Big Brother Celebrity Hijack - The Launch

Thursday January 3 @ 9pm on Channel 4 and E4

It's one of the most coveted jobs in television, and now a bunch of celebrities are about to hijack it.

Making rules, creating mayhem, setting both sublime and ridiculous tasks, taking away food as punishment – who wouldn't want to be Big Brother?

In the E4 series Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack, Big Brother has kindly agreed to let some showbiz guests have a go in the hot seat.

The official identity of the celebs taking part remains tightly under wraps, but their aim will be simple: putting their stamp on the activities in the Big Brother house and generally causing mischief.

Dermot O'Leary will preside over the live eviction shows and his popular Big Brother's Little Brother, while James Corden and Mathew Horne take the reigns on Big Brother's Big Mouth where all the antics of the Celebrity Hijackers and the housemates will be dissected.

And these are no ordinary housemates - Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack will feature a group of exceptional, young housemates.

Big Brother has combed the UK for the hottest young artists, athletes, musicians, entrepreneurs and dons of every other field, to assemble a cast of pure prodigies, who will play for a £50,000 prize fund. Meet the housemates >

So how will these gifted housemates, who have excelled in the real world, cope living under the guidance of Big Brother and the Celebrity Hijackers? And how will the hijackers perform, knowing that they are being given the chance of a lifetime to control what happens in the most famous house in Britain?

Big Brother, who will work side-by-side with the Celebrity Hijackers when they make their appearances, had these words of warning for those gearing up to take on the BB mantle: "Big Brother would like to remind all potential Celebrity Hijackers that with power comes responsibility.

You are responsible not only for setting tasks, maintaining control in the house, handing out punishments and being a good listener in the Diary Room. You are responsible for making this a series to remember. Big Brother will be watching you."

When the new housemates enter the house tonight they'll find it revamped from the summer series.

The E4 purple will feature heavily in the colour scheme and gone are the pillow-fight-friendly beds that sleep 4 or 5, to be replaced by single beds.

The surreal, split kitchen will be put back together again, and the pool will be replaced with a more intimate hot tub. Read more about the revamped house >

More surprises will be in store, but viewers will have to wait for launch night to find out what other tricks are up Big Brother's sleeve.

With a host of cheeky Celebrity Hijackers waiting in the wings, ready and willing to make the rules, bend the rules and even break the rules, E4 is set to be the home of mischief-making and mayhem this January.

Read the housemates' profiles >

Check out our interview with the show's host Dermot O'Leary > 

See our interview with Big Brother's Big Mouth host James Corden >

Read our interview with Big Brother's Big Mouth host Matthew Horne >