Big Brother 2011?

[faceless]

there was a pretty cool trailer on for it tonight - I'm sure it will be on youtube before long...

I reckon jedward would be funny because, while I hate them, I reckon they'd be good for annoying people, which is probably the best part of the celeb show

[luke]

Shameless Mrs Speaker stoops to a new low - on Celebrity Big Brother


Over-exposed: Sally Bercow in her controversial magazine pose

It was embarrassing enough when she posed for a magazine with nothing but a bedsheet to cover her modesty.

Now Sally Bercow, the outspoken wife of Commons Speaker John Bercow, is about to expose her diminutive husband to fresh controversy after signing up for Celebrity Big Brother.

The statuesque blonde, 41, has agreed to join such showbusiness luminaries as X Factor finalists Jedward, who are being paid £1million to appear, D-lister Kerry Katona (and her mother) and reality TV star Amy Childs on the show, which has moved from Channel 4 to Channel 5.

Former Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson is the best-known celebrity to sign up so far, while another contestant will be Paddy Doherty from Channel 4 documentary series My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.

Celebrity Big Brother will start on August 18 and a show source said: ‘Sally is obviously not shy and has never made it a secret that she has views on nearly absolutely everything.

‘It’s fair to say that she’s a professional antagonist – the house will not be boring with Sally in it.’

But last night Tory MP Rob Wilson said: ‘John Bercow said he wanted to restore respect and dignity to Parliament in his manifesto for Speaker. I am not sure how Sally Bercow going on one of the country’s tackiest shows helps.

‘Is it really appropriate for the Speaker’s wife to use Parliament for her own financial gain? After all, the only reason for the invitation is because her husband is the Speaker.

‘I would urge her to think very carefully about what she is doing.’

Another Tory MP, who did not want to be named, added: ‘With Mrs Bercow under 24-hour scrutiny, it is going to be impossible for her not to embarrass her husband and herself.’

Labour-supporting Mrs Bercow has become a figure of derision ever since she posed for the London Evening Standard’s ES magazine in February, draped in a sheet and looking provocatively into the camera for an extraordinary photo taken in the shadows of Parliament.

In an accompanying interview mother-of-three Mrs Bercow claimed that living in her husband’s lavish grace-and-favour apartment in the Palace of Westminster had spiced up life between the sheets.

The Bercows spent £45,581 of parliamentary money refurbishing the flat within weeks of them and their children moving in and Mrs Bercow gushed: ‘I never realised how sexy I would find living under Big Ben with the bells chiming.’

Mrs Bercow, 5ft 11in, claimed that she and her 5ft 6in husband had become unlikely sex symbols since his election to the post of Speaker in 2009.

Then, making the grand and rather unlikely claim that she was seen as the ‘Carla Bruni of British politics’, Mrs Bercow extolled the virtues of politics as an aphrodisiac.

It was not the first time she has been perhaps too open about her private life. In 2009, the former PR girl talked of one-night stands when she was single and revealed her binge-drinking habits. She has also admitted smoking cannabis at Marlborough College.

Mrs Bercow was equally controversial yesterday, appearing on Radio 4’s Today programme to celebrate the rise of internet shopping against the demise of the High Street. ‘We’re a nation of online bargain-hunters and our high streets are fast approaching their sell-by date,’ she said.

Last night a Channel 5 spokesman said: ‘Big Brother executives are currently in talks with a number of celebrities about appearing on the Channel 5 series, but we are not confirming any names at the moment.’

Drug-addled American actor Charlie Sheen and boxer Mike Tyson have both firmly denied reports that they will appear in the series.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2022619/Sally-Bercow-Shameless-Mrs-Speaker-stoops-new-low--Celebrity-Big-Brother.html

this article is all sorts of bad news. first, sally bercow?! secondly, no mention of the playboy model thirdly, its looking like jedward will be there, and fourth, along with kerry katona ...

but, i've changed my mind before on people so maybe i will again with some of this lot ...

despite my reservations about the people in the house, i do just want it to start already!

[faceless]

The new Big Brother House a week before celebrities move in to plush pad

[faceless]

Big Brother's back – and he hopes you'll be watching
When Richard Desmond bought Channel Five he invested £200m in the ailing reality TV show. Now it has to deliver viewers
Adam Sherwin
13 August 2011
independent.co.uk

It was the pioneering reality show that turned television into a confessional and made celebrities out of nonentities. Now Big Brother is at the centre of a broadcasting war as Channel 5 accuses the programme's original host, Channel 4, of a campaign of "dirty tricks" worthy of Nasty Nick.

A year after Channel 4 dumped Big Brother, the broadcaster is seeking to undermine the reality show's revival under a new proprietor, Richard Desmond. Pamela Anderson, Jedward, Kerry Katona and Sally Bercow, the Speaker's wife, are among the names predicted to enter the famous house when Celebrity Big Brother (CBB) returns on Channel 5 this Thursday.

For Desmond, whose media empire includes the Daily Express, Daily Star and OK! magazine, Big Brother is the weapon to relaunch Channel 5, which he bought in a £103.5m deal last year, as a serious challenger to Channel 4 and ITV.

Big Brother also provides a perfect opportunity for "synergy" within Desmond's Northern & Shell group. His newspapers have breathlessly followed every turn in the CBB recruitment drive. Sarah Ferguson is believed to have been offered £1m simply to take part in a task in the house without even staying the night.

The three-week celebrity run precedes a full series featuring the "wannabes" who will provide the cover pictures for Desmond's New! gossip magazine, once they have been evicted from the house and elevated into the ranks of D-list celebrities.

Desmond, who made his fortune as a soft-porn magazine publisher, is believed to have paid £200m for the rights to Big Brother for five years. But he is gambling on a brand that defined "reality TV" in the Noughties but was dropped when viewers tired of its parade of noisy attention-seekers. Initially hailed as a social experiment, Big Brother peaked in 2002 when the final attracted nine million viewers, with a series average of five million watching Jade Goody's misadventures. The series generated £68m a year in profit for Channel 4 and its producers, Endemol.

The fun soured when the 2007 Celebrity series degenerated into a row over racist remarks aimed at the Indian actress Shilpa Shetty, sending Channel 4 into crisis mode. The broadcaster, keen to extricate itself from a £180m deal with Endemol, dropped Big Brother after 11 years to focus on "creative renewal". The 2010 series drew an average of two million viewers, with four million tuning in for the final.

The man given the task of restoring Big Brother's lustre was in bullish mood as he took The Independent on a tour of the house, this time styled as a space-age bachelor pad. "This is the biggest and best set Big Brother has ever had," said Jeff Ford, Channel 5's programmes director. From now on Big Brother is a pure entertainment show... With Channel 4 the series became more of a circus, or a zoo."

Channel 5 believes Channel 4 is running scared of Big Brother's return. After delaying its schedule publication, Channel 4 announced the terrestrial premiere of the hit film Twilight on Wednesday, the day announced by national billboards as the return of CBB. It is now expected to schedule the Million Pound Drop live game show, presented by the former Big Brother host Davina McCall, against her old show on the all-important Friday eviction nights.

Ford, a former Channel 4 executive, said: "Why would they put a movie premiere on Wednesday night if it wasn't to try and affect our ratings? I'm not worried about what they do because I've got Big Brother. We are casting in a different way, looking purely for people who will entertain an audience."

By "entertain", Ford presumably means "get their kit off" judging from the transparent shower for two in the open-plan wet room visible to all from the garden. The days of "evil" Big Brother are over. The housemates will have Ligne Roset designer furniture to lounge on and enough drink to get them amorously lubricated.

Channel 5's problem is that The Sun and the Daily Mirror, Desmond's print rivals which drove viewers to the series in its heyday, have largely ignored the impending comeback. But Desmond is worth £950m and Ford believes the mogul's chequebook is helping to attract celebrities. "Richard has always said to me: 'If the channel needs something and you believe in it, come and tell me. And if I believe in it as well, we'll get it.' He's very enthusiastic about the show."

With no Davina to take contestants through their "best bits", Desmond reportedly asked Cheryl Cole to host Big Brother. She declined and Brian Dowling, a former Big Brother winner, will be the presenter. On eviction nights, Channel 5 will pair Big Brother with The Bachelor, a dating show starring the Welsh rugby international Gavin Henson, formerly engaged to Charlotte Church.

Channel 5's future is tied to reality TV; and Big Brother, the granddaddy of the genre, is now feeding on its spawn. "Celebrity" participants have been mooted from The Only Way Is Essex and Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, series inspired by Big Brother's defiant focus on ordinary people. Some have yet to attract the most basic form of recognition, a Wikipedia entry. "The important thing is how the group interacts. No one expected the George Galloway and Rula Lenska cat-licking scene," said Ford, sitting by the heated swimming pool in the floodlit garden. "But I do think people will be absolutely delighted with the line-up we've got."

Who's In – The rumoured cast list

Kerry Katona: The debt-ridden former pop star is said to be bringing her mother Sue into the house

Tara Reid: The US actress has appeared in TV shows including Scrubs and is a star of the American Pie film franchise

Paddy Doherty: A bare-knuckle boxer and star of Big Fat Gypsy Wedding

Pamela Anderson: Former Baywatch actress is said to be negotiating a limited stay for a fee of £100,000

Amy Childs: The underpaid The Only Way Is Essex star is moving on to CBB

Jedward: The wacky Irish Eurovision contenders, right, enter the Big Brother house in a two-for-one deal

Sally Bercow: The Speaker, John Bercow, is said to be trying to persuade his wife to reject the £100,000 deal

Charlie Sheen: The troubled star is now thought to be out of the running

Duchess of York: A tempting offer is apparently on the table for Fergie to make a one-day appearance

Murray Walker: The hyperactive 87-year-old F1 commentator could bring maturity to the house

Bobby Brown: The scandal-ridden ex-husband of Whitney Houston is seeking to revive his career

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I didn't know he'd bought the rights for 5 years.

[luke]

half hour and counting ... anyone gonna be in the chat room for the launch?

[faceless]

I'm quite sadly excited... haha

but the chat room's not working - the one I was using went offline. I'll try and sort the Justin.tv one for tomorrow

[faceless]

I just did a quick fix on the chat, so it's working, but I'll tidy it up later.

[luke]

nice one, speedy!

[faceless]

ok, that's the chat sorted now - it can take a few seconds to connect, but it's going nicely.

http://couchtripper.com/forum2/chat.php

[luke]

java!

i have to say it was all a bit of an anticlimax for me. but in fairness, i'm never really that into it at the start, it always takes a bit of time

i thought they might have got some bigger celebs, but in way that doesn't really matter - i don't really know who most of them are anyway, so its kinda like a non celebrity big brother

[faceless]

I reckon it's gonna go well - it's only 3 weeks though, so they can't really develop lasting hatreds for each other, which is a bit disappointing...

Those Jedwards might surprise us all - I reckon they've actually learned quite a bit about how and when to behave over thepast year or so. damnit! I wanted them to annoy Paddy so much that he launched them over/onto the jaggy fence.

[faceless]

the after-show really needs to tighten up with their timing - so many seconds of dead air... but I always enjoy seeing McCricket in action.

[faceless]

Pete Burns was on tonight's BOTS and will be there all week. He was on good form and looked like some kind of futuristic opera diva - good stuff.

[pirtybirdy]

I've been skipping the BOTS, but loved Pete Burns in Celebrity Big Brother, I thought he was so funny. I can't miss him in these.

[faceless]