Louis Walsh reportedly made a 'secret demand' by asking a close celebrity friend to join him in the Big Brother house.
The former X-Factor judge will allegedly be part of the new-look line-up for this year's celeb version of the reality TV show.
So far, there is said to be a dozen celebrities who are set to appear in the iconic programme, according to The Sun.
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The alleged list includes the likes of Nikita Kuzmin, David Potts, Bradley Riches, Zeze Millz, Marisha Wallace, Colson Smith, Fern Britton, Lauren Simon, Gary Goldsmith, Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and Levi Roots.
Although, ITV did previously tell LADbible: "Any names are at this point pure speculation and viewers will have to tune in to see who will be entering the Celebrity Big Brother house."
Arguably the biggest name who has been tipped to appear is Walsh, who will reportedly earn a six-figure payday to appear on the show.
However, as reported by The Sun, the 71-year-old insisted on one specific request.
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A source told the outlet: “Louis made it clear to Celebrity Big Brother producers that he would only go in the house if his pal Sharon Osbourne was in there too.
"He was in two minds about whether to do the show because he knows it can be really intense and challenging, but he knew he’d have a hoot if Sharon was in there with him.
“He and Sharon haven’t done a TV show together since their glory days on The X Factor, so he was also confident that the public would lap up seeing them reunited.”
The source adds: “The execs were really keen to make it happen too, but they couldn’t afford Sharon’s fee for the whole run so they were worried they would lose them both.
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"In the end, they managed to came up with the compromise of booking Sharon as a special guest housemate who will come in during the run for a few days.
"Louis was more than happy with that, and Sharon’s chuffed too as she gets to make a big entrance, cause a bit of havoc and then leave them to it. She and Louis are going to be TV gold together again.”
Apparently though, Sharon will only star as a special housemate instead of a fully fledged contestant.
Again, according to The Sun, she won't be entering the house on launch night and will instead spend a few days in the house.
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Another source told the publication: “Sharon is a guest housemate and won’t be going in on launch night.
“Instead she will come in once the show has started and will be there for a few days.
“The fee she wanted was eye-watering and in the end they struck a deal which meant she would go in for a shorter run.
“It’s worked out well for everyone as she will inject some drama when she finally walks through the doors.”
LADbible has contacted ITV, along with representatives of Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne for comment.
Topics: Celebrity Big Brother, X Factor, ITV, Celebrity
Anish Vij