television often trades on proximity and privacy, and Lawhill Luxury Apartments offers both in generous measure. This five-star, self-catering apartment hotel is located in the secure V&A Marina Residential complex, directly adjacent to the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.
Frequently described as a home away from home for travellers, it provides a high level of privacy and security while remaining a short walk from the city’s major attractions.
Lawhill served as the primary home base for The Real Housewives of Atlanta during their iconic Season 4 trip to Cape Town.
Nene Leakes, Phaedra Parks, Kandi Burruss, Cynthia Bailey, Shereé Whitfield, and Marlo Hampton all stayed and filmed episodes at the property during their 10-day South African adventure.
The property features 30 uniquely decorated, air-conditioned apartments with views of the marina, canal, or Table Mountain. The open-plan lounges and large private balconies provided the backdrop for much of the internal group drama before the cast headed out to the city or on safari.
The cast was also spotted filming at Jade, a nightclub in Green Point, and at Grand Africa Café & Beach in Granger Bay, but it was within Lawhill’s apartments that many of the season’s most memorable confrontations and confessions unfolded.
Safari Moon Lodge, Limpopo
As seen on Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Not every filming location is used for on-screen action. Some serve a quieter, equally vital role: as a base for talent and production.
Enter Safari Moon Luxury Bush Lodge, a five-star boutique retreat located within the Hoedspruit Wildlife Estate in Limpopo, which was recently awarded Best Luxury Lodge in Limpopo by the Luxury Lifestyle Awards 2025.
Safari Moon became home away from home for Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie for several months during the filming of the eighth Mission: Impossible film, titled Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
While the lodge itself was not used for action scenes, it functioned as the production’s A-list headquarters. The crew used the local area around the lodge for major stunts, and the production team installed extensive security measures, along with additional privacy screens, to manage the excitement of local residents and fans.
In a detail that feels almost too perfectly on-brand, Cruise famously commuted to set by piloting his own helicopter from a field in Hoedspruit back to the lodge each evening.
For fans of the franchise, Safari Moon represents the hidden infrastructure of blockbuster filmmaking: the place where a legend rests, recharges, and plans the next impossible stunt.
