Big Brother Seeks Contestants Through Wonka-esque Promo

Channel 4 is to recruit one contestant for this year’s Big Brother through a “golden ticket” promotion in the style of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, inserting 100 tickets at random into KitKat bars, before selecting the lucky individual.

Running up to the launch of Big Brother 7, the promotion will see the tickets distributed within the chocolate wrappers via a huge logistical operation. The tickets could end up in any of 40,000 retail outlets nationwide, ranging from the Supermarkets to local convenience stores, newsagents and confectionary kiosks in train stations.

The competition was been kept under wraps until this morning, when the prize tickets were handed over by Channel 4 to a private security firm, which will deliver them to a secret location for insertion into the chocolate bars.

Once they have passed the Big Brother’s background checks, those finding a ticket will be invited to pack their bags and head to the programme’s studios for a live TV broadcast where one of the ticketholders will be chosen at random to enter the house.

Angela Jain, Channel 4’s big brother commissioning editor, explained the promotion, stating: “This is a first for Big Brother. Nothing on this scale has ever been tried before in a reality show. We are always looking at new ways of trying to find brilliant housemates and the golden ticket feels like a genuinely exciting way to do so.”

This year’s Big Brother will kick off on 18 May, with a record 18 housemates believed to be entering the house.

Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com