New Celebrity BB series 'planned'

Celebrity Big Brother is returning to television for the second time this year, it's been reported.

The show, which was won earlier this year by Loose Women star Denise Welch, is expected to be aired again this summer along with a standard version of the show featuring members of the public.

The Guardian said Channel 5, which took over the show from Channel 4 in 2011, had struck a deal with production company Endemol to show another CBB series.

The latest series, broadcast in January, saw Denise crowned the winner ahead of X Factor reject Frankie Cocozza.

Earlier in the programme, stars including former captain of the Welsh rugby team Gareth Thomas, glamour girl twins Kristina and Karissa Shannon and Reservoir Dogs actor Michael Madsen were evicted from the house.

The show was launched in the UK in 2000 after it had been a big hit in the Netherlands.

It made stars of contestants including Ryanair flight attendant Brian Dowling, who went on to present SMTV Live and become one of the first openly gay children's TV presenters, and Jade Goody.

Jade, a dental nurse from Bermondsey in south-east London, became an unlikely celebrity and remained in the public eye until her death from cervical cancer in 2009.