Actress Amanda Barrie and Jess Impiazzi have already won immunity from the first Celebrity Big Brother evictions just moments after entering the house.
The pair scored points as they clubbed together to fix a damaged circuit board in the series’ first challenge of the year.
Their victory came as they were joined by six companions in an all-female launch of the Channel 5 show, marking a century since women won the right to vote in the UK.
We have a super fan in the House! Please welcome your final female housemate, #CBBAMANDA! 🎉🎉🎉 #CBB pic.twitter.com/B8X5E3zgEO
— Big Brother UK (@bbuk) January 2, 2018
Former Coronation Street star Barrie, who at 82 is one of the show’s oldest ever contestants, joked that she thought her wife Hilary Bonner was sending her to a home when they set off for the show.
First to enter the house was former MP Ann Widdecombe, followed by Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ Malika Haqq, journalist Rachel Johnson, presenter India Willoughby, Made In Chelsea’s Ashley James and Rochdale grooming scandal whistle-blower Maggie Oliver.
Former detective constable Oliver encouraged victims of sex abuse to speak out about their ordeals and famously resigned from the police force over its handling of the case.
She told presenter Emma Willis: “When I believe in something, I stand my ground. I haven’t done anything special. I am an ordinary woman. I just spoke out.”
Johnson said she had turned down offers to be on the show multiple times, but was struck by the 2018 Year Of The Woman theme.
Our 3rd housemate @RachelSJohnson has written several books, but her time in the #CBB House is yet to be written! 📚👁️ #CBBRACHEL pic.twitter.com/mXXlZVEFCv
— Big Brother UK (@bbuk) January 2, 2018
But while she described it as an “interesting experiment” and a “girl’s night spread over three or four days”, she unashamedly confessed that she is “incredibly intolerant” and has the “opposite of charm”.
Widdecombe also made an outspoken entrance, saying she would have liked some men on the show and describing the revamped CBB house, with rooms named after key female figures in history, as “ghastly” and like an Ikea “show room”.
She will soon get her wish as the first male housemates are set to enter the house on Friday, ahead of the first evictions next week.
Celebrity Big Brother continues on Channel 5 at 9pm on Wednesday, when the housemates will face more challenges that could give them the chance to win immunity from elimination.