VEE-TV in the house?

This week VEE-TV breached the wall of secrecy that surrounds Big Brother – well, almost.

We had a chat with Sharon Power, the programme's executive producer, though we couldn't show her face. And we had bigger ambitions: four big fans of the show, who are deaf, auditioned to take their place in the house for the new series.

Er, why? 'Why not?' says our reporter Matty, one of the hopefuls. 'So I can raise deaf awareness through BB; so the audience can understand about Deaf cultures and break the barriers between deaf media and hearing media.'

Each of our aspiring housemates has his or her own ideas about how they would make others in the house more deaf-aware. Matty and Richard Weinbaum would play it straight: teach some basic BSL and a few tips on deaf awareness. Daryl Jackson favours a more direct approach: 'I'd stuff corks in their ears for 12 weeks!' Shana Grummitt believes in appealing to people's better selves: if their attention started wandering, she says, 'I would teach them a new rude sign to liven things up.'

Big Brother 6 is coming! Will there be a deaf housemate? Sadly, we can't tell you!

More info

Big Brother
The official Channel 4 site.

VEE-STARS: Stuart Wilson

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