Celebrity Big Brother 2025 launch – LIVE: Chesney Hawkes and JoJo Siwa enter home
Celebrity Big Brother is back on our screens, and a new crowd of famous faces is getting ready to spend the next few weeks living under constant scrutiny, with their every move, meltdown and ill-advised remark broadcast to the nation.
Singer Chesney Hawkes, best known for his track “The One and Only” was the first star to enter the CBB house, followed by US reality star and singer JoJo Siwa.
The remaining line-up of stars will be confirmed as the launch episode continues tonight on ITV but, as ever, there are plenty of rumours swirling round as to who will be taking part in the star-studded social experiment.
Reports suggest that the likes of EastEnders star Patsy Palmer, former talk show host Trisha Goddard, retired Olympic athlete Daley Thompson and former Tory MP Sir Michael Fabricant will be joining Hawkes in the CBB house.
Also rumoured to be joining the line-up are Coronation Street star Jack P Shepherd and TV presenter Angellica Bell.
And perhaps the biggest name to sign up is actor and Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke, the 72-year-old star of The Wrestler and 9 ½ Weeks, who is reportedly the highest-paid of this year’s contestants, securing a rumoured £500,000 fee.
Will this eclectic line-up of celebs make for television gold? And which star will end up winning over viewers?
Trisha Goddard enters the Big Brother house
“If you need a mummy figure, get therapy!” Glad to see that TV legend Trisha is as blunt as ever… and she’s had a great reception from the live audience, who are chanting her name.
The presenter, who has stage 4 breast cancer, says she’s appearing on the show because “we cannot be so scared of dying that we become scared of living”.
Contestant number two is.. JoJo Siwa!
Gosh, she’s very enthusiastic, isn’t she?
In case you’re not familiar with JoJo’s oeuvre, the 21-year-old became famous as a youngster on US reality show Dance Moms (so she has plenty of experience living life in front of the cameras) and has since branched out into music.
And the first contestant is… Chesney Hawkes!
I for one really did not need to know that Chesney Hawkes is “a bit of a nudist”. After imparting that haunting nugget of information, Hawkes was given a special mission by Big Brother: to introduce himself to his fellow housemates as “the one and only, Chesney Hawkes”. Inevitable, really…
And we’re off!
Can we have a moment for AJ’s glittery, feathered catsuit please?
The launch show kicks off at 9pm
So consider this your 10 minute warning…
Let’s look back at Chris Hughes’ rap career
And while we’re reminiscing… had you somehow forgotten all about rumoured housemate Chris Hughes’ brief foray into the world of rap, alongside his Love Island co-star Kem Cetinay?
‘Little Bit Leave It’ was the biggest ITV reality show musical crossover since, checks notes, Joey Essex released ‘Reem’ off the back of a mildly successful catchphrase in 2011.
Sadly, Chris & Kem weren’t fated for musical greatness; after dropping this track, they never troubled the industry again. But the video remains a time capsule to a simpler time, when two likeable Love Islanders could generate enough public goodwill to merit a budget music video.
A classic Celebrity Big Brother moment from the archives
And as the launch show draws ever nearer, here’s a classic Celebrity Big Brother moment for your viewing pleasure: when Ann Widdecombe systematically failed to use a pair of hair straighteners.
It remains possibly the only time that the ex Tory MP has been a bit relatable.
Who’s rumoured to be entering the Celebrity Big Brother house?
Here’s a quick reminder of the stars who have reportedly signed up for the show. I’ve listed them alphabetically, because there’s no favouritism here (although by pure coincidence, this means that my personal favourite, CBBC icon Angellica Bell, is top of the list anyway…)
Angellica Bell – broadcaster and former CBBC host
Chesney Hawkes – singer, of ‘The One and Only’ fame
Chris Hughes – Love Island star, of “want me to rap, anyone, to lift the mood a bit?” fame
Daley Thompson –two-time Olympic decathlon gold medallist and world record breaker
Danny Beard – Scouse drag queen and winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season four
Donna Preston – comedian and actor
Ella Rae Wise – The Only Way is Essex star
Jack P Shepherd – Coronation Street actor and on-screen son of Gail Platt
JoJo Siwa – Dance Moms star turned singer
Michael Fabricant – former Tory MP, the one with the hair
Mickey Rourke – Oscar nominated actor and former boxer
Patsy Palmer – EastEnders star
Trisha Goddard – chat show legend, of Trisha fame
A peek inside the CBB garden
In the words of Davina McCall, formerly of the Big Brother parish, fancy another one?
What could be more relaxing than lying back on a sun lounger surveying the gorgeous Astroturf around you, with a giant eye symbol lurking in the background to remind you that you’re being watched?
Is there a Celebrity Big Brother live stream?
Ah, the Big Brother live stream. If you’re a TV viewer of a certain age (ie. a millennial like me) then those words probably summon up glorious memories of tuning into E4 when you should have been revising for exams, watching grainy, minute by minute dispatches from the BB house, hastily censored with the sound of artificial bird song whenever the contestants starting swearing (most of the time, then).
Things have, of course, moved on since then. Now, you can keep tabs on this year’s celebs by tuning in to the live stream on ITVX (or STV Player if you’re in Scotland) or heading to YouTube. Ah, modernity.
