Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack

Eye Logo The "eye" logo used for Big Brother 8 was adapted to include the star used in celebrity versions and a splatter of purple paint across it to signify that the eye itself had been "hijacked". The colour of the splat is the same purple used for the E4 logo. The logo was unveiled on 3 December 2007. Sponsorship The series was sponsored by Virgin Mobile, who took over from parent company Virgin Media, the sponsors of Big Brother 8. Broadcasts The majority of Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack was broadcast on E4, with the first hour of the launch show being broadcast on E4 and Channel 4. The live launch, eviction shows, finale and ''Big Brother's Little Brother'' were hosted by Dermot O'Leary – who had been the host of Little Brother since Big Brother 2 in 2001. In 2007, O'Leary announced his departure from Big Brother, and Celebrity Hijack would be his last. E4 broadcast live coverage from the house, as well as ''Big Brother's Big Mouth, which was hosted by Mathew Horne and James Corden, who were guest hosts during Big Brother 8 the previous summer. They would not return for any subsequent series of Big Brother or Celebrity Big Brother''. ==Housemates==

The housemates for this series were a mixture of British 18- to 21-year-olds, all with a special talent. Amy Jackson Jacqueline Amy Jackson (born 1986, Leeds) is a conceptual artist who lived in Leeds where she attended Leeds Girls' High School. She holds an MFA in Fine Art from The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art part of the University of Oxford. She won the Geoffrey Rhodes Prize for the highest first-year exam results, and is a multi-award-winning conceptual artist working with photography and installations – Amy doesn't paint as she finds it 'too messy'. Amy wanted to incorporate her experience in the Big Brother House into her artwork. She plays the saxophone, piano, clarinet and trombone. During the Andy McNab task, both Amy and Anthony were taken away and interrogated. They were both given a code and whoever did not tell the code to McNab won a £5,000 prize and immunity to that week's eviction. Jackson was favourite to win the series, but she finished third place on the final day, Day 26. Jackson eventually graduated with a first-class degree in a Fine Art from The University of Oxford. Since leaving university she founded a new website called Lost Found and Loved Again for likeminded artists and designers who create upcycled goods from vintage items and a Pop Up Supper Club, an experiential dining company in London, which raises funds and awareness for crucial causes. Amy Jackson still works as an artist creating public art and participating in group and solo exhibitions. In recent years she studied Sustainable Finance at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford and also works in responsible investment where she presents about issues surrounding climate change on radio shows and podcasts including Breaking Banks. Anthony Ogogo Anthony Osezua Ogogo In 2019, Anthony Ogogo had to retire from boxing following a serious eye injury. Calista Robertson Calista Kazuko Robertson At the 2010 United Kingdom general election, John stood as the Lib Dem candidate in East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow constituency. He finished fourth of six candidates, with 5,052 votes (9.9%). Latoya Satnarine Latoya Linette Satnarine and was the second housemate to be evicted on Day 16, in a double eviction. Nathan Fagan-Gayle Nathan Abraham Fagan-Gayle Having achieved a top 40 hit, Nathan already has a critically acclaimed album under his belt, entitled Masterpiece. Nathan pens his own music and also counts rapping and music producing amongst his talents. Nathan had sung with Alicia Keys at the age of 15 years, and has interviewed her for his school. On Day 26 Nathan was evicted, coming in sixth place. In 2012, he made it to judges' houses on the ninth series of The X Factor but Nicole Scherzinger chose not to take him through to the live finals. Victor Arata Vittorio "Victor" Arata (born April 1988, Birmingham) is a professional circus performer. He and his sister Emilia perform as a double-act at the Palazzo Variety Show in Berlin. Before entering the house the pair appeared on the talent show When Will I Be Famous? hosted by Graham Norton where they went on to win the £10,000 prize. The contortionist acts he performs with his sister are extreme and carry a high risk – Victor has broken an elbow (which now contains a metal screw), his knee and his fingers. Emilia and Victor's mother Carmen is a trainer on Sky One reality show Cirque de Celebrite. He speaks fluent Italian. On Day 16 he became the third person to be evicted with 32% of the public vote. This was a double eviction. His sister, Emilia and close friend Jeremy survived the double eviction and both landed in the Top 5 in the finale, with his sister taking runner-up. ==Celebrity Hijackers==

The celebrity "hijackers" took on the role of Big Brother on one-day contracts. • Jake and Dinos Chapman were reported to be hijackers but pulled out of the show. • Paula Abdul also agreed to hijack the house but had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts. • There was no celebrity hijacker on the final day, day 26. ==The House==

Although much of the house was the same as the house used for Big Brother 8 there were some changes. The bedroom was painted green. The fridge was brought inside the house (during the main series the house had an "everything not where it should be" theme which saw the fridge in the garden). Many of the walls had pictures on of various things such as monkeys holding cameras and a shopping trolley on the door to the store room. The pool was replaced with a hot tub due to the show being broadcast in January. The sofas were changed to be all purple, in keeping in the E4 theme of the house. There were also splatters of purple paint on the wall similar to those on the logo. The house was also given a new timber floor opposed to the pink carpet used for the main series. The bath was moved to the bathroom. The bedroom saw the biggest changes of all the rooms in the house. It was given a whole new set of furniture, with individual beds, instead of the four-person beds from the summer. The walls were painted green, some with wallpaper of skyscrapers. A gym (including exercise bicycles and a treadmill) was built, which could be entered from the bedroom. Two walls are orange, two are giant photos of mountains overlooking a lake. The hair dryers were removed and a bath was installed. The shower remained unchanged. The diary room chair remained the same except for the fact that the lights inside the chair were coloured purple to stay with the E4 theme. A hidden spiral staircase was used when Andy McNab hijacked the house to reach interrogation room 2. The spiral staircase was again used when Chris Moyles hijacked the house to reach a secret bar. It was accessed from a secret door inside the bedroom toilet. There was also another room that could be accessed from the storage room. It was used for tasks such as Janet Street-Porter's television task and Mathew Horne and James Corden's love room. As well, the vestibule that was used in the previous civilian series was removed, therefore the doors that originally led into the vestibule from the stairs now led into the main house. ==Broadcasts==

The launch of the show was broadcast on both Channel 4 and E4; subsequent shows including the final were only shown on E4. The live launch, evictions, and special episodes were hosted by Dermot O'Leary and introduced the first celebrity hijacker. Like the main series, live footage aired through the night. ''Big Brother's Little Brother'' was hosted by Dermot O'Leary. It was shown Monday-Friday at 7.30 pm and Sundays at 7 pm. ''Big Brother's Big Mouth'' was hosted by James Corden and Mathew Horne. Big Mouth aired Monday-Thursday at 10 p.m. and Fridays at 10.30 pm. Diary Room Uncut aired on Saturdays at 10 pm. This year however there was no online live feed on Channel 4 or their sponsor Virgin Media's site. Also, as the series progressed the amount of live coverage on E4 was shortened. == Daily summary ==

;Notes • Celebrity hijacker Matt Lucas set John a secret mission on Day 1. Wearing a hidden earpiece, John had to do and say everything that Matt instructed him to do without the housemates knowing he was on a secret task. Success meant a guaranteed place in the final, whilst failure meant automatic eviction every single time. John passed the task, guaranteeing himself a place in the final. • When Amy won a task on Day 10 she won immunity from this week's eviction. She also got to choose another housemate to be immune. She chose Anthony. Finally, due to losing the task against Amy, Anthony had to put one housemate up for eviction and he chose Victor. On Day 13, celebrity hijacker Joan Rivers selected Emilia, Jeremy and Liam to also face the public vote. It was a double eviction, meaning two housemates would be evicted. • The housemates nominated live. They each had two minutes to go to a private area and write down their two nominations. They were not obliged to give reasons for their nominations. They then all announced their nominations to each other at the dining table. Also, because of a double eviction planned that week, it was the three or more housemates with the most nominations that would go up rather than the normal two or more. Had there been no double eviction, Nathan and Jeremy would have been the only two up. • There were no nominations in the final week, instead the public voted for who they wanted to win the show. The housemate with the most votes would go on to win the show. ==References==