CBB has just begun but already there’s a massive twist!

On yesterday’s Loose Women, Anne Diamond reminded viewers that once upon a time, stars took part on Celebrity Big Brother for FREE!

Yes, they actually went on the show for charity, raising money for Comic relief.

Anne Diamond starred in the second ever series of CBB but did it for free! (Credit: ITV)

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Of course, as we know now, CBB has gone on to become a show where hard up stars are paid a fortune to sit on their bums in the house, argue with everyone in sigh and rejuvenate their careers.

But this year, CBB bosses have come up with a great idea to make celebs feel more comfortable about appearing on the trashy show and give viewers more of an incentive to watch.

This year, celebs will be able to donate £50, 000 to a charity of their choice (Credit: C5)

Whoever wins the show, will be able to donate £50, 000 to a charity of their choice.

Good idea, because it could be more of a pull for big stars to agree to appear on the show.

But don’t worry, those big-hearted stars will still get a pay cheque of their own.

And some of them are getting a fortune, with Sarah Harding supposedly among the highest paid in this year’s series.

Sarah Harding is apparently getting the biggest fee in the show (Credit: C5)

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Other stars hoping to raise money for their charity whilst also trying to grab headlines include Shaun Williamson, Brandi Glanville, Paul Danan and many more.

However, in spite of the money hurled at the show, it didn’t manage to capture the public’s imagination as the launch night’s overnight viewing figures were the lowest in the show’s history.

Whilst previous series have always rated well over 2million, last night’s episode was watched by 1.8m.

That figure is expect to rise when figures are combined with catch up numbers, but insiders still think this as major disaster.

The poor ratings follow on from the disastrous civilian series which saw figures drop to as low as 650, 000.

At least the civilian series could blame Love Island for its lack of success.