13 Contestants prepare to enter this year’s Big Brother house this evening.

Eleven of the thirteen are single, two are gay, and two are bisexual. Three of them were born outside the UK. One had a “high profile occupation”, another was in the parachute regiment and the third used to be a professional windsurfer and basketball player.

This series will be the longest yet, at 11 weeks, and promises to be a “tough time” for the unlucky 13.

Producers say contestants will have nowhere to hide from each other in a house fitted with transparent walls and outside showers.

Blinds can only be pulled down at the programme makers’ discretion, while heat-seeking cameras will be used to record any nocturnal activity.

The garden will be scattered with gnomes, one of which will contain a hidden camera.

Twenty-six moveable cameras will follow the housemates 24 hours a day, while a further 10 fixed cameras and 40 microphones will cover every area of the house and garden.