[Amy]

THE housemates are set to be handcuffed in pairs today as Big Brother shows his evil side once again.

The contestants will be matched up according to their body weight and will be locked together for THREE days.

They will remain manacled 24 hours a day and will only be released when they want to go to the Diary Room or use the toilet.

The task could see Jason paired with Dan, Stuart with Nadia and Shell with Michelle.

The evil plan is one of three dreamt up by the show's staff amid concern that the housemates would "play it safe" once they are told that they are all up for eviction this week.

They chose the handcuff task in a bid to raise the tension again, but there were last minute fears last night that it could be enough to tip Jason over the edge.

A Channel 4 insider said: "Staff were anxious that the housemates will become boring. They didn't want things getting stale, especially as the show is going into the last few weeks. The handcuffs seemed a good idea at the time but they are having to decide whether it might just finish Jason off."

Jason has threatened to leave because he misses his friends Ahmed and Victor.

The lonely Scot, 30, said he hated the other contestants and would not mix with them.

He said in the Diary Room: "I think it's time to go. I'm not even going to last a day, to be honest. I don't want to mix with the people left. There's no one I want to spend more than 10 minutes with."

Earlier Dan, 30, referred to the possibility of Jason being evicted, and sneered: "Do you want any help packing next week?"

When Jason retorted that he was about to ask Dan the same thing, the gay hairdresser spat: "Talking to us now your playmate's gone, are you?"

But Jason perked up yesterday when Big Brother gave the housemates some gym equipment. He said: "It's better than sex - at this moment in time."

Article from Daily Mirror