BB FANS

Channel 4 has signed up to screen two further series of the reality television show Big Brother.
The new agreement with Big Brother producers Endemol will take the programme through to 2007.

The current series of Big Brother - whose housemates include Saskia, Makosi, Roberto and Maxwell - is due to end in August.

Julian Bellamy, Channel 4 head of factual entertainment and E4, said the broadcaster was "delighted".

£100,000 prize

"Big Brother has become a traditional and hugely popular fixture in the summertime TV calendar," he added.

Lucas Church, co-managing director of Endemol UK, said: "This has been a fantastic four-year collaboration during which Big Brother has continued to be renowned for its innovation.

"Channel 4 remains the natural home for this project and we are delighted to be extending our partnership for another two years."

Ten contestants remain in the sixth series of the show. They are competing for a £100,000 prize.

Zimbabwean-born Makosi Musambasi has taken over as the favourite to win the series.

Bookmakers Ladbrokes have placed her ahead of recent favourite, bellydancer Kemal Shahin, with odds of 3/1.