Big Bro Blunder Signals Further Woe For C4

Endemol has cancelled all the votes cast so far for Friday’s Celebrity Big Brother eviction, following an on-screen error which meant viewers were voting to evict Shilpa Shetty when they thought they were saving her from being kicked off the show.

At the end of Wednesday night’s show, although the voice-over was correct and stated “To vote to evict Shilpa”, the on-screen text mistakenly read “To vote to save Shilpa”.

Endemol has issued this statement: “This was a genuine mistake which was due to human error. We apologise to viewers and feel the best way to rectify it is to cancel the vote so far and re-open the voting again this evening, at the end of [Thursday’s] show. We have consulted with our independent adjudicator before making this decision.

“Viewers who voted can have a full refund and any unclaimed monies will be donated to charity. Following this error the profits from Friday night’s re-opened eviction voting will also go to the candidates charities.”

This series of Celebrity Big Brother has been beset by problems, most notably the international outrage caused by the alleged racist shenanigans of Jade Goody and chums (see Duncan Defends Big Brother).

However, the racism row did help to bolster viewing figures at a time when even the Channel 4 top brass thought that the show was boring (see Duncan And Lygo Defend Celebrity Big Brother).

Of course, whether audiences will still flock to the show after this latest farrago remains to be seen.

Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com