subject: Channel 5 set to resurrect Big Brother [print this page] Channel 5 set to resurrect Big Brother Channel 5 set to resurrect Big Brother
If you thought you were able to escape the wrath of yet another series of Big Brother after Channel 4 decided not to renew its contract last year, you were wrong. Richard Desmond, the new owner of Channel 5, has sealed a deal to bring the show back to our screens after weeks of negotiations with the production team behind the genre-defining reality television show.
The programme was quickly snapped up by the media magnate after he surprised many by purchasing the ailing broadcaster from its former owners RTL. Setting his sights on making Channel 5 the destination for celebrity news and gossip, he brought his glossy magazine OK!to the screens in the guise of OK!TV.
Big Brother looks set to dominate the summer schedules yet again after the broadcaster signed a 200m two-year exclusive deal, starting with the relaunch of the Celebrity Big Brother spinoff this August. This will be followed by the standard show returning to our screens the following month. As always, who goes? You decide!
Richard Desmond has expressed his interest in paying big money for familiar faces, with rumours flying around the celebrity gossip sphere that he is willing to provide former Two and a Half Men actor Charlie Sheen with a five-figure cheque should he sign to be on the next celebrity series. Other celebrities reported to have their names linked to the "new" Big Brother include former Harrods owner Mohammed Al-Fayed and The Only Way is Essex star Amy Childs.
Unfortunately, the production team may find themselves with a dilemma on their hands after former presenter Davina McCall ruled herself out of the running should the programme return to British screens. Celebrity news has reported that the production team might look back to former contestants who have managed to form a successful television career off the back of the reality show, such as Brian Dowling and former Celebrity Big Brother housemate Vanessa Feltz.
Insiders are claiming that Cheryl Cole is on the cusp of signing a 5m contract with the channel to front the relaunched show, but her X Factor co-presenter Simon Cowell has already publicly said he wants to make her a star in the American spinoff of his talent show.
Should Big Brother become a success for the broadcaster, it could prove quite a coup for the channel. In recent years, it has become home to a number of critically successful American imports to British screens such as the CSI franchise as well as cult series Prison Break and Hugh Laurie's House.
