The Many Faces Of Big Brother

After the Celebrity Big Brother 5 'race row' erupted into an international situation, Channel 4 decided to shelve Celebrity Big Brother in 2008, to let everyone cool down.

 

But while viewers were furiously voting for Bollywood beauty Shilpa Shetty to win, those sneaky bosses behind the hit show were concocting an alternative - Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack.

 

The show saw the good, the bad and the ugly from the world of showbiz take over the reins of Big Brother, wreaking havoc on the poor housemates. In the summer, the familiar format returned and nice-girl Rachel Rice emerged as winner. Now that Celebrity Big Brother's back, it seems a good time to look at some of the other incarnations of Big Brother over the years.

 

The Original

 

Since the very first Big Brother screened in the Netherlands in 1999 (yes, Endemol is a Dutch company) the show has seen copycats and spin-offs produced worldwide, from Africa to Australia.

 

Based loosely on the idea of the all-knowing state in George Orwell's 1984, Big Brother sees a group of housemates battle it out for a cash prize in a specially designed house riddled with cameras.

 

On show 24/7 to the prying outside world, the game individuals have to conquer a set of gruelling tasks to earn food - and occasionally more exciting prizes.

 

BB started in the UK back in 2000 - before its smiley host Davina McCall had given birth to any of her three tots - and when the original housemates were rather clueless about it all.

 

But since then it has become a fame-factory, churning out an endless string of wannabes who go on to have varying levels of success. However, while the likes of Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace and Chanelle Hayes are still being papped on occasion - BB9 winner Rachel Rice has disappeared. 

Celebrity Big Brother

 

The first series of CBB was shown in March 2001, as a one-off Big Brother spin-off to tie in with the Comic Relief telethon.

 

Only six stars, including Anthea Turner and Vanessa Feltz, entered the house, for just eight days, with the live finale broadcast on BBC One on Comic Relief night.

 

Comedian Jack Dee, who won the show, managed to escape from the house at one point and boasted he got to Stratford before being nabbed by security.

 

The show returned the following year, with proceeds from viewer-voting again going to charities. Les Dennis was suffering depression from his marriage break-up from Amanda Holden, but still came runner-up to winner Mark Owen.

 

There was no CBB for the next two years, but it came back in 2005 amid much controversy. Brigitte Nielsen had to live with her former mother-in-law Jackie Stallone and feminist Germaine Greer walked out in protest at the show's cruelty.

 

The next year, non-celebrity Chantelle Houghton was planted in the house with a mission to make everyone believe she was a popstar. She then fell for Ordinary Boys frontman Preston (they later married and divorced), while Pete Burns sparked outrage with his coat and MP George Galloway pretended to be a cat. What a brilliant Celebrity Big Brother that was! I doubt if it will ever be equalled.

 

The fifth instalment was the most controversial ever and I'm sure somewhere, someone is regretting the inclusion of Jade Goody and her mouthy mum Jackiey Budden. A bemused Jermaine Jackson was the first person to enter the house, followed by WAG Danielle Lloyd and lastly Dirk 'The Face' Benedict, who pulled up in an A-Team van complete with signature cigar.

 

In one of the biggest walk-outs Big Brother has ever known, three housemates decided they'd had enough and got out before things got nasty. The most diva-ish exit award undoubtedly goes to 70s pop star Leo Sayer, who beat his way out of a door when BB refused to give him any underwear on the day he was up for eviction.

 

Ian 'H' Watkins was left holding the flag for Great Britain in the final four alongside Americans Jermaine and Dirk and Indian actress Shilpa Shetty. The A-Team star came third and peace-keeper Jermaine was runner-up to the winner, Shilpa. 

 

 

Teen Big Brother

 

In October 2003, the format was given another make-over when eight 18-year-olds were put in the house for ten days.

 

Unlike the other shows, this one was pre-recorded and shown some time after the housemates had left the house - and the contestants not the public chose who they wanted to evict.

 

The tasks were all specially designed to promote team-work and the housemates had to discuss topics like politics and religion.

 

Cigarettes and alcohol were banned and winner of a round the world trip was decided by the group.

 

But like all good Big Brother shows, this one had its fair share of controversy when Jade Dyer and Tommy Wright became the first contestants ever to have sex on the show.

 

 

Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack

 

When Channel 4 vowed there would be no Celebrity Big Brother in 2008, they only half meant it. Instead of the usual has-beens lying around the UK's most notorious house, celebrities took over as Big Brother, wreaking havoc on the housemates.

 

Young musicians, artists, designers, athletes and all-round 'talented' types entered the house and battled it out to win a £50,000 prize fund.

 

For the last time, Dermot O'Leary worked on the Big Brother franchise. He hosted the nightly shows exclusively on E4, as well as his usual Big Brother's Little Brother. The colour-scheme was purple, with a big splat on the Big Brother eye, and the decor was influenced by modern artists like Banksy - with stencil graffiti on the walls.

 

The celebrities that played Big Brother included Matt Lucas, Russell Brand, Ian Wright and Kelly Osbourne. Young politician John Loughton was the winner, but the show was a comparative flop ratings-wise…