by
Juzzzy
@ Friday, May. 25, 2007 - 01:21:37 pm
May 25, 2007
From MediaGuardian:
A contestant on the Australian version of Big Brother has not been informed that her father died a week ago.
The producer of the programme, Endemol Southern Star, said, according to Australian press reports, that the information has not been passed on in accordance with the family's wishes.
The female contestant, a former model from Adelaide who is now a personal trainer, has been competing in Big Brother for the past month.
Her father died last week from cancer, but it is understood that his dying wish was that the producers of Ten Network's reality show not pass on the news to his daughter.
The woman's partner said in news reports that it was her estranged father's wish not to have her leave the house.
It emerged yesterday that Ten Network is meeting to discuss whether the news should be relayed to the contestant.
The Australian version of Big Brother has courted controversy on a number of occasions in the past.
Last July, Australian broadcasting rules were changed to bring live webcasts within the remit of content regulation, following the live internet streaming of an alleged sexual assault during Big Brother.
The footage was not shown on TV, but appeared on the show's live internet streaming service.
The Australian Communications & Media Authority moved to close a "loophole" in broadcasting rules which allowed the Ten Network to avoid censure because the images were streamed on the internet to a paid-for, adults-only service.
