Jade's Big Brother return backfires as two celebs quit

by Alex Donohue, brandrepublic.com, Monday, 08 January 2007, 9:00am,

LONDON - Channel 4's hopes of boosting audience figures for 'Celebrity Big Brother' by inviting back former 'Big Brother' contestant Jade Goody have backfired, as two housemates, Donny Tourette and Ken Russell, quit the house after refusing to become her servants.

Veteran director Russell walked out yesterday and Towers of London singer Donny Tourette went over the wall on Friday.

The two publicly said the return of Jade Goody, her boyfriend Jack Tweedy and her mother Jackiey Goody, made life in the house impossible and refused to carry out the tasks they were set to do.

In an attempt to spice up this series, 'Celebrity Big Brother''s producer Endemol invited back Jade, who came fourth in 'Big Brother 3' in 2002, along with boyfriend Jack and mother Jackiey to be lords and ladies of the manor at the house alongside three other housemates, with the contestants being divided into masters and servants.

Russell refused to listen to Goody's demands about when he was allowed to eat cheese and biscuits, calling her "demented" and "needing a straitjacket". Russell refused to wait for servants to dish up the biscuits, leading Jade to shout "he's ruined the task" before bursting into tears. He also described Jackiey as "pure evil", before exiting the house via the 'Big Brother' diary room on Sunday.

Russell, who had been one of the series' more popular contestants, said: "I am a big old fuddy duddy and some of the surprises were a little too much to take for someone of my sensibility."

His exit followed that of rocker Donny Tourette, who scaled the wall of the 'Celebrity Big Brother' house on January 5 after just 48 hours inside, having refused to become Goody's servant and performing the "masters and slaves tasks".

Channel 4 may now fear a further exodus after the return of Jade has failed to impress this series' housemates. The return of the show attracted 7.1m viewers on its opening night on January 3.

Jade, who despite not winning 'Big Brother 3' is now a multimillionaire and the programme's most successful contestant of all time, garnering a show on Living TV called 'Jade's Salon' and appearing on 'Celebrity Mastermind' in 2006 for Sport Relief.

Bookmaker William Hill has made actress Cleo Rocos 9/4 favourite to win the series, followed by former 'A Team' actor Dirk Benedict at 9/2 and veteran crooner Leo Sayer at 6/1.

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This article was first published on brandrepublic.com