The show follows a number of celebrity contestants, known as housemates, who were isolated from the outside world for an extended period of time in a custom built house.

Much like its predecessor, Celebrity Big Brother was met with commercial success and has also received extensive media coverage and publicity since it premiered.

In 2000, the reality series Big Brother premiered in the United Kingdom and immediately became a ratings success.

[17] Celebrity Big Brother aired in March 2001 as a one-time special on Channel 4 in association with the BBC's Comic Relief charity telethon.

[18] Due to the tie-in with Comic Relief, the first series was partly broadcast on BBC One in the week leading up to the telethon.

[21] Celebrity Big Brother 2 premiered on 20 November 2002, and concluded when Mark Owen was crowned the winner after 10 days in the house.

[27][28] The fourth edition of the show premiered on 5 January 2006 and was won by Chantelle Houghton, who ironically enough was the only housemate to not be a celebrity.

[31] This series saw Jade Goody, who had risen to fame after appearing on Big Brother 3, enter the house as a housemate.

[39] Meanwhile, Endemol had been granted permission to keep the Big Brother House at the Elstree TV Studios until 30 September 2013.

[41] Four days later, Channel 5 formally confirmed that it had signed a £200 million two-year contract with Endemol to screen Big Brother from 18 August 2011.

In October 2023, the twentieth civilian series launched on ITV2 presented by AJ Odudu and Will Best, and several reports of a revival of Celebrity Big Brother began to circulate.

[57] In November 2023, during a live eviction episode of the civilian series, it was announced that Celebrity Big Brother would return on ITV in March 2024, presented by Odudu and Best.

Most notably, Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack aired in 2008 following the racism controversy surrounding the fifth series.

[61] Despite the success of Celebrity Big Brother, the spin-off series provided poor ratings and was not renewed.

[68] For ITV's revival, Late and Live will remain as the main spin-off series, hosted by AJ Odudu and Will Best, and airing on ITV2 and ITVX.

Big Brother is a game show in which a group of celebrity contestants, referred to as housemates, live in isolation from the outside world in a custom built "house", constantly under video surveillance.

[85][86] The format of the series is mainly seen as a social experiment, and requires housemates to interact with others who may have differing ideals, beliefs, and prejudices.

[89] Since its inception, Celebrity Big Brother has come under fire for reports of bullying,[98][99] racism,[100][101][102][103] and the physical and mental strain of appearing on the series.