Celebrity Big Brother is reportedly facing the axe, according to recent claims. The legendary reality programme was brought back by ITV, with its 23rd series broadcast in March 2024, after the spin-off originally launched on Channel 4 in 2001.
Revival and Recent Seasons
Presented by AJ Odudu and Will Best, the revived series has aired just two seasons, crowning David Potts and Jack P. Shepherd as champions, while Nikita Kuzmin and Danny Beard secured runner-up positions in 2024 and 2025 respectively.
Despite featuring major personalities such as JoJo Siwa, Louis Walsh, Fern Britton and Sharon Osbourne, reports suggest Celebrity Big Brother may not return for another run.
Competition from The Celebrity Traitors
A source revealed to The Sun: "Bosses face a huge challenge trying to sign up celebrities because so many of them are now pressing their agents to get them on The Celebrity Traitors." They continued: "That is already causing problems for other big shows, like Strictly and I'm A Celebrity, which rely on star contestants because they now find themselves as second in the pecking order."
The insider added: "So that is an even greater issue for a show like Celebrity Big Brother because, now it's on ITV, it needs a certain calibre of contestant which are very hard to sign up now."
ITV's Scheduling Challenges
At the same time, the source added, ITV are working to find two lots of stars to compete on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! And its new spin-off show, The Wild Frontier, which would reportedly air around the same time as a possible new series of Celebrity Big Brother, at the start of 2027.
When contacted for a response, an ITV spokesperson informed The Daily Record: "Big Brother returns to ITVX and ITV2 later this year. No decisions have been made for 2027 as yet."
Controversies and Future Plans
Celebrity Big Brother caused quite the stir last year, with Mickey Rourke booted out of the villa for repeated offensive comments. It was later claimed that the reality programme wouldn't be returning for 2026, though ITV's Director of Television Kevin Lygo echoed the broadcaster's previous comments that they remained "committed" to the show.
Speaking at the 2025 Edinburgh TV Festival, he said: "Celebrity Big Brother we're looking at. We're thinking not on the main channel, that's the answer. It's so difficult now to book big celebrities, famous people, which is what we need on the main channel. Whereas you can go more interesting and niche on ITV2."
He added: "We're in a battle with [production company] Banijay about the price. It does really well for us on ITVX. It's a really important, crucial show. I love it and it does a tremendous job for us so, yes, it's coming back."
Celebrity Big Brother is available to watch on ITVX.
