[Mrluvaluva]

THE DAILY STAR!

While all other tabloids hail the release of the 15 sailors on their front sheets. The Star has decided to run with this story:

A BIG Brother boss finally came clean last night – and admitted that the show had been fixed.

He confessed that executives secretly manipulated the hit reality TV series and tried to control contestants.

But he insisted they have learned their lesson – because the meddling blew up in their faces.

And BB chief Tim Hincks only owned up to trying to rig the very FIRST series, back in 2000, by introducing “Nasty” Nick Bateman.

A whole series of scandals has since hit the show, including claims of biased editing and secret briefings in this year’s Celebrity version.

But Endemol UK, which makes the show for Channel 4, has only admitted acting as puppetmaster once.

Bosses feared the show’s debut line-up – which included eventual winner Craig Phillips, 35, lesbian nun Anna Nolan, 36, and sexpot Melanie Hill, 32 – would be too volatile.

So they brought in City worker Bateman, 39, at the last minute, thinking he would be the man to calm things down. However, their plan backfired.

Bateman was exposed as a cheat and kicked off the show for trying to influence eviction votes.

Creative director Hincks admitted: “We did try to fix something once. In Big Brother 1, we had put together our cast of characters...and we thought we needed someone in there to calm things down.

“So we found this young guy called Nick Bateman and put him in. Of course, he went on to become Nasty Nick.”

Bateman carved a career as a TV villain, even launching a book and DVD on How To Be A Right B*st*rd.

Hincks added: “This illustrates that the whole point of the show is that you cast strong and exciting characters who write their own scripts.

“You can say millions of viewers are either stupid to watch it, or think that maybe they are on to something good.”

His comments came at a big debate about reality TV in London, attended by former contestants Jade Goody, 25, and MP George Galloway, 52.