[Callum]

Presenter Brian Dowling has offered hope to fans of Big Brother's axed live feed, claiming that Channel 5 should take a look at bringing back the 24-hour access when the show returns in the New Year.

Channel 5 opted not to offer live feed to fans of the show this year, replacing it with extra Facebook and Twitter content. The channel's controller Jeff Ford claimed that the show has "moved on" from the 24-hour access to housemates.

Speaking about the controversial decision, host Dowling admitted that he had sympathy for the show's hardcore fans.

"All I can say is, the fans obviously want to have the live feed," he told Digital Spy.

"I understand people's views on it and they want to see the real characters and not just the people that Channel 5 shows. But I must add, Channel 5 are just showing you what happened.

"And on the live feed, you couldn't for the large part hear anything. For legal reasons, you can't hear anything a lot of the time. But I do understand the hardcore fans miss it."

He added: "Whether it comes back, I don't know. I know nothing. I only found out about the feed this time, the week before the show started when I was briefed. A lot of people do miss it, so I think it is something Channel 5 need to look at. But I have no power unfortunately."

Dowling said that he was proud of the reality show's performance following its switch from Channel 4 to Channel 5, claiming that the steady ratings proved it was wise investment from the broadcaster's Richard Desmond.

"A lot of people had written the show off, but when it's on Channel 5, it's not the fifth channel anymore. It's sometimes the second channel or even the most-watched channel at that time," he said.

"I know when we've done the Friday night show, we've beaten everything and been the most popular show at that time. We went up against Million Pound Drop on Channel 4 and sometimes we beat it. For Channel 5 to do that is amazing.

"The Celebrity series was averaging three or four million - amazing. I think the normal series has had 1.5 million, sometimes higher, sometimes lower, every night.

"It just proves that there is a fanbase for Big Brother. I think it proves Big Brother on Channel 5 is a hit."

Having no live feed again next year would be a huge mistake IMO