So Big Brother, is this really how to mark votes for women?
IT has been lauded as a tribute to the centenary of women being given the right to vote.
But the suffragettes are likely to be turning in their graves at the idea of being represented by some of the contestants of the latest series of Celebrity Big Brother.
For among the women who entered the house last night were a string of reality stars and a Kardashian confidante.
And though this series is beginning as an all- female affair – in a much- flaunted attempt to ‘challenge gender stereotypes ’ – Channel 5’s ratings will not be entrusted to women alone for long, with the men starting to arrive before the weekend.
In a departure from the usual Z-list celebrities to grace the Big Brother house, this series’s contestants include former MP Ann Widdecombe, journalist Rachel Johnson, former detective constable Maggie Oliver – who helped expose the Rochdale child sex abuse ring – and transgender newsreader India Willoughby. But they will be joined by others including former Made in Chelsea star Ashley James, Californian Malika Haqq – who last night claimed she is Khloe Kardashian’s ‘professional best friend’ – and Jess Impiazzi, who has appeared in The Only Way is Essex as a ‘Sugar Hut honey’ and risque MTV show Ex On the Beach.
The series – which will see male contestants gradually enter the house from Friday– hopes to explore how the all-female housemates interact as they have the run of the house before the men arrive. It is set to include a series of tasks and hidden experiments to expose gender stereotypes and assumptions. The women are also expected to be put in positions of power to challenge prejudices among the other contestants.
However, even the female housemates don’t seem convinced by the stunt. When asked by presenter Emma Willis how she felt about the show’s theme last night, Miss Widdecombe said a single-gender atmosphere does not correspond to reality, adding: ‘I would prefer a few men around the place.’
And in a hint she may not be impressed by some of her fellow housemates, she said: ‘The sort of person I wouldn’t really want to have to get on with for any prolonged period of time would be somebody who was tawdry. Somebody who talks sex all the time, took their top off in the hot tub, whatever it might be.’