Ninth Big Brother set for launch

Contestants will walk down the the Big Brother stairs later

A comedian and a DJ will be among the 16 contestants going into Channel 4's Big Brother house later.

The full identities of the housemates are being kept under wraps but producers of the reality show have revealed some details.

Three have children, the oldest is 42 years old, while one has been deported from the US, they said.

Another wears a £13,000 watch, while the show also features an aspiring actor who has starred with Hugh Grant.

Other contestants gearing up to live together under surveillance for up to 13 weeks include one who has had a breast enlargement operation and another who claims to have never seen the series.

Despite lower ratings for last year's series, executive producer Phil Edgar-Jones said there was still great demand for the show.

"Certainly in the build up, there's much more excitement about it this year than last year," he said.

"Ratings are not my main concern while I'm making it."

Davina McCall returns to front the show, which starts at 2100 BST on Channel 4.

'Green' show

Vegetable growing boxes will be put in the garden

Housemates will have to grow their own food this year, cultivating their own potatoes and carrots and seasoning their food with herbs from the garden, while this year's "green" house will also feature a large recycling bin in the kitchen.

Pictures released by producers show the house boasts a luxury bedroom as well as a dormitory-style room with short beds and scratchy blankets.

The luxury room features eight double beds complete with velvet cushions, a walk-in wardrobe and burgundy and gold curtains.

The two bedrooms are intended to divide the contestants competing for the £100,000 prize.

A "jail", in the form of a tiny claustrophobic area enclosed by metal bars in the garden, is also ready for use if any housemates need to be punished.

'Zero tolerance'

Another executive producer, Sharon Powers, said there would be a zero tolerance policy towards housemates this year.

"We are sick and tired of housemates coming to the diary room asking to leave and talking to each other about nominations," she said.

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Hopefully Big Bro 9 will be better than previous ones. Bring it on I'm looking forward to it

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"We're not going to tolerate rule breaking. If housemates break the rules, you have to spend the night in jail."

Two staircases will lead to the outside world, while the diary room has been built under the stairs to cut the housemates off from the rest of the house.

Spin-off show Big Brother's Little Brother will be hosted by George Lamb and Zezi Ifore, while teenage comic Jack Whitehall will front the opening Big Brother's Big Mouth shows on digital station E4.

BBC Radio 1 breakfast host Chris Moyles will take the talk show's reins for the following week.