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A CONTROVERSIAL hypnotist has coerced Big Brother contestants into seducing each other and simulating giving birth.
Australian psychologists have slammed the stunt to allow British hypnotist Peter Powers into the Big Brother house as a new low in this year's poorly-rating series.
The Sunday Telegraph has learned that Powers hypnotised contestant Nobbi and asked him to seduce fellow contestant David while in a bath of baked beans.
The episode, to screen on Thursday, also features Nobbi pretending to give birth.
Powers made headlines last year when a builder at one of his shows in Sydney was hypnotised and instructed to chase leprechauns.
The man was later discovered, both paranoid and running through traffic in the city.
Sydney psychologist Dr Amanda Gordon said: "I see Big Brother as exploitative and not healthy for people and this is yet another unhealthy situation''.
"It's very worrying. The whole situation of putting people under hypnosis who are not capable of saying `no' is dangerous.''
Dr Louise Newman, Professor of psychiatry at the University of Newcastle, branded the situation as "unadvisable''.
"Hypnosis is a powerful psychological technique and it is used appropriately for therapy and various interventions and that is always done under supervised conditions by people who are appropriately trained,'' she said.
"It's not advisable to use those sorts of techniques when that supervision and trained personnel are not available, or where there is any suggestion that people might be in a fragile state of mind.
"In a situation where you have young people particularly - or people who have been in a very isolated environment - then that's unlikely to be a very useful thing to do and there are potentially some difficulties with that.''
A Network Ten spokeswoman said: "Peter Powers visited all the housemates in lockdown and they were asked if they wanted to take part in the special.
"The decision was theirs 100 per cent. Some said `no', others happily agreed.
"Throughout the recording of the show, not only did Peter give them his hypnosis instructions but constantly gave them safety instructions.''
National President of the Australian Hypnotherapists Association Bruni Brewin said she was concerned for the Big Brother contestants once they were made aware of their antics.
"I am concerned about how it will affect them psychologically,'' she said.
"Under hypnosis, they are not aware that there are all these people watching them. When they come out of hypnosis and are aware they've done it in front of all those people, how will that affect them?
"It detracts from the serious work of what hypnotherapists are trying to do, which is to help people. Studies show how many things hypnosis can help with today, but people see it as just fun and entertainment.''
Big Brother hypnosis outrage
