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The eye used for the series was the same eye used for Big Brother 6 the previous summer, the only modification being a star used to replace the pupil, in keeping with the celebrity theme.

Broadcasts

Davina McCall once again hosted the live launch, eviction shows and finale, all broadcast on Channel 4, nightly highlight shows were broadcast on Channel 4, narrated by Marcus Bentley. Big Brother's Little Brother was moved to an early morning time slot on Channel 4, but kept its Sunday lunchtime slot as per each series, Dermot O'Leary remained as host.

On E4, live coverage once again dominated its daily and nightly schedule, this was the first series to be broadcast since E4 Music became part of the daytime schedule rather than an intermission, E4 Music was rested throughout Celebrity Big Brother 4's run. Diary Room Uncut and Nominations Uncut also returned on E4, this would be Nominations Uncut's final series. Russell Brand also returned as host of Big Brother's Big Mouth which for the first time had been moved to a late night slot, being broadcast on E4, straight after the Channel 4 highlights show, this would remain its regular time slot until Ultimate Big Brother in 2010, where Big Brother's Big Mouth was retired.

Sponsor

Carphone Warehouse were this year's sponsors.

Prize money

Chantelle Houghton was not being paid for her participation, however as she won the show, she was awarded £25,000.

Chantelle Houghton

Chantelle Houghton (born 21 August 1983, Wickford, England)^[4] was a non-celebrity housemate. Prior to entering, she worked in promotions and as a Paris Hilton lookalike. She had auditioned for Big Brother 6, but was instead chosen for the Celebrity series. Houghton was the first housemate to enter on Day 1 and was immediately told her secret mission: to pretend she was a real celebrity in a girl group called Kandy Floss. She managed to fool her housemates into believing this after they ranked her the ninth most famous housemate in a task on Day 4. She was crowned the winner in the series final, receiving 56.4% of the final vote. Houghton married fellow housemate Preston just months after the show, but they divorced ten months later. She also released an autobiography. In 2010, she appeared as a contestant in Ultimate Big Brother and finished third. She has spent a total of 41 days in the Big Brother House; 23 days for Celebrity Big Brother 4 and 18 days for Ultimate Big Brother.

Dennis Rodman

Dennis Rodman (born 13 May 1961, Trenton, New Jersey, USA)^[5] is a retired American professional National Basketball Association player of the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. He was evicted on Day 21 with 23.5% of the vote. He exited the house smoking a cigar and wearing sunglasses and a cap which he refused to remove during the interview angering Davina McCall. He gave a confusing interview not answering direct questions which he also did for Dermot O'Leary whilst making a rude gesture, this caused him to be banned from the reunion. The following summer he appeared as a house guest on Love Island.

Faria Alam

Faria Alam (born 13 February 1966, Dhaka, Bangladesh) is a former Football Association secretary who, in 2004 had affairs with the then England football team manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson and FA chief executive Mark Palios, leading to Palios's resignation. She was booed on her way into the house and during her time there, she seemed to have an attraction to Dennis Rodman. Despite telling Big Brother in the Diary Room that she wanted to nominate herself for the second eviction, she was upset that her housemates nominated her and claimed that she would be evicted as the public would not allow a black or an Asian to win. She was evicted on Day 14 with 45% of the vote. During her interview, Davina jokingly asked her if she thought Sven might have voted to evict her. Despite her unpopularity with Big Brother fans she appeared on Big Brother's Little Brother and Big Brother's Big Mouth to positive receptions during Big Brother 7. She had exclusively spoken to Sky News in January 2007 about the Celebrity Big Brother racism controversy.

George Galloway

George Galloway (born 16 August 1954, Dundee, Scotland) is a politician and first became a member of parliament in 1987. During his time in CBB4, he was the Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow.^[6] He was booed on his entrance into the house. His participation in the show caused controversy, partially due to him being a sitting MP at the time of his entry into Big Brother - although, as the only MP of his party in the House of Commons, he did not take a whip. He consistently put a great deal of effort into the tasks assigned in the show, which included an incident, often re-shown, in which he pretended to be Rula Lenska's pet cat. Another task involving Galloway wearing a leotard also led to public derision by the British media. Galloway broadly aligned himself with Dennis Rodman and Pete Burns throughout the show. He referred to Jodie Marsh as a "wicked person" after she had an argument with Michael Barrymore, however he himself later had a heated altercation with Barrymore. He attacked Preston and Chantelle for their relationship, and though initially friendly with Rula Lenska, incurred her hostility upon the broadcast of his correspondence with Big Brother to the other housemates. Galloway said he was shocked at the lack of interest in politics from the younger housemates – particularly Chantelle, who referred to the House of Commons as "the place with the green seats" – he also said that he would be most famous housemate worldwide as he is known to every Muslim. On Day 17 the housemates decided that he could not nominate for continuous rule breaking. He was evicted on Day 21 with 65% of the vote. He presented Big Brother's Big Mouth in the first week of Big Brother 8, during the time that Emily was removed for saying the n-word.

Jodie Marsh

Jodie Marsh (born 23 December 1978, Brentwood)^[7] is an English glamour model and reality television personality. Before entering the house, she said she would hate to be locked up with Peter Andre, because she 'hates his missus' (Katie Price). She appeared to have no time for Faria Alam on launch night, as she did not believe Faria was a deserving celebrity. Jodie was by far the most unpopular with her fellow housemates, she was involved in a series of arguments with George Galloway, Michael Barrymore and Pete Burns, she received eight nominations on Day 5, and was evicted on Day 9 with 42% of the vote. She cried during her interview with Davina, whilst she reflected on her time in the house. Jodie claimed on finale night that she would not be appearing on any more reality shows, however she has since appeared on her own reality show, Totally Jodie Marsh, and even had the wedding of her short-lived marriage broadcast on MTV. She has since regularly appeared on Big Brother's Little Brother and Big Brother's Big Mouth. She and Chantelle did not continue their friendship once they left the house. She also appeared in 2012 as judge for a body building task.

Maggot

Maggot (born Andrew Major, Wales) is a Welsh rapper^[8] from the band Goldie Lookin' Chain, he finished in third place on the finale, receiving 23.5% of the vote. When he entered the house it was reported that he was 24, however he stated on Richard & Judy in early 2006 that he was actually 29.

Michael Barrymore

Michael Barrymore (born Michael Ciaran Parker 4 May 1952, Bermondsey, London, England) is an English comedian. This was seen by many as his comeback since the body of Stuart Lubbock was found dead in his swimming pool on 31 March 2001. He was initially the bookies' favourite to win, but lost support due to his arguments with Jodie Marsh, however he won back many fans after his row with George Galloway. He finished in second place on finale, receiving 43.6% of the final vote.

Pete Burns

Pete Burns (5 August 1959 – 23 October 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and frontman of the dance/pop band Dead or Alive, best known for their number one single "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" in 1985.^[9] After he claimed in the house that his coat was made of gorilla skin, police removed the coat from the house, without his knowledge or consent, for testing. Ownership of products made from gorilla is illegal in the United Kingdom without a licence. Tests found that the coat was in fact made of Colobus monkey, another endangered species. As a result, the case was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service who determined that the pelts used to make the coat were imported before 1975, when it became illegal to import Colobus fur, and as such will not be pressing charges. This greatly upset animal rights campaigners.^[10] Burns was known for his 'acid tongue' and his verbal tirades against Jodie Marsh and Traci Bingham. He finished in fifth place on the finale, receiving 13.6% of the vote. He received a hostile reception on his exit. He later appeared on more reality shows, and presented Big Brothers Big Mouth for a week in August 2007 during Big Brother 8. Burns appeared on Davina's final send off which aired on the last night of Ultimate Big Brother performing "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)". He died on 23 October 2016 from cardiac arrest.^[11]

Preston

Preston (born Samuel Preston, 16 January 1982, Worthing, West Sussex, England) was the lead singer of The Ordinary Boys when he entered the house.^[12] His time in the house is best remembered for his blossoming romance with Chantelle, even though he was engaged to long-term French girlfriend Camille Aznar. He celebrated his 24th birthday in the house. He finished in fourth place on the finale, receiving 16.7% of the vote.

Rula Lenska

Rula Lenska (born Countess Roza-Marie Leopoldyna Lubienska 30 September 1947, St. Neots, Cambridgeshire, England) is an English-born actress of Polish extraction, best known for her television work and marriage to Dennis Waterman. The oldest housemate, she was seen as the mother of the house and would often comfort the younger housemates if they were feeling down. She was the winner of the box task and had to wear the Pants of Power, by keeping them on over her trousers she was allowed to automatically nominate one housemate for the second eviction, she chose Pete, had she taken off the pants she would have automatically faced eviction. Her defining moment in the house was her role-play in the task, where she and George Galloway imitated a cat and his owner.^[13] Despite their friendship, George – along with Preston during their punishment for rule-breaking – nominated Rula on Day 14, it was also broadcast to the entire house. Rula was evicted on Day 16 after receiving 50% of the vote.

In an interview after leaving the house, she expressed her anger at Pete Burns for his unfriendliness towards her and laughed off any suggestion that she fancied George.

Traci Bingham

Traci Bingham (born 13 January 1968, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) is an American actress, model and television personality. She is best known for playing the role of Jordan Tate on Baywatch from 1996 to 1998, She was also the first black actress to appear on Baywatch. She recognised Dennis Rodman straightaway, and the first words he spoke to her were "Get away from me, Traci" followed by "are you not divorced yet", however they appeared to be on good terms in the house. She was on the receiving end of Pete Burns's sharp tongue on Day 14 and many housemates criticised her for being "too nice". She celebrated her 38th birthday in the house, however as her birthday fell on Friday the 13th she had to stay locked in the bedroom until midnight. She finished in sixth place, receiving 5.3% of the vote. She has since appeared on more reality shows, such as The Surreal Life: Fame Games – where she won the $100,000 Goldenplace.net Grand Prize. She also appeared on Fox's Gimme My Own Reality Show! .

Guest appearances

Notes

• ^Note 1 : Rula, as wearer of the Pants of Power after winning the 'box task', had to choose one Housemate to automatically face the public vote. She chose Pete.
• ^Note 2 : George and Preston, after breaking the rules regarding the discussion of nominations, they were both called to the Diary Room to nominate three of their fellow housemates together. They were unaware at the time that what they were saying was being fed live into the house on the plasma screen. They chose Maggot, Rula and Traci.
• ^Note 3 : Before nominations took place, Big Brother held a ballot to decide whether George should be permitted to nominate, as he once again had discussed nominations with a fellow Housemate, breaking a fundamental Big Brother rule for the third time. Whilst nominations took place, George was not called to the diary room, showing he lost the vote. The eviction on Day 21 was a double eviction.
• ^Note 4 : The public were voting for the Housemate they wanted to win rather than to evict.

Pete Burns' coat

Pete sparked controversy whilst in the house when he claimed that his coat was made of gorilla skin. This animal is an endangered species. Following complaints from viewers, the police came in and took the coat from the house for testing. The tests found that the coat was actually made of Colobus monkey, another endangered species. The case was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service, who determined that the pelts used to make the coat were imported before 1975, when it became illegal to import Colobus fur, and as such will not be pressing charges.

Faria Alam's claims of racism

On Day 13, Faria Alam who had just discovered she had been nominated for eviction, became upset and stated that she would be evicted on the grounds that she is Asian. She commented that the British public would not allow a Black or Asian person to win the show, nor would the media allow it.^[16][17] She was evicted the following day.