On Saturday, a motley crew descended on the new Big Brother house as ITV’s relaunch of the reality hit got underway.
Unfortunately, they weren’t the 16 new housemates but a bunch of rowdy “pirates”. The gang of gatecrashers sailed along a nearby canal – and they seemed to have exceeded ITV’s duty-of-care drink limit.
Show bosses said: “We know to expect the unexpected on Big Brother but being ambushed by pirates did come as a surprise.” The revellers hired a modified speedboat and climbed on the deck to disrupt filming, sailing right up to the new house which is located close to London’s Grand Union Canal. Hosts AJ Odudu and Will Best were filming last night’s launch episode, welcoming the new contestants into the house.
A production source said: “They were certainly in very jolly spirits on their makeshift Jolly Roger. There was lots of noise – they must have been on the rum, so they were in danger of disrupting filming.
“Fortunately, for the first time ever, the launch night was being pre-recorded a day earlier than it was airing. They had clearly gone to a lot of effort but, thankfully, the filming was able to continue with minimal disruption, so most people saw the funny side of it.”
TOWIE's Chloe Brockett makes cheeky dig at Saffron Lempriere during filmingHere are the 16 housemates the pesky pirates wanted to see. But which one will go the distance and win Big Brother’s £100,000 booty?