[Mrluvaluva]

Two years ago, it called time on Big Brother in advance of a "fundamental creative overhaul". But on Saturday Channel 4 opened its doors on its latest reality project, as visitors checked in to Hotel GB.

Successful applicants will stay in a building full of cameras, and be beamed into living rooms – but they will also be welcome to leave should the service not come up to scratch.

"I think this is trying to do something completely different from Big Brother, which was looking at Channel 4 from the outside in," said Jay Hunt, the broadcaster's chief creative officer, adding: "Channel 4 is back."

Taking issue with the food probably isn't for the faint-hearted: in a twist to the reality format, the broadcaster's most prized lifestyle stars will be running the hotel – with the perpetually swearing Gordon Ramsay presiding over the dining room.

Already, an altercation over a vegetarian main has resulted in a well-oiled group of 40 diners at an engagement supper being turfed out of the hotel's grey linen-lined walls before it was even officially open for business. "They weren't dry runs, they were disaster runs," said the chef, talking to journalists about trial days before the week-long experiment. "We turned Hotel GB into Hotel GBH."

If the threat of Ramsay isn't enough to get troublesome customers into line, no-nonsense Mary Portas, trademark orange bob gleaming, will be overseeing the rooms side of the business as general manager, with How Clean is Your House's Kim Woodburn – "I've already seen everything. Nothing can shock me, love" – keeping things spick and span. Given that Portas said she had already found "a moist rubber gimp outfit in a Tesco bag" in one of the rooms and been asked if she could provide "company" for another guest, Woodburn's unshockability might be tested a little.

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Seemingly determined to showcase all their lifestyle talent, Channel 4 has also shoe-horned into hotel roles Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer – as concierge and maître d' respectively – and Gok Wan, busy designing cocktails as manager of Hotel GB's Chesterfield-heavy bar.

Embarrassing Bodies' Dr Christian Jessen will run the gym, while Katie Piper, a TV presenter and former model whose face was rebuilt after an acid attack – and who did at least used to work in a salon – will run the spa.

Business guru Hilary Devey, somewhat unfathomably, will run House of Devey: a hotel shop selling everything, she said, from evening gowns to dog outfits. Ensconced in Hotel GB's penthouse with her teacup yorkshire terriers Mixie and Dixie, Devey pre-empted the almost inevitable clashing of egos by demanding Ramsay cook her pets special meals – "kidneys, liver, chicken with no seasoning, and very lightly steamed carrots" – before saying she wanted to cure him of his swearing.

"I've brought a thesaurus and a dictionary to help teach Gordon Ramsay a new word instead of the f-word," she said. "It's unnecessary; the English language is very beautiful."

For his part, Ramsay replied: "She's in for a massive bollocking."

Were the idea of Hotel GB not quite odd enough, Channel 4 has also upped the ante by taking inspiration from other factual entertainment shows. Big Brother filming aside, the celebrities will compete in two teams to make the most money. In an initially outrageous-sounding departure from Big Brother, guests at Hotel GB must pay for their stay: a double room costs £100 a night, while a personal training session will set you back £30, or a full leg wax £20.

The cash will go to The Prince's Trust and The Springboard Charity – which work to tackle youth unemployment. This ties in with the third aspect of Hotel GB: as well as showing us guests and celebrities inside the hotel, Channel 4 has selected 14 trainees, with the aim of finding them work by the end of the show's week-long run.

How that soup of ideas will translate to screen remains to be seen: Channel 4 will be hoping that it revolutionises television as Big Brother did before it. "In a sense the joy of this is its unpredictability. The moments the audience will love are the things nobody can predict happening," said Hunt.

Hotel GB airs Monday 1 October to Friday 5 October at 9pm.


Looking forward to this. Sounds like it could either be brilliant or go completely tits up. Either way it should be entertaining.