It’s January which only means one thing, Celebrity Big Brother – the show which gave us George Galloway impersonating a cat – is back on our screens.
The latest series, which includes an all-female launch of eight, will begin tonight at 9pm.
Keeping Up With The Kardashians TV personality Malika Huqq and MP Anne Widdecombe are rumoured to be among them, as well as soap actress Amanda Barrie and MMA ring girl Jess Impiazzi.
Not only that but Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson‘s sister Rachel Johnson will also enter the confines of the Big Brother house. Her father Stanley recently appeared on rival reality show, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.
Transgender newsreader India Willougby and ex-detective constable Maggie Oliver will join the gang, MailOnline has revealed.
And it wouldn’t be reality TV without the addition of Made in Chelsea alumni. Ashley James, who has since left the show to become a ‘social influencer’ is another rumoured contestant.
If you’re wondering why the series will be opening with an all-female cast, Channel 5 decided to go forward with the move to celebrate the 100th anniversary of women over 30 being given the vote.
Tamsin Dodgson, executive editor of CBB, told BBC News:
We approach each series thinking of ways to make it as entertaining and engaging as possible.
As the nation prepares to mark [the centenary], we’re launching the show with female-only contestants which is a gentle nod to this landmark anniversary.
Putting the women in first and allowing them to settle and take control of the house before the men arrive will create an interesting dynamic.
How do the different groups cope with power and what impact does gender really have? Fundamentally though it will be a lot of fun to watch.
She added:
The men will arrive slightly later and Big Brother provides the perfect lens through which to explore what it is to be a woman – and a man – in 2018.
Gender feels like the perfect concept to explore within Big Brother. Our celebrities, as you’d expect, come with differing backgrounds, experiences and points of view, so I think you can expect a lively, opinionated but ultimately entertaining series to kick off the New Year.
This is not the first time Big Brother has kicked off with an all-female group of contestants. Back when the show was on Channel 4 their summer 2007 series saw 11 female housemates enter the house.
On the third day, they added one male contestant who was then gradually followed by more. One of them, Brian Belo, went on to win.
It’s definitely an interesting take on a show you thought must have run out of ideas…
