Big Brother chairman Paul Mortimer has indicated that Celebrity Big Brother may return, and to say we’re delighted is an understatement.
The spin-off originally aired from 2001 to 2018, following the regular Big BrotherUK series, which debuted in 2001.
Rylan Clark, Spencer Pratt, Kerry Katonna, Shilpa Shetty, Les Dennis, and even Michael Barrymore have been in the celebrity version throughout the years.
Coleen Nolan, Katie Price, and Jedward from Loose Women have also been in the limelight in the Big Brother house.
And it may be making a comeback, since the original show’s resurrection is set to air this year.
Paul, the head of Reality TV and ITV2, has suggested that Big Brother will return for at least two series.
Speaking at the Edinburgh TV festival, he said (via the Daily Star): ‘It will be a hit. Its looking fantastic. The house looks amazing.
‘We’ve got a six week run coming up, that’s our first foray into it, but it will be back next year of course.’
Shedding light on the details, he added: ‘We have a 10pm show after the 9pm show – so two hours of Big Brother every evening (then) from 11pm you can go to ITVX to watch the live feed into the small hours.’
When asked about the prospect of a celebrity version, Paul went on: ‘We have bought into Big Brother, a lot of us at ITV are BB fans.
‘I can’t imagine that we’re in it just to do two, six week runs across 2023 and 2024.
‘This is the start of it – so just watch this space.’
We’ll keep our fingers crossed!
Big Brother, initially hosted by Davina McCall, aired on Channel 4 until 2010, when it moved to Channel 5, where it remained until its last episode in 2018.
Kevin Lygo, ITV’s head of media and entertainment, has previously stated that the relaunch will attempt to retain the essence of the show’s “golden time.”
‘The key to Big Brother is to keep it like it was in its golden period – more interesting, intelligent, and upmarket than other reality shows,’ he said in a statement.
It has recently been confirmed that AJ Odudu, along with would Best, would star in the revival.
AJ, who has previously hosted programmes such as Big Brother’s Bit on the Side and Married at First Sight: Afters, remarked at the time that she “couldn’t be more excited to front such an iconic show.”
She’s now revealed how previous host Davina made her feel at ease about taking over.
‘The Queen herself has given me her blessing,’ she said.
‘She sent me an amazing video when I got the gig saying “you are going to smash it”,’ she added.
Big Brother returns to ITV later this year.
