‘It’s the most famous house in Britain!” the hosts AJ Odudu and Will Best kept telling us, repeatedly, with a slightly hostage-like tone, as they stood outside Big Brother’s compound preparing to welcome a new crew of celebrity contestants. It is the first series of Celebrity Big Brother since 2018, when the show was won by the soap actor Ryan Thomas on Channel 5. This time, ITV’s reboot features “stars” including the Princess of Wales’s uncle Gary Goldsmith, the Dragons’ Den success story Levi Roots, the former This Morning presenter Fern Britton and the former X Factor judge Louis Walsh.
During Monday night’s live launch, my social media feed was full of complaints that the lineup didn’t exactly scream A-list. Sharon Osbourne – who is married to rock royalty and can reasonably claim to be one of the first “reality stars” – is the most famous person there. But she is only staying as a “lodger” for a week, with her very own fancy private room. (Presumably ITV’s budget didn’t stretch far enough for a full stay.)
