Celebrity Big Brother 2007 was the highly controversial fifth series of the United Kingdom reality television series Celebrity Big Brother, a spin-off of Big Brother. The series was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK (also on S4C in Wales), and involved a number of celebrities referred to as ‘housemates’, who live in the Big Brother House with no contact with the outside world. In recent series, the show’s producers have offered celebrities money to appear on Celebrity Big Brother. Celebrity Big Brother 2007 started on January 3, 2007, and ran for 26 days. The launch show peaked at 8.2 million viewers, making it the second most-watched launch in Big Brother history.
On January 16, 2007 this series had attracted the largest ever number of public complaints to the UK broadcasting watchdog Ofcom about a Big Brother series. The complaints received detailed concerns that housemate Shilpa Shetty had been subjected to bullying, allegedly with undertones of racism. Celebrity Big Brother criticism focused around the treatment of housemate Shilpa Shetty by contestants Jade Goody, Jo O’Meara and Danielle Lloyd. On January 28, 2007, Shetty was voted the winner of Celebrity Big Brother 2007 with 63% of the final vote.
Housemates
– Carole Malone
– Cleo Rocos
– Danielle Lloyd
– Dirk Benedict
– Donny Tourette
– Ian “H” Watkins
– Jack Tweed
– Jackiey Budden
– Jade Goody
– Jermaine Jackson
– Jo O’Meara
– Ken Russell
– Leo Sayer
– Shilpa Shetty
Jo She came in for criticism for ganging up, with Jade Goody and Danielle Lloyd, on fellow housemate Shilpa Shetty, along with allegations of racist bullying in the house. Jo had stated that she believed that Shilpa was a “mole,” planted in the house to upset the game. She was evicted on Day 24 (with only 48% of the vote), along with Cleo Rocos. Since leaving the house Jo had apparently slipped into deep depression and even thought about suicide.
