[Black Dagger]

Former Big Brother broadcaster Channel 4 is planning to launch a British version of rival American show The Glass House, bbspy has exclusively learned.

Similarly to Big Brother, ‘Glass House’ features fourteen strangers living in a plush compound while cut off from the outside world.

However, it also offers viewers a far greater level of control over the contestants, allowing them to choose what they eat, where they sleep, what rewards or punishments they recieve, and even what clothes they wear.

Each week, the group splits in to two teams captained by the two least popular housemates for a challenge. The winners are safe, and the losing captain faces elimination alongside another member of their team nominated by the house. Fans then get to vote for who they want to leave.

The ABC network aired the first season of the show last year, but were quickly hit by a lawsuit by Big Brother’s US broadcaster CBS due to the similarities between the two. Amid the controversy, Glass House failed to find its feet and averaged only 1.5million viewers.

Despite this, a C4 insider told us that they’re ’99%’ set to commission it for the UK and insisted they’re not concerned by its poor performance Stateside.

Our source commented: “Since we got rid of Big Brother we’ve failed to find a sustainable ratings hit. The execs know that it’s been a success for Channel 5 and are beginning to regret not at least keeping hold of the Celebrity version.

“However, they’re also aware that not all of its viewers are satisfied with the direction Five has taken Big Brother in, and they’re looking to capitalise on this by trying out a similar show in the hope that it’ll pull in big numbers and, crucially, a loyal audience.”

They added: “Even if it turns out to be a flop and it only gets 1.5million for us, that’s on par with a lot of our current output, so it will have been a risk worth taking.”

Terms of the deal are currently being negotiated, but we understand that while C4 will not air it daily, they are looking to schedule at least three episodes a week, two more than ABC.

They previously attempted a Big Brother rip-off in 2011 with the Christmas-themed gameshow Home For The Holidays.

Read more: http://www.bbspy.co.uk/bb14/news/040...#ixzz2PA5jj5Iq

I'm a bit wary, with the date and all that, but yeah, nice one if it's true.