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​'Big Brother' And Celeb Spin-Off Reportedly To Be Axed After 18 Years

​'Big Brother' And Celeb Spin-Off Reportedly To Be Axed After 18 Years

Network bosses are apparently 'seriously considering' ditching the show because of drops in ratings.

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

Reality TV series Big Brother - and its spin-off show Celebrity Big Brother - is to be axed after 18 years, according to the Daily Star.

The newspaper reports that network bosses are 'seriously considering' ditching the show because of drops in ratings.

Channel 5's contract with Endemol, the production company behind Big Brother, runs out later this year - which means there should still be a summer series for the show, along with another celebrity version.

However, it's thought that after those, that's it.

via GIPHY

The Daily Star's 'show insider' said: "There have been conversations between the execs about not renewing the contract for both Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother.

"It would be the end of an era, but they feel the time is right for it to end."

The original series debuted back in 2000, when contestant Craig Phillips was crowned the winner. In those days, the show was broadcast on Channel 4, and was widely regarded as pretty groundbreaking reality television - before the influx of other reality shows saturated the market and devalued the format slightly.

The star-studded spin-off, Celebrity Big Brother, also made its debut that year, but had a short break after the controversial fifth series in 2007, when realty star Jade Goody, glamour model Danielle Lloyd and S Club 7 singer Jo O'Meara made racist comments towards Indian actress Shilpa Shetty.

Channel 4 / Celebrity Big Brother

Both shows made the move to Channel 5 in 2011, by which point its popularity was already waning.

Despite being one of the best original reality programmes in Britain, it soon had competition from other shows like I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here. Most notably, though, its main competitor is ITV2's Love Island, which has become bafflingly popular in the past few years.

Last summer, Channel 5 boss Ben Frow admitted he would actually quite like to see the show ditched, saying: "I would be much happier if the channel did not have Big Brother on it."

It's not cheap to run, either - especially the celebrity version, where stars are paid to appear on the show.

Channel 5 / Celebrity Big Brother

For the current Celebrity Big Brother series, Metro reports that former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe is thought to be the highest earner, and will apparently be taking home £100,000 ($140,000) for her stint in the house.

In previous years, big names have included the late David Gest, who received £600,000 ($830,000) for appearing on the series, and former glamour model Katie Price, who got £400,000 ($550,000).

Then there was also the world's most annoying twins, X Factor's Jedward, who somehow managed to blag £500,000 ($690,000) for being on the show.

Featured Image Credit: Credit: PA

Topics: Reality TV, uk tv, Celebrity Big Brother, Entertainment News, TV and Film, Big Brother, Channel 5, TV