Big Brother bosses are reported to have hired private detectives to vet new housemates and uncover any skeletons they may have in their closets.

London based Page Assosciates Detective Agency, is hoped to thoroughly check each housemate before they enter the house, and therefore lessen the chance of Channel 4 being hit by yet another BB scandal.

A source told The Daily Star: “Despite our candidates having police checks, not everything shows up.

“There just might be things that these wannabes have chosen not to tell us, like sordid sex scandals, being a former member of a race-hate gang, working as a hooker or having members of their family with serious criminal convictions.

“Normally we hope the contestants play ball with us and tell us about anything nasty in their past.

“The last thing we want is another scandal like the Jade Goody and Shilpa Shetty fiasco.”