Celebrity Big Brother 'set to be axed as ITV bosses face huge challenge'
Celebrity Big Brother is reportedly set to be axed after ITV bosses face significant challenges in signing up famous contestants. The show, which was revived by ITV with its 23rd series airing in March 2024 following its original launch on Channel 4 in 2001, has completed just two seasons so far. Presented by AJ Odudu and Will Best, the series crowned David Potts and Jack P Shepherd as champions in 2024 and 2025 respectively, whilst Nikita Kuzmin and Danny Beard finished as runners-up.
Despite featuring major personalities including JoJo Siwa, Louis Walsh, Fern Britton and Sharon Osbourne, reports suggest Celebrity Big Brother may not be making a comeback. A source revealed to The Sun that "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". The source continued that "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. 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."
Simultaneously, ITV is working to secure celebrities for I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here and its new spin-off The Wild Frontier, which would reportedly air around the same time as a potential Celebrity Big Brother series at the start of 2027.
An ITV spokesperson told media: "Big Brother returns to ITVX and ITV2 later this year. No decisions have been made for 2027 as yet." The show caused controversy last year when Mickey Rourke was booted out for repeated offensive comments. Kevin Lygo, ITV's Director of Television, stated at the 2025 Edinburgh TV Festival that the show would not return to the main channel, adding: "It's a really important crucial show I love it and it does a tremendous job for us so yes it's coming back."