The never-ending Big Brother appears several times a year on Channel Five, with the channel currently running the latest celebrity version of the show. But given Five’s dependence on Big Brother to fill its schedules, its boss doesn’t seem to be much of a fan.

Ben Frow, the head of Channel Five, has admitted at the Edinburgh International TV Festival that “I’d be much happier without Big Brother on it. I want out our own programmes”.

He added that what he wasn’t looking for was programmes brought in from other channels, as Big Brother was. Rather, he wanted shows that give Five an identity of its own.

The end of Big Brother on Five seems a forlorn hope, though. Channel 5 and Endemol Shine UK have a deal that runs to the end of 2018 at the moment, which guarantees three series of the show every year. Until that’s done, Ben Frow seems stuck with the show…