Bookies have become suspicious about a Celebrity Big Brother betting scam, after they noticed a sharp increase in bets placed on Alex Reid to win.

After a number of ‘huge bets’ were placed on the star, betting insiders are said to be worried that Alex’s friends and family could be fixing a win.

The Daily Star reports that bookies have cut the odds on the cagefighter from 70/1 to 15/1 in the last three days.

A spokesman for Paddy Power said: “There’s been quite significant interest in Alex for the past 48 hours – before that there was almost nothing.

“We’ve slashed his odds. He has some way to go to unseat Vinnie Jones as the favourite but he’s heading in the right direction.”