UK NEWS

I AM ASHAMED OF BIG BROTHER, SAYS MAN IN CHARGE

Love-cheat Zac Lichman has just been released into the house

Saturday June 2,2007

By Elisa Roche, Showbusiness Editor

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(1)

LORD PUTTNAM- the deputy chairman of Channel 4 has admitted he is ashamed of the station’s flagship reality show Big Brother.

The former Hollywood filmmaker said he hoped the programme would be ditched as soon as another money-making format could be found.

Speaking at the Hay on Wye Literary Festival the executive was asked if he was proud of the recent Big Brother racism row involving housemates Jade Goody and Shilpa Shetty.

"I am not proud of the Big Brother row - I am not even proud of Big Brother," he admitted.

"But Big Brother accounts for 15 percent of the total revenue that keeps Channel 4 afloat and you have got to go some
to replace that."

I studiously avoid Big Brother, I avoid it

Sir Paul McCartney

But he added he was sure the channel would replace the show altogether one day.

"We will do it at some point, of course we will, " he added,"We are in a long period of transition but we will do it."

Music legend Sir Paul McCartney joined Lord Puttnam in criticising the show last night. The music legend, 64, panned the programme as a "celebration of mediocrity", telling Radio show Xfm he finds it all thoroughly "boring".

"I studiously avoid Big Brother, I avoid it," he added.

Still, despite the ex-Beatles personal distaste for the show, millions tuned in to watch failed pop star Zak ’Ziggy’ Lichman bound into the Big Brother house last night. The blond hunk, 26, is a self-confessed womaniser who has dated, and cheated on, former Hearsay singer Suzanne Shaw. As a member of now-defunct boy band Northern Line, he once scored a number 13 hit but fame was short lived and he returned to working in nightclubs.

The Big Brother launch was watched by 8 million viewers at its peak on Wednesday. And millions tuned in again last night to watch this year’s contestants complete a break-dancing task and finally meet their first male house guest.

But the British public also appear to be tuning in hoping to make money. More cash has been wagered on Big Brother 8 than on ITV and BBC rival shows Grease is the Word and Any Dream Will Do combined, according to Ladbrokes.

Ladbrokes spokesman, Nick Weinberg, said: “Punters are wagering on Big Brother every day without exception, making it the undisputed king of reality TV- it is trouncing the other shows."

Sir Paul’s estranged wife Heather Mills once turned down the chance to take part in Celebrity Big Brother. But she did appear in the US reality talent show Dancing With The Stars earlier this year.

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LORD HYPOCRTE !

03.06.07, 12:13pm

If he's so ashamed of what his employer are broadcasting why doesn't he resign ?
He's another full time hypocrite that belongs to the increasing group of "hindsight / spin culture" that is taking over this country.
Or even better the board should sack him at once.
As an employer I wouldn't have one of people going public to say contraddictory stuff ion my operations.
By the way BB also pays for his fat salary !
What an hypocrite.

• Posted by: SAFFOS • Report Comment