Celebrity Big Brother 2006, also known as Celebrity Big Brother 4, was the fourth series of the British reality television series Celebrity Big Brother. It was hosted by Davina McCall and was broadcast on Channel 4 from 5 January 2006 until 27 January 2006, running for three weeks.
Eleven housemates entered the house on Launch Night, but only ten of them were being paid for their appearance. Chantelle Houghton, who was the first to enter the house, had actually auditioned for the sixth regular series the previous summer, but was instead selected to enter the celebrity series. Her secret mission was to pretend she was a member of girl band Kandy Floss, and to convince the others that she was a genuine celebrity in order to remain in the House.
Controversies emerged during the run of the series, such as the participation of a sitting Member of Parliament (expelled Labour MP George Galloway, then-MP for Bethnal Green and Bow for Respect). Eighties pop star Pete Burns included a coat allegedly made from gorilla fur among his possessions; the coat was removed from the house on Day 16, following complaints from viewers and housemates. It was later discovered the coat was made from colobus monkey. No charges were brought forward as it was believed the coat was imported before colobus fur became illegal in 1975.
By the time of the series finale, six housemates remained in the house. This was a first in Big Brother UK history and the next regular series, Big Brother 7, also adopted this format. Houghton was voted the winner on Finale night and was awarded £25,000 for her victory.
Chantelle and fourth place finalist Preston took part in Ultimate Big Brother in 2010 and both made it to the final, with Preston finishing in sixth place and Chantelle finishing third. Jodie Marsh also returned to the house in 2012, as part of a task during Celebrity Big Brother 9.
| Celebrity | Age on entry | Notability | Day entered | Day exited | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chantelle Houghton | 22 | Non-celebrity | 1 | 23 | Winner |
| Michael Barrymore | 53 | Comedian and presenter | 1 | 23 | Runner-up |
| Maggot | 29 | Rapper | 1 | 23 | 3rd Place |
| Preston | 23 | Singer | 1 | 23 | 4th Place |
| Pete Burns† | 46 | Singer | 1 | 23 | 5th Place |
| Traci Bingham | 37 | Actress and model | 1 | 23 | 6th Place |
| Dennis Rodman | 44 | Basketball player | 1 | 21 | Evicted |
| George Galloway | 51 | Politician and journalist | 1 | 21 | Evicted |
| Rula Lenska | 58 | Actress | 1 | 16 | Evicted |
| Faria Alam | 39 | Affair with Sven-Goran Eriksson | 1 | 14 | Evicted |
| Jodie Marsh | 27 | Glamour model | 1 | 9 | Evicted |
| Day 5 | Day 12 | Day 15 | Day 17 | Day 23 Final |
Nominations received | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chantelle | Rula, George |
Dennis, Michael |
Not eligible |
George, Dennis |
Winner (Day 23) |
5 | |
| Michael | Dennis, Jodie |
Faria, George |
Not eligible |
Dennis, Pete |
Runner-up (Day 23) |
3 | |
| Maggot | Pete, Jodie |
Faria, Pete |
Not eligible |
Pete, George |
Third place (Day 23) |
1 | |
| Preston | George, Faria |
Traci, Dennis |
Traci, Maggot, Rula |
George, Dennis |
Fourth place (Day 23) |
2 | |
| Pete | Jodie, George |
Rula, Chantelle |
Not eligible |
Traci, Chantelle |
Fifth place (Day 23) |
9 | |
| Traci | Jodie, Preston |
George, Michael |
Not eligible |
George, Chantelle |
Sixth place (Day 23) |
4 | |
| Dennis | Preston, Jodie |
Chantelle, Rula |
Not eligible |
Chantelle, Michael |
Evicted (Day 21) |
8 | |
| George | Jodie, Pete |
Traci, Faria |
Traci, Maggot, Rula |
Banned | Evicted (Day 21) |
10 | |
| Rula | Dennis, Jodie |
Pete | Not eligible |
Evicted (Day 16) |
4 | ||
| Faria | Jodie, Pete |
Pete, Dennis |
Evicted (Day 14) |
4 | |||
| Jodie | Pete, George |
Evicted (Day 9) |
8 | ||||
| Nomination note | none | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Against public vote |
George, Jodie, Pete |
Dennis, Faria, Pete |
Maggot, Rula, Traci |
Chantelle, Dennis, George |
Chantelle, Maggot, Michael, Pete, Preston, Traci | ||
| Evicted | Jodie 42% to evict |
Faria 45% to evict |
Rula 50% to evict |
George 65% to evict |
Traci 5.3% (out of 6) |
Maggot 23.5% (out of 3) | |
| Pete 13.6% (out of 5) | |||||||
| Michael 43.6% (out of 2) | |||||||
| Dennis 23.5% to evict |
Preston 16.7% (out of 4) | ||||||
| Chantelle 56.4% to win | |||||||
^Note 1 : Rula, as wearer of the Pants of Power after winning the ‘box task’, had to choose one Housemate to automatically face the public vote. She chose Pete.
^Note 2 : George and Preston, after breaking the rules regarding the discussion of nominations, they were both called to the Diary Room to nominate three of their fellow housemates together. They were unaware at the time that what they were saying was being fed live into the house on the plasma screen. They chose Maggot, Rula and Traci.
^Note 3 : Before nominations took place, Big Brother held a ballot to decide whether George should be permitted to nominate, as he once again had discussed nominations with a fellow Housemate, breaking a fundamental Big Brother rule for the third time. Whilst nominations took place, George was not called to the diary room, showing he lost the vote. The eviction on Day 21 was a double eviction.
^Note 4 : The public were voting for the Housemate they wanted to win rather than to evict.
| Official viewers (millions) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | |||
| Saturday | 3.73 | 3.25 | 4 | ||
| Sunday | 3.44 | 4.89 | 4.93 | ||
| 4.59 | |||||
| Monday | 4.03 | 4.24 | 5.15 | ||
| Tuesday | 4.44 | 5.24 | 5.71 | ||
| Wednesday | 4.53 | 4.89 | 6.16 | ||
| 4.05 | |||||
| Thursday | 6.68 | 4.54 | 4.97 | 5.35 | |
| Friday | 4.39 | 5.44 | 4.96 | 6.09 | |
| 7.31 | |||||
| Weekly average | 4.58 | 4.63 | 5.42 | ||
| Running average | 4.58 | 4.6 | 4.88 | ||
| Series average | 4.88 | ||||
| blue-coloured boxes denote live shows. | |||||
