ITV slap ‘politician ban’ on Celebrity Big Brother relaunch over fears of viewer backlash
ITV may be mustering a varied line-up of stars for Celebrity Big Brother, but you’re unlikely to see any politicians in the house.
I can reveal that producers have all but ruled out having any former MPs or ministers taking part, even though they have increasingly been on other reality shows.
I’m A Celebrity featured Nigel Farage and previously Matt Hancock, who has also been in SAS Who Dares Wins, and we’ve even had former Commons Speaker John Bercow on The Traitors in the US.
A TV insider said: “The feeling is that politicians haven’t necessarily worked as well as producers might have hoped when they’re on these shows. At best they can be divisive, at worst plain boring.
“And they tend to be costly too, because they have to be big names, and the big-beast politicians tend to come at a price.
“Bosses also feel like they aren’t quite right for the mix they’re trying to achieve for CBB.
“That’s despite the fact that they have already had a few politicians trying to throw their hat in the ring, to no avail.”
I exclusively revealed how ITV had prepared a £2million war chest so that show chiefs could sign up a cast of stars worthy of the show moving to ITV1 from Channel 5.
Previously the “civilian” version of Big Brother, rebooted last year with hosts Will Best and AJ Odudu, aired nightly on ITV2.
The switch to the main channel in March means ITV will need to ensure there are higher profile figures that a prime-time audience would expect to see on screen.
That requires them to shell out similar six-figure sums to the budget set aside for I’m A Celebrity.
Names in the frame already include Rebekah Vardy and Louis Walsh, but so far Celebrity Big Brother has yet to confirm any housemates.
They had better get their finger out as they are now measuring the countdown in weeks rather than months.
BIONIC’S OLD SOB STORIES
IT’S a good thing Gladiators star Bionic has toughened up a bit before appearing on TV.
The telly star, real name Matty Campbell, has admitted whenever he used to lose a competition he would burst into tears.
He explained: “I’ve always hated losing – I used to be a little sobbing kid who would cry every time I lost.”
These days he’s not scared of anything, which isn’t such good news for the contenders on the BBC One reboot show.
Matty added: “I’m never scared of getting hurt – I was in a car crash when I was younger, and it was the injuries that I had that led me to the gym to do rehab.
“From there I got into bodybuilding and the rest is history. I’ve had a lot of injuries, but always come back very quickly, and I’m surprising doctors left, right and centre – that and my 6ft 6in height makes me Bionic.”
KERRY’S GOT EYE ON PAST
INVESTIGATING creepy Victorian crimes is good for more than just a scare.
Criminal psychologist Kerry Daynes, who looks at the most gruesome cases in the Quest Red programme The Victorian Murder Files, thinks it could help solve modern-day mysteries.
She tells me: “It’s good to look back at the Victorians and then look at ourselves because actually, there’s a lot to take away there – because the motivations for crimes haven’t changed.
“There are plenty of modern-day parallels with these crimes, from murders to robberies and the really dark and twisted, looking back can help us to learn.
“Really the only difference is that now, you’re going to get a lot more questions asked if you’re trying to sell a kidney down the pub.”
PHILIP’S HUNT IS OVER . . .
MOST stars would be sad to wave goodbye to their long-running roles – but not Philip Glenister, who admits he couldn’t wait to be rid of Life On Mars.
Philip, who played DCI Gene Hunt in the cult cop show and its sequel Ashes To Ashes between 2006 and 2010, is now starring as property tycoon Jack Radcliffe in ITV’s crime thriller After The Flood.
And the actor is thrilled to be getting his teeth into something different.
He admits: “The role on Life On Mars was great, but it did typecast me.
“I’d played loads of police officers before the series, and the sequel Ashes To Ashes, but nobody wanted to touch me once I’d been Gene Hunt.
“I’d hear that casting directors were saying, ‘No, he’s too heavily associated with the role of Gene Hunt’, and I did think, ‘Christ, I’m stuck with this forever’.”
After The Flood continues Wednesday on ITV1 at 9pm.
SKY’S glossy drama The White Lotus is gearing up for series three with Sex Education’s Aimee Lou Wood joining the cast alongside Patrick Schwarzenegger, yes, Arnie’s son.
But will they be enough to make up for missing show legend Jennifer Coolidge?
GREGG’S MASTER DIETER
GREGG WALLACE is taking a break from tucking into grub in the MasterChef kitchen to tell us all how to lose weight.
That’s because despite being best known for tasting delicious dishes whipped up in the BBC kitchen, he’s also managed to shed 30kg and has become a bit of a guru.
So Gregg is launching a podcast all about his health journey and he’s got celebs such as Joe Wicks lined up to take part.
He said: “I find it fascinating interviewing influential people in the health and wellbeing space and learning from them how to be a better me.
“And it’s easy – as I find out – it’s all a piece of cake.”
Gregg’s A Piece Of Cake will launch on Global Player next Monday.