Big Brother ends with whimper - Jan 30 2008
Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack drew to a close with just 644,000 viewers.

Channel 4, keen to distance itself from last year's race row, took a gamble by giving the reality show a new format and moving it to digital channel E4.

But it failed to capture the public's imagination and went out with a whimper.

Student politician John Loughton, 20-year-old chairman of the Scottish Youth Parliament, won the show and took home the £50,000 prize.

The low-key finale pulled in 644,000 viewers on E4, representing a 3.1% share of viewing in multi-channel homes. A further 81,000 watched later on catch-up channel E4+1.

By contrast, last year's Celebrity Big Brother final - won by Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty - had an audience of 5.8 million.

A Channel 4 spokesman hailed Celebrity Hijack as a success.

"Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack has been one of the most successful original commissions for E4. It is the first time one of the terrestrial channels has stripped a reality show across the schedule of a digital sister channel, without the prop of a core channel show to drive audience. In this context, the ratings performance is strong," the spokesman said.

This year's show saw a number of celebrities "hijack" the house and take on the role of Big Brother. The 12 housemates were chosen for their special talents.

During the show they made frequent reference to the "millions" of viewers watching their every move, believing they would emerge to lives of fame and fortune.

John wins Celebrity Hijack vote - Jan 28 2008
Young politician John Loughton has won the Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack contest.

He had been handed a free pass to the final after being chosen by the first celebrity hijacker Matt Lucas to perform a secret task. But once he was finally up for the public vote, he proved that he was the most popular housemate with the viewers.

The 20-year-old chairman of the Scottish Youth Parliament told presenter Dermot O’Leary he had found it tough when Little Britain’s Matt made him lie to the other housemates on launch night.

"That was the best and the worst part of the experience. I just thought ’come on, get them over with’," he said.

And he said he had "resented" missing out on being nominated because it added to people’s suspicions that he was a mole.

The final evening started with six remaining housemates. Dermot announced that singer Nathan was in sixth place and racing driver Jeremy in fifth, before entering the house to interview the departing pair.

Jeremy said he was surprised to get to the final, saying: "For me it’s an achievement to get this far... you either love me or you hate me."

Next out was Anthony in fourth place, who was cagey about his relationship with former housemate Calista. In third place was artist Amy. Describing her time in the house, she said: "I thought it was going to be three weeks of hell, but I genuinely really liked everyone."

Runner-up circus performer Emilia said she was "so proud" to have made it to the last two.

Jay and Calista leave BB house - Jan 26 2008
Jay and Calista have become the fifth and sixth housemates to be evicted from the Big Brother house in tonight’s Celebrity Hijack double eviction.

The 19-year-old fashion designer gasped when Dermot announced his name and said: "That’s life guys, it’s fine... Oh my God, I knew it, I knew it."

But classical musician Calista, also 19, looked more pleased and hugged Jay before the pair were given 30 seconds to say their goodbyes.

Dressed in a strapless little black dress, which she kept tugging up, Calista grabbed her eyeliner while Jay did the rounds of the housemates.

They left the house to cheers from the crowd before joining Dermot for their exit interviews.

The pair were up against previous eviction survivors Emilia and Jeremy - as well as popular housemates Nathan and Amy.

In the last few days, Calista had become more paranoid about her relationship with favourite to win boxer Anthony and quizzed Jay about how he thought she was perceived on the outside world.

Jimmy Carr hijacks Big Brother - Jan 25 2008
Jimmy Carr has become the latest celebrity to hijack the Big Brother house, but he has a tough act to follow after Roseanne Barr proved a hit with the housemates.

The 35-year-old comedian is set to quiz the housemates on how highly they rate each other for looks, intelligence and talent, when he calls them into the Diary Room.

And he will also reward housemates with a special prize for whoever can do the best impression of Big Brother’s Geordie voice-over artist Marcus Bentley.

Meanwhile, the housemates were left gobsmacked when US comedienne Roseanne Barr took over the house - and made them all perform a stand-up routine.

Roseanne started her stint by telling them: "I love that I push a button and get to yell at you, I need one of these in my house!"

She called the housemates into the Diary Room in pairs and gave them tips on perfecting a comedy act.

Artist Amy managed to make Roseanne laugh with her joke: "What did Emilia’s left leg say to her right leg? Nothing, they’ve not met yet."

But not all the housemates were laughing - especially not Calista.

John joked that every problem in the house was caused by either air conditioning "or Calista’s period pains", while Anthony joked that she had "more moustache than my daddy". Ouch.

Latoya out in surprise eviction - Jan 23 2008
Latoya has become the fourth housemate to get booted out of the Big Brother house in tonight’s surprise eviction on Celebrity Hijack.

The housemates were lounging on the sofas watching a film, when Dermot O’Leary popped up on the screen to announce the results of the latest public vote.

Latoya, a 19-year-old dancer, burst into tears after realising she had lost out to circus performer Emilia and was enveloped in a group hug by Anthony, John and Jay.

Dermot said: "Latoya, get your glad rags on, I’ll be meeting you later!"

A shocked Anthony voiced the mood in the house when he moaned at Big Brother: "Darn it! What did you do that for?"

John and Jay both gave in to their tears, while Calista tried to calm Latoya saying: "It’s so exciting, you can’t cry!"

Latoya had a private cuddle with her potential love interest Nathan, and wished him "good luck", adding: "See you Monday."

Dressed in her trademark pink hat and jeans, Latoya was left confused about when she would have to leave the house and whether to change for her exit interview.

She announced: "I’ll go out like this, I’m not bothered."

Emilia and Latoya face eviction - Jan 22 2008
Emilia could be set to follow her brother out of the Big Brother house after being nominated for eviction along with Latoya.

The two girls are set to face a surprise eviction on Wednesday evening, after they were both nominated by four of their fellow housemates.

Housemates were called to the Diary Room to nominate just hours after circus performer Emilia revealed she blamed dancer Latoya for her brother being evicted.

Emilia, 18, survived eviction last week when both her brother and entrepreneur Liam got booted out in a surprise double eviction.

The housemates made their nominations after the house had been hijacked by Big Brother’s Big Mouth presenters Matthew Horne and James Corden.

The comedians called housemates individually into their chill-out room, lavished them with compliments and presents and made them all join in a huge group hug to win luxury food.

Meanwhile, Pirates Of The Caribbean star Mackenzie Crook has become the latest celebrity to hijack the house. He will urge the housemates to get in touch with their inner nerd, in a series of tasks based on his character from The Office, Gareth Keenan.

Liam and Victor out in shock eviction - Jan 20 2008
Liam and Victor have become the second and third housemates to get booted out of the Big Brother house in a shock double eviction.

Liam, an entrepreneur from Liverpool, and Birmingham circus performer Victor, both 19, left the house to loud boos from the audience after they both failed to impress viewers.

Victor had outraged both his fellow housemates and celebrity hijackers alike with his bossy attitude towards his sister Emilia, while Liam had reportedly disturbed some of the girls by being too "touchy feely".  

When Dermot O’Leary announced their names on the E4 live eviction show, Victor stood up and clapped, saying "brilliant", but Liam looked shell-shocked.

They were given 30 seconds to say their goodbyes and quickly hugged their fellow housemates.

Dressed in a suit, Victor told them: "I’m so happy, I really am, thank you guys, thank you so much."

Earlier, Denise Van Outen had hijacked the house and made the boys each sing a plea to viewers to keep them in the show.

She told Victor he sounded like Peter Andre, while Liam apparently sounded like Kermit the Frog.

After they had left, Emilia, who was also up for eviction, moaned: "Why couldn’t it just be me and my brother?"

Brian: Big Brother like Picasso - Jan 17 2008
Brian Sewell has compared Big Brother to a Picasso painting and said he hoped his time as a celebrity hijacker had left lots of "little legacies" in the house.

The art critic, 76, caused a stir in the house when he called the housemates "self-centred", before making them cross-dress for a dinner party.

He later said: "It’s a fascinating sociological exercise. If Big Brother was a painting, it would be a Picasso at the point when he is discovering cubism, and there is a bit of realism in there. It’s not really a very good picture, but it’s very exciting because you can see where it’s going."

Brian took the opportunity to talk to artist Amy about her passion and later admitted: "I’d like to meet Amy without the stress of all this, so that we could have a serious conversation. She’s obviously intelligent."

But he criticised Nathan and Latoya for not making much of an effort in the house, saying "they are hardly noticeable".

The housemates won their cross-dressing dinner party ’task’ - Brian was particularly impressed by Anthony’s willingness to don a dress - and they were rewarded with luxury food.

After his stint, Brian added: "I hope that I leave lots of little legacies in the house. Perhaps some will think that food is worth taking care over."

Meanwhile, Jeremy and Emilia seemed to have got closer, when they held hands in bed in the early hours, before vowing to stay in touch after the show.

Moyles stirs up BB house - Jan 16 2008
It seems Chris Moyles’s stint in charge of the Big Brother house may have stirred up some affairs of the heart.

The DJ - who called himself the "saviour of broadcasting" in his insider blog - got Nathan to confess to having a soft spot for Amy.

It started when he asked if Nathan fancied anyone in the house.

Answering that he liked Amy, Nathan also acknowledged that she had a boyfriend and admitted that he himself was only "almost single", as he had feelings for someone outside the Celebrity Hijack house.

Moyles wished him good luck with "nailing" Amy, but tensions appeared when Nathan admitted his feelings in front of the other housemates, and the object of his affections laughed it off, saying she thought it would be Latoya. Victor then told the group: "Nathan is too good for Latoya."

Moyles also embarrassed Amy by telling her BB said she "loves" him, before signing off to make way for future hijackers including Joan Rivers and, tonight on E4 at 9pm, Brian Sewell.

Brian back on Big Brother - Jan 15 2008
Brian Belo makes a surprise return to the Big Brother house as part of Chris Moyles’ hijack.

The Radio 1 DJ calls the former Big Brother winner to the Diary Room and the Celebrity Hijack housemates are left gobsmacked when a half-naked Brian runs out of the shower room with only a towel to hide his modesty.

Chris also plans a pub quiz for the talented housemates, in which they are led to believe they are competing against an all-star team including Sir Terry Wogan, Mark Owen and Ozzy Osbourne.

But what the housemates don’t know is that all the celebs are being voiced by impersonator John Culshaw.

Chris kicks off his spell in charge of the house by waking them up with his ’radio show’ which reports that the whole country is covered in snow. The housemates head for the garden and find it has indeed snowed, whilst inside the living area has been made over to look like a pub, complete with bar and dart board.

Chris then calls for ’the dumbest’ housemate to go to the Diary Room, who then becomes the barperson for the day.

After the quiz, the captain of the winning team will be invited into a secret snug bar in the loft of the house, where they’ll meet Chris and his ’team’, aka John.

But there’s another surprise in store when they are presented with mobile phone and three minutes of talk time to call anyone they like.


Jade booted off hijack show - Jan 14 2008
A former beauty queen from Essex has become the first evictee from the Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack house.

Jade Eden, a 21-year-old former Miss England contestant who came third in the competition, wept as she found she had been chosen by E4 viewers to leave the house.

Londoner Jade, who has been a member of Mensa since the age of four, was put up for eviction after receiving five nominations from her fellow housemates.

She was up against gymnast Victor Arata and racing driver Jeremy Metcalfe for the public vote. Jeremy, 19, also received five votes from the other talented young people in the house, while Victor proved the least popular with eight votes.

She said: "I had so much fun, I really didn’t want to go. It was like the most amazing period. I had a great time."

Earlier in the week the 12 contestants explained the reasons for their nominations to guest hijacker Kelly Osbourne.

Emilia Arata, sister of Victor, nominated Jade, saying her experience as a beauty pageant contestant did not equal the talents of the other housemates.

Boxer Anthony Ogogo, singer-songwriter Calista Robertson, youth politician John Laughton and Jade were among those who voted for Victor.

Jade said she chose to nominate him because she didn’t like the way Victor talked about women.

The latest hijacker, Janet Street-Porter, spent time asking the housemates to commentate on each other, and host a fake chat show in which she was the main guest.

John praises Victor after hijack - Jan 11 2008
John McCririck has praised Victor for coping with some painful home truths during his anarchic stint on Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack.

The racing pundit and former Celebrity Big Brother contestant, 67, stirred things up in the house when he showed Jade clips of Jeremy and Victor bad-mouthing her and he also told Victor his mum had called Big Brother’s Little Brother to say ’that’s not my son’.

He said: "Big Brother a mental thing and that was the challenge; how Victor would react and how Jade would react to a really unpleasant circumstance. I think Victor was absolutely outstanding in the way he did everything right."

John also picked fashion designer Jay, 19, as his favourite housemate, saying: "He’s an extraordinary character at his age. He’s well known round the world. It did surprise me when he said he likes ties earlier. They are ghastly things and totally useless!"

And he said his time in the house had given him a "riveting and an extraordinary insight into people".

"If I could be Big Brother again I wouldn’t hesitate. But then I’m the only person that’s been in the house, done Big Mouth and now been a hijacker!"

Russell crows about Hijack success - Jan 10 2008
Russell Brand has boasted that his stint on Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack was one of the "most successful hijacks in history".

The cocky comedian flirted with the girls in the house and then set up the housemates with a hoax siege by a ’disgruntled cameraman’ aka Paul Garner.

He said: "I’ve had a marvellous experience on Big Brother. It was probably one of the most successful hijacks in history. All my demands were met. I’ve had a whale of a time. I’ve particularly enjoyed the Paul-inspired acting. Me and him did that thing and it was a lovely to-do, a bit of a stand off!"

The former Big Brother’s Big Mouth host even hinted that he would be prepared to do another stint or at least pop back on his old show.

He said: "It’s lovely to be back here, part of the Big Brother franchise you know, I feel like I’ve been gone away too long I tell ya! I’ve half a mind to ask for my old job back. But those boys, James and Matt are doing such a tremendous job that I’d be very lucky to be reinstated."

On Big Brother’s Big Mouth after last night’s show on E4 Russell was voted the best celebrity hijacker so far, with Matt Lucas as a runner-up and Ian Wright being the viewer’s least favourite.

Russell’s big hoax - Jan 9 2008
Russell Brand has used his stint as the latest celebrity hijacker on Big Brother to test how the housemates would cope in a siege.

The former Big Brother’s Big Mouth host challenged the housemates with a fake scenario which saw an actor, posing as a disillusioned cameraman, storm into the house and stage a sit-in.

In the scenes to be shown tonight, Russell and security staff follow ’Paul’ the cameraman into the house and try to calm him down as the housemates are locked in the bedroom by the real Big Brother.

When Paul first enters the house, he rants about the poor working conditions for cameramen and the shocked housemates attempt to placate him, with Latoya giving him a hug.

But as Paul gets more agitated, security and Russell wade in, before Russell reveals it was all a hoax designed to test the housemates on their skills at coping in stressful situations.

He praised all the housemates on coping well, except for Jeremy, who Russell has joked he doesn’t like, and rewarded them with a party.

The house was adorned with Russell’s favourite things, including West Ham memorabilia and photos of his idols Tony Hancock, Peter Cook and Morrissey.

He also set the house a task of making them rank themselves in order of who is most spiritually enlightened. The housemates chose Amy as the most and Anthony as the least.

Russell chose Amy as his favourite housemate and rewarded her with chocolate cake and flowers.

Three up for Big Brother eviction - Jan 9 2008
Victor, Jeremy and Jade are all facing the boot from Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack after getting the most nominations for eviction from their fellow housemates.

Roller-skating circus performer Victor received a massive eight nominations, while racing driver Jeremy and beauty queen Jade both received five votes.

Kelly Osbourne took charge of nominations during her stint as the celebrity hijacker and coaxed the talented young housemates into dishing the dirt on who they hated in the house.

When Victor was called to the Diary Room to nominate, he opened up about how claustrophobic he feels in the house and Kelly admitted she was glad she had seen a different side to him.

Rocker Ozzy’s daughter also arranged a death metal party for the housemates and made them show off their moshing skills to win luxury food items.

Jeremy and Victor ended up drinking all the left-over beer and mused that they enjoy being the house "moaners".

Housemates given a new acting task - Jan 7 2008
The Big Brother housemates had to act for their supper after actor Alan Cumming took over the proceedings.

The star of stage and screen - he has appeared in films such as GoldenEye and X2 - gave the 12 each a character and a costume and urged them all to get into their role, in true Hollywood style.

He then asked them to put on an amateur dramatics type play, which would test their improvisational skills.

If they perform their roles throughout the day, and successfully put on the play to Cumming’s specification, they will secure a luxury menu.

They were given 45 minutes to come up with a 15-minute improvised play.

The star of Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack told them: "It must have a clear narrative and incorporate the following classic movie themes - a chase, a love affair, a secret exposed, an argument, a murder and a mistaken identity. Add anything else you fancy. The performance needs a name and every character must speak or grunt. And it’s gotta be good."

Characters included Anthony as Blanche, a wealthy, flirtatious southern belle from Kentucky, and Calista as Professor Olga Verhollenbosch, an unorthodox scientist from Stuttgart.

Ian Wright takes over BB house - Jan 5 2008
Former footballer Ian Wright has taken over as Big Brother - and set the housemates some tricky tasks.

On the third day of Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack, the housemates were divided into pairs.

For the first part of the task, one housemate has to wear specially adapted ear defenders. They play "white noise" continually while they have them on.

Wright then plays the other housemate a series of sound effects. After each is played, the housemate has to act out the sound effect and see if their fellow housemate can correctly guess what it is.

If they succeed they win a luxury food and toiletries budget for the next day.

For the second part of the task, housemates must score a penalty kick in the football pitch set in the garden. However, they must take the penalty wearing specially created goggles that alter the wearer’s vision to a tiny pinprick.

Former Arsenal legend Wright said: "I am a big fan of Big Brother, and I never thought there would be an opportunity to be Big Brother. I’m not one of those who acts too cool to watch Big Brother. I do like it, it’s one of those things. I just love it.

"I am most looking forward to being the voice of Big Brother. Kinda having control, although I am not a control freak but I do like the fact that I’ve got control, when I speak they have to do stuff!"

The show’s first celebrity hijacker, Matt Lucas of TV show Little Britain, who ran the house for two days, said: "I think this group are a lot warmer and more likeable than the usual housemates. It might be because they are younger and because most of them genuinely do seem to have a talent."

Russell Brand will hijack the Big Brother house on Tuesday. Highlights will be shown on E4 on Wednesday at 9pm.

Matt plays Big Brother - Jan 4 2008
Matt Lucas took over the role of Big Brother last night as 12 gifted contestants entered the house.

Celebrity hijacker Matt was responsible for controlling the first hours of the Celebrity Big Brother replacement.

The traditional January celebrity version of the Channel 4 show has been put on hold following the race row involving Jade Goody and Shilpa Shetty in 2007.

Instead, the house has been filled with a group of talented young people, including two circus performers, a singer-song-writer, a dancer and a teenager entrepreneur.

The Little Britain star chose to instruct Scottish Youth Parliament chairman John Loughton on how to greet the other entrants, using an earpiece.

Forced to follow Matt’s directions, a visibly uncomfortable John, 20, bemused his fellow housemates by claiming to be a racing driver, musician, a psychic and a boxer.

When introducing himself to Calista Robertson, 19, he told the singer and song-writer that he was personally responsible for writing the score to the 1960s film The Sound Of Music.

Celebrity hijacker Matt eventually decided John had passed the challenge, guaranteeing him a place in the final of the show and promising the group a Chinese-style buffet to help the contestants settle in.

Other celebrities set to play puppet-master to the group include Joan Rivers, ex-footballer Ian Wright, actor Alan Cumming, and Kelly Osbourne, daughter of rocker Ozzy.

Big Brother reveals house of 12 talents - Jan 3 2008
Big Brother has unveiled some housemates with a difference - young people with talent and brains.

Instead of the usual fame-hungry wannabes, the 12 contestants competing for the £50,000 prize on Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack have been chosen because they each have a gift.

They include an Olympic boxing hopeful, a classical musician, a Mobo-nominated singer, an internet entrepreneur and the chairman of the Scottish Youth Parliament.

There is also a racing driver, a dancer, an Oxford University-educated conceptual artist, a fashion designer and a brother-and-sister circus duo.

Even the beauty queen and former Miss Essex has been a member of Mensa since the age of four.

The series launches tonight on Channel 4 and digital channel E4.

Celebrity Big Brother has been put on hold following last year’s Jade Goody race-row debacle.

Instead, Celebrity Hijack will feature a group of famous faces in the role of Big Brother and setting tasks for the housemates.

Little Britain’s Matt Lucas will be the first star to take control of proceedings.

The rest of the series will feature Jimmy Carr, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Keith Lemon, Malcolm McLaren, Joan Rivers, Brian Sewell and Ian Wright. Dermot O’Leary will host the proceedings.

Problems in BB house? - Jan 2 2008
New Big Brother show Celebrity Hijack hasn’t even started yet - but apparently there are already problems.

The Channel 4 show was hit by a crisis when one of the 12 contestants threatened to quit hours before it starts, reports the Daily Star.

The Midlands teenager threatened to walk when she discovered she would be bossed about by acid-tongued comedians, including Joan Rivers, Jimmy Carr and Leigh Francis.

The classically-trained musician was reportedly unhappy with the format and was concerned that the housemates would become the source of jokes.

"Some of the contestants are worried that they will simply become figures of fun," a source said.

"They also fear they’re being set up as fall-guys for the comedians who’re going to be running the show and don’t fancy being on the receiving end of nasty comments.

"That’s hardly surprising when you look at some of the people playing Big Brother who don’t suffer fools gladly.

"This year’s line-up is different because they’re not the usual desperate fame-hungry wannabes, but talented, sensitive and very intelligent bunch of youngsters.

"One girl hated the idea of being mocked by celebs and threatened to walk out. Staff tried to allay their concerns, keep them all happy and stop the girl from walking out.

"There’s always some last-minute attack of nerves but this mutiny is the last thing needed."

Celebrities hijack Big Brother - Dec 21 2007
Big Brother is back on January 3 - with a big difference.

E4’s Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack sees stars like Malcolm McLaren and Joan Rivers taking control of the house, and making a group of talented young housemates do whatever they like.

And as Dermot O’Leary prepares to host his last ever Big Brother show, the UK’s most famous house has undergone yet another makeover - this time influenced by graffiti artists like Banksy.

There’s a cheeky stencilled monkey in the bedroom and a laid-out cameraman in the garden, while in the bedroom, housemates will be treated to an urban cityscape on the walls.

Dermot’s in charge of the live eviction shows and Big Brother’s Little Brother, while comedians James Corden and Matthew Horne have been recruited to host Big Brother’s Big Mouth.

After years of wannabes auditioning for the hit show, Big Brother has turned to a talented elite of housemates including athletes, musicians, artists and entrepreneurs, who will compete for a £50,000 prize.

Purple is the new colour of choice for BB, as the multi-coloured eye logo for the summer has been splatted with purple paint - and the see-through Diary Room chair now has a purple sheen.

The house has a brand new gym, complete with treadmill and crosstrainer and the lucky new set of housemates can warm themselves in a swanky hot tub.

MyVillage, 21st December