BB FANS

Mafia victims condemn Italy's Big Brother TV show

Relatives of mafia victims in Italy have condemned the appearance in the latest series of Big Brother of the son of a convicted mobster.

The National Association for the Families of Mafia Victims said it was "shameful" to exploit the gangster's notoriety to boost the show's ratings.

The son, Ferdinando Giordano, has never been in trouble with the law.

The reality TV show has defended his selection as a contestant.

BBC

Italian 'Big Brother' removes contestants for blasphemy

The Italian version of 'Big Brother', broadcast on a channel owned by Silvio Berlusconi, has removed three contestants after the Catholic Church complained about blasphemy.

For 20 years his television channels have served up an eye-popping diet of risqué game shows featuring barely-clad young women, topless housewives and inane challenges guaranteeing the maximum exposure of female flesh.

But Silvio Berlusconi's media empire has dangerously overstepped the mark with one of his most crucial political allies – the Catholic Church.

Big Brother, a flag ship programme on the prime minister's Mediaset network, has been forced into a humiliating climb down after the Church objected to contestants on the reality television show uttering blasphemous insults.

Like its counterparts in Britain and countries around the world, the hugely popular show, which attracts between five and six million viewers in Italy – around 25 per cent of the viewing public - is no stranger to controversy.

Telegraph