Journalist Rachel Johnson has become the first housemate to be named for the next series of Celebrity Big Brother.
She will enter the Channel 5 house when it launches next month, welcoming an all-female cast in celebration of 100 years since women won the right to vote in the UK.
The appearance of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s sister will come just weeks after the pair’s father, Stanley, stepped into the reality television scene in this year’s series of I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!
The broadcaster, which announced Johnson’s participation on Sunday, said the new season will see male counterparts enter the house later on.
We can confirm that journalist @RachelSJohnson will be one of the female Celebrity Big Brother housemates entering the House live at 9pm, Tuesday 2nd January on @channel5_tv! #CBB 👁💯🎉 pic.twitter.com/RSHbRgAxzq
— Big Brother UK (@bbuk) December 24, 2017
It added that the show will see the housemates “take part in a series of entertaining tasks and hidden experiments which will test their – and our – assumptions, challenge gender stereotypes and reveal fascinating truths about what it is to be a woman – and man – in the 21st century”.
Johnson, 52, is best known as former editor of weekly women’s magazine The Lady, previously working for the Financial Times and as a columnist for The Daily Telegraph.
Also a novelist, her best-selling books include the trilogy Notting Hell, Shire Hell and Fresh Hell. She is married to Ivo Dawnay.
Creators of the show recently showed off an elegant revamp of the Big Brother house, including a sauna, a log-burning fire, and a bathroom looking out over the garden.
There will also be luxurious double beds and an outdoor seating area with fairy lights and furry blankets.
Celebrity Big Brother: Year Of The Woman will launch at 9pm on January 2 2018, with presenter Emma Willis at the helm.
It will be followed by the return of regular spin-off programme Celebrity Big Brother’s Bit On The Side hosted by Rylan Clark-Neal.