London
It has featured transsexuals, couples having sex and contestants engaged in fisticuffs, but now Big Brother wants Christians to appear on the show. For the first time in the reality show’s history, the makers have placed advertisements with a number of Christian publications, including The Church of England Newspaper, encouraging worshippers to audition for the next series. Church leaders have expressed concern that Christians entering the Big Brother house could face being ridiculed and warned that they would find it a real test of their faith and character. In the past, the Bishop of Bolton, David Gillett, said he was a devotee of the show because it brought up issues that were often more real to ordinary people than those raised in church, but is worried about the tone it is now taking. “The program has continued to become more and more outrageous and a Christian would need to be aware of what they were letting themselves in for.”