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The Undercover Boss

Five is to screen a new reality series in which the heads of five major companies will pose incognito amid their staff to see how the company really operates, and what their employees think of them.

The Undercover Boss will use a number of filming techniques including secret cameras with the boss eventually revealing his or her identity.

The five-part series will transmit later this year.
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Katie and Peter to go head to head onscreen as they sign up for RIVAL reality shows
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Jackson Brothers Reality Show

The brothers of Michael Jackson are to appear in a reality TV series, US network A&E has announced.

The cable show will be expanded from a documentary Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon Jackson filmed prior to their sibling's death in June.

It is not known when the show will air or how many episodes it will contain.

It is also unclear whether Michael was filmed for the original documentary, which focused on his brothers as they prepared to reunite for a concert tour.

Footage from the original documentary was aired on the Tuesday edition of CBS show Entertainment Tonight.

Described as "exclusive new video", the excerpt showed the Jackson's mother Katherine at home with Jermaine, Jackie and Tito.

A&E announced the original documentary in May, saying it would "allow unprecedented access" to the Jacksons as they embarked upon "their most personal album and tour".

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7 Days On The Breadline

Four famous people will step into the shoes of families living on low incomes in recession-hit Britain for a new ITV 1 series on housing estates.

The broadcaster has commissioned the three-part series in which Mel B, Keith Allen, Trinny Woodall and Austin Healey move into households on housing estates in Leeds, and in some cases even replacing a member of the household.

For seven days, they will try to cope on the budget of the different households they join. Each will engage with common issues important to residents such as community cohesion, identity and the challenges that arise from living on a low income.

The series also aims to highlight issues ranging from long-term unemployment and role models for young people to the isolation felt by the elderly as the celebrities find out if they can cope away from the comfort of their usual lifestyles and even make a positive impact on some of the problems they may encounter.

In 2007, Lincoln Green, one of the areas where filming will take place, was identified as being in the top three per cent of deprived areas in the UK. Unemployment is almost twice the national average and two thirds of elderly people are classed as living in poverty. Despite this, there is a strong sense of community and it is by no means the worst area in the country. The series aims to explore poverty, an issue of national importance, affecting 13.2 million people.

7 Days On the Breadline was commissioned by Jo Clinton-Davis, ITV Controller of Popular Factual and Alison Sharman, Director of Factual and Daytime.

Clinton-Davis said: "We hope that exploring life at the sharp end of modern Britain in this personal and immersive way will bring home the challenges that are being faced on a daily basis by so many today and be an enlightening and enlivening experience for all involved."

waveguide.co.uk

Spice Girls Reality Show

The Spice Girls are launching their own TV talent show, it has been revealed.

The girl group – consisting of Mel C, Mel B, Geri Halliwell, Victoria Beckham and Emma Bunton – are planning a talent show designed to find versions of themselves for a new musical to run in London’s West End theatre district.

The show – rumoured to be called Spice Idol – will see the singers sit on an American Idol -style judging panel and dispense criticism and advice to hundreds of hopefuls.

According to The Sun newspaper: "This is an idea which appeals to all of the original members. It's a fantastic new way to broaden out the Spice franchise and cash in on their personalities, their story and their songs.

"The girls would have to work intensely on a TV show for a short period of time. But then they can launch a musical which could run for months or even years.

"It will take on a life of its own. The concept could even be replicated in other countries. The sky is the limit with this one."

The Spice Girls, who formed in 1994, last performed together in Toronto, Canada, in February 2008.

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C4 sends the cameras in to Notting Hill to explore unknown reality show territory

Channel 4 hopes it will fill the void left by the departure from its schedules of Big Brother.

By Ian Burrell, Media Editor
Independent

NATALIE CASSIDY LAUNCHES E4 REALITY SHOW
ABOVE: Former Eastenders star Natalie Cassidy has launched her own reality TV show/Wenn.com


FORMER EastEnder Natalie Cassidy has landed her own E4 reality show.

TV cameras will follow the star as she gets ready for the birth of her first baby and moves into a new pad with her fella. Dailystar

Louis Walsh Reality Show

Louis Walsh is getting his own reality show.

The X Factor judge will be joined by Westlife singer Kian Egan for two-part ITV2 programme, The Management, which follows the pair’s attempts to launch a new girl band.

Walsh – who previously teamed together Girls Aloud – and Egan are currently hunting for wannabe singers to be in the band.

The show will air in October.

Despite launching a new female vocal group, Walsh – who also manages Westlife, Boyzone and Jedward – has previously claimed he finds women difficult to work with.

He said: "They're high-maintenance. It's easier to manage boy bands.

“Less hairspray, less make-up, less baggage."

Egan has been managing a girl group featuring his wife Jodi Albert and previously admitted he is “controlling” of the way they are styled.

He said: "I'll certainly be very controlling of their image because I think a lot of girl bands now are way too tarted up. If you look at Girls Aloud's last tour, it's too oversexed.

"Jodi's is more of a classic catwalk Gucci look. That's the sort of sexiness I want to achieve with them."

waveguide.co.uk

Don’t Stop Baby Spice

Scouted as Glee meets The X Factor, Channel Five’s new reality show Don’t Stop Believing is being presented by Emma Bunton, it has been revealed. - channelhopping.onthebox.com

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