[James]

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SECRET THE AGENTS
Housemates were groomed
by IAIN BURCHELL

BIG BROTHER wannabes were groomed for stardom by showbiz agents before entering the house, it was revealed last night.

Many housemates – including curvy model Aisleyne HorganWallace – were signed up with expert advisers to help prepare them for the limelight.

The talent agents gave them a massive advantage over the thousands of ordinary punters who queued for hours at BB auditions – by telling them exactly how to sell themselves to producers.

Hunk

And they made sure the wannabes were mixing in the right celebrity circles to gear them up for their shot at the big time.

Aisleyne, 27, and Nikki Grahame, 24, both have agents to handle their modelling assignments.

Scouse hunk Mikey Dalton, 22, has already boasted that he’s been signed up to an agency, while Xrated model Lea Walker, 35, also landed work through an agent and starred in a Channel Five TV show last year.

And fans’ favourite Pete Bennett, 24, is lead singer in a band called Daddy Fantastic, whose manager has vowed to get them a record deal. bears Music industry experts admit Big Brother would be the perfect springboard to the charts.

The latest bombshell alarming similarities to last year, when it was claimed that Makosi Musambasi, 25, was an actress signed to a talent agency who had sent her along to the BB auditions.

And it will further fuel conspiracy theories following the huge Golden Ticket scandal.

Fans were outraged to learn that Golden Girl Susie Verrico, 43, was a serial auditionee who was already well-known to BB bosses and had even been overheard bragging that she was going into the house – two weeks earlier.

They were also stunned to find out that several of the housemates, including Aisleyne and pre-op transsexual Sam Brodie, 18, had been “guinea pigs” for the show and already knew each other before being pitched in front of the onthe-wall cameras.

A TV insider said last night: “This is just more unwelcome controversy for Big Brother.

“When you look closely at their

backgrounds it is clear the

housemates are not ordinary folk off the street.

“All of those with

agents will have had

step-by-step guidance

to help them get into

the house.

Harm

“Other hopefuls

trying to get into

the house didn’t

really stand a

realistic chance

against them.”

Our source added:

“The agents will still

be working frantically to make sure everything is in place when their housemate comes out.

“Some of the housemates have made no secret that they have big ambitions – such as becoming TV presenters.”

Last night a Big Brother spokeswoman hit back, saying: “Some of the housemates are models

or promotions girls and as

such would have agents to

get them work.

“If that’s the case there is

no harm in it.

“It doesn’t give them

any advantage over everybody else.

“Everyone who auditions

has an equal chance of getting into the house and

winning Big Brother.

“At the end of the day it’s

the viewers who decide

who wins Big Brother –

nobody else.”

iain.burchell@dailystar.co.uk