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Will Best has revealed he and his Big Brother co-host AJ Odudu are experiencing health troubles days before the show’s 2024 live launch.

The social experiment show, which sees contestants live together in a house without access to the outside world in a bid to win £100,000 prize money, made a comeback to screens on ITV2 in 2023, having previously been cancelled by Channel 4 in 2010 and Channel 5 in 2018.

Best and Odudu are scheduled to return to screens for the Big Brother 2024 launch show on Sunday, 6 October to introduce a new group of housemates in front of a studio audience.

Speaking on Capital radio, Best said he had booked an emergency physiotherapy appointment ahead of the live broadcast.

“I’ve got a stiff neck,” he said. “Yesterday was bad. I’ve got an emergency physio [appointment] in a couple of hours after this.”

The broadcaster continued: “It’s always good to just before the biggest show of the year, when you’re going to be live for six weeks, with all kinds of mad stuff, to not be able to move.”

Of Odudu’s health, Best added: “AJ’s lost her voice as well…I saw her yesterday, we did a podcast record. That’s why she’s not doing radio today.” Despite his illness, the Big Brother host said he was hopeful he and Odudu would be well again by Sunday night.

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“I get nervous because I love this show so much,” Best said. “So I’m nervous that we’re going to do it justice, the format justice, I’m nervous how the housemates will do.”

“But, once we get to Sunday, just before we go live, the nerves sort of disappear. I can’t wait to meet these people.”

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Big Brother returned last year after being cancelled by Channel 5 in 2018 due to poor ratings.

Speaking about the forthcoming series of the controversial reality show, ITV said in a statement: “Once again, the public plays a crucial role, voting throughout the series and ultimately determining the winner, who will walk away with a life-changing cash prize. Who wins? You decide.”

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It comes shortly after Best confirmed last week that Big Brother would introduce even bigger budget challenges for its forthcoming series in order to “[raise] the bar further”.

“I’m excited about the tasks,” he told MailOnline. “The tasks were phenomenal last series, but I’ve been speaking to the members of the team and I think they’ve kind of raised the bar even further.

“This series, I think it’s been taken up a notch.”

Big Brother will return to ITV2 and ITVX at 9pm on 6 September

MARRIED at First Sight bride Charlie Curtis has revealed she and Eve Reid are not on speaking terms.

The E4 star has opened up on what really happened when cameras stopped rolling after she and Eve decided to quit the show.

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It came after an emotional rollercoaster packed full of rows and trust issues.

And after throwing a dig at Eve earlier this week, Charlie has admitted to The Sun the former couple no longer speak.

She explained: “The last time I saw or spoke to Eve was on that sofa at the last commitment ceremony.

“Me and Eve do not have a relationship at all.

When asked if Eve was the real ‘bully’, Charlie replied: “I’m not here to name call but let’s just say I sleep very well at night knowing that deep down me and Eve are the only ones who know what really went down and the actual truth and we both know I’m not a bully.”

Married at First Sight fans had watched the former couple clash after Charlie discovered Eve had branded her a bully to co-star Polly Sellman.

There were more tears when Eve was caught listening in to Charlie’s “safe space, breaking her trust in the process”.

Eve insisted Charlie was lying when she accused her of eavesdropping in the ceremony, but expert Mel Schilling was on hand to announce to the room that it was Eve who was telling fibs.

The couple were then tasked with writing down whether they wanted to stay and give the relationship a go or leave and walk away from each other for good.

It resulted in them leaving the programme and going their separate ways.

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Nick Knowles has pulled out of Strictly Come Dancing’s Movie Week show after sustaining another injury.

The DIY SOS star, 62, who has been competing on the show alongside professional dancer Luba Mushtuk, had already suffered a shoulder injury that left him in a sling when he suffered a second blow.

Knowles fell and injured his knee while doing a jump during a dress rehearsal on Friday, 4 October. He is now using crutches to walk and will not perform this weekend.

A spokesperson for Strictly Come Dancing told The Independent: “Unfortunately, Nick Knowles sustained an injury during rehearsals and as a result, will not dance this weekend.

“As per the rules of the competition, Nick and Luba will receive a bye through to next week when he is hopefully able to dance again. Everyone at Strictly Come Dancing wishes Nick a speedy recovery.”

Meanwhile, a source told The Sun: “He was in a dress rehearsal and with his partner Luba Mushtuk when he did a jump and landed awkwardly.

“Nick has hurt his knee and is having to use crutches to get around now. It is such a devastating blow for him and he is being supported by the Strictly team.

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“They are sending him for scans and are doing everything they can to make sure he is okay. Nick had to fight to make sure he could take part in the first live show after hurting his arm and shoulder and he did so well.

“This new injury has been a real blow and he is incredibly upset about it.”

If Knowles had been well enough to compete, he would have performed the Charleston to “Rain on the Roof” from Paddington 2 on Saturday night.

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The TV personality previously explained his first injury to his followers on Instagram. “As you can see my arm is in a sling and that’s because my car broke down at the side of the motorway. I had my little boy in the car, so I wanted to change the tyre as quickly as possible,” he said.

“In the process of hurrying to get the wheel off, I managed to damage my shoulder and arm a little. I’m not sure how, but it’s been quite painful.”

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Though he admitted his injury was “not ideal”, he said: “I’m convinced it’s not something that’s going to stop me dancing this weekend.”

Fans have been devastated to learn Knowles will not dance on Strictly’s Movie Week episode.

“Nick Knowles has had ROTTEN luck,” one person wrote on X/Twitter. “I really hope he makes a recovery so he can return next week.” Meanwhile, another Strictly fan said: “I know they usually get one bye for an injury but given he was injured last week and it’s got worse I think this should be a withdrawal.

“Arguably they should do what Bake Off seem to do and scrap any elimination in a week where a contestant misses a show.”

BACK when young punk Toyah Willcox was putting safety pins through her nose, her Strictly dance partner Neil Jones was still wearing them in his nappies.

But despite the age gap, this 66-year-old rocker isn’t about to do an Ann Widdecombe and get dragged round the stage by her pro dancer — she’s attacking every routine.

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Toyah is determined to shatter the stereotypes about older people held by quite a few of her ­younger ­counterparts — starting on last week’s Strictly when she saw off 24-year-old Tom Dean.

She said: “Everyone was ­completely shocked. Tom is an Olympian, but when it comes to a dance-off I’m going to give my best against anyone.

“They look at a tiny little 66-year-old who is either the same age as their mother or their granny — I fully understand that to young people I’m incredibly old, but I don’t behave like that.

“I also like that some younger ­people might not know who I am, because they might not know how strong I am.

“They don’t know my history, and my history is pretty good as a ­performer.”

‘Do whatever you want’

There was some controversy online last week when viewers claimed the judges had saved Toyah in the dance-off just to “level out” the genders as there are just six female celebrities taking part compared to nine men.

But Toyah brushed off the claims, saying the real reason she was saved was because she performed well doing the jive, which is one of the trickiest dances on the show.

Although she’s the favourite to get kicked off this weekend, Toyah isn’t about to go down without a fight.

She said: “When young people see me ­perhaps there is going to be ridicule — but that gives me a fabulous position to prove them wrong.”

Toyah, best known for her anthem It’s A Mystery, was a bona fide movie star and singer back in the early Seventies and early Eighties.

Along with a handful of other female performers at the time, she blazed a trail for women with her punk rock look and attitude.

And she points towards a particularly poignant moment in 1981 when she performed in Drury Lane with an incredible shock of bright orange hair and dragon make-up.

The costume team had done their research on me. They still treat me like a rock chick too which is really lovely — and I just say, ‘Do whatever you want with me’.

Toyah said: “It was powerful, it was so ahead of its time for a woman to look like that when you consider most of the world were idolising ­Farrah Fawcett and Olivia Newton-John.

“There I was like a warrior woman. I think I was another side of ­femininity — I wanted to be strong and a woman of independence.”

Unlike with so many other contestants on Strictly, the costume department know there aren’t many wild looks they can throw at Toyah which are likely to shock her.

Which is perhaps why, when she dances tonight as part of the annual Movie Week, she’ll be dressed as Ursula the sea witch from The Little Mermaid, dancing to Poor Unfortunate Souls.

Toyah said: “The costume team had done their research on me. They still treat me like a rock chick too which is really lovely — and I just say, ‘Do whatever you want with me’.

“They think it’s open season and I appreciate that. But I’d like to see them try to make me look ladylike!

Toyah admits she had no desire to live the life of a lady in the heady days of punk, particularly when she was starting out and forced to sleep in a second-hand coffin because she didn’t have a bed.

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Back then, the lifestyle was all about ­adopting an unconventional approach and rebelling. She had a lisp, is dyslexic, got bullied at school and left with a single O-level, and was keen to turn a page on her past.

That made her more determined to succeed — and she went on to have eight top ten singles, bagging a Best British Female Artist nomination at the 1982 Brit Awards.

Music also helped her find love, in the form of King Crimson ­guitarist Robert Fripp, who has worked with everyone from David Bowie to Blondie.

The couple have been married since 1986 — and in 2021, Toyah caused a sensation when she wore a wafer-thin top with no bra while singing with Robert during a live-streamed performance.

So will Strictly ever embrace her heritage with outfits and a performance that reflects her punk past?

She teases: “If I get through this week, the dance I will do next Saturday I have been waiting to do — it’s going to have visuals that are utterly outrageous. I can’t wait.” As well as modelling for Vivienne Westwood, Toyah’s early experiences include hanging out with music royalty, including her time filming Quadrophenia in 1979.

The cult Brit flick had an incredible line-up including an up-and-coming star called Sting, who’d just quit being a teacher to pursue a career with his band, The Police.

‘Sailing ship in a storm’

Toyah said: “Sting was so sweet. We were all in the same hotel when we were shooting in Brighton.

“Myself and another actress would meet with Sting in his ­bedroom and he’d be teaching us the backing vocals to Roxanne.

“He’s always been outstandingly beautiful, physically, but his ego at that time did not reflect that.

“He found it quite hard to be the [film’s] pompous bell boy then. I adored him, and I was close to him for almost 15 years after that.” Is she conscious of how many women would kill to be invited to Sting’s hotel room every night?

What Strictly has that is very punk is that, under a lot of pressure, it delivers one of the BBC’s flagship programmes — and it is live, so anything could happen.

“I was a punk rocker,” she said. “I just didn’t even think about it.”

As part of the Quadrophenia cast, Toyah was asked to help punk legend John Lydon rehearse for his screen test as the central character of mod Jimmy Cooper.

The role eventually went to Phil Daniels, but Toyah got to make a friend of the Sex Pistol — and he turned out not to be rotten at all.

She recalls: “Johnny was surprisingly lovely, an absolute gentleman.

“I first met him at his apartment just off the King’s Road.

“I arrived at ten in the morning, went into the living room, and there were members of the Sex Pistols unconscious on the floor.

“We had to step over them and went into the kitchen to rehearse. So we ran the scene and he knew all his lines already.

“The biggest problem was that no one would finance the film with him in it. But it turned out to be a blessing because Phil ­Daniels gave an award-worthy performance.”

But Toyah insists she won’t just be bringing some of her punk ethos to the show, because Strictly already has a similar attitude.

She said: “What Strictly has that is very punk is that, under a lot of pressure, it delivers one of the BBC’s flagship programmes — and it is live, so anything could happen.

“But the team is incredible, because all of us are sailing a ship that is in a storm from 6.20pm to 8pm — and it’s about survival at that point.”

Here’s hoping she survives this weekend so we can see that sensational punk routine next Saturday.

•  Strictly Come Dancing is on BBC One tonight at 6.25pm.

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