For all the razzmatazz of the annual circus that marks the end of Big Brother, there is no getting away from one fact: this year’s instalment has been the least popular in the show’s history.

At its peak, Channel 4’s flagship programme could pull in nine million viewers. This year’s show, by contrast, has attracted an average of just over three million. Such is its decline that those versed in the world of showbusiness believe that this year’s victor will struggle to achieve even transient fame.

Simon Jones, of Hackford Jones, who represents Brian Dowling, the winner of the show’s second series, said: “I don’t think that the new Big Brother housemates will find anywhere near as much fame and fortune as previous contestants. The winners have found success progressively harder to achieve over the years and have quickly faded into obscurity.

“The public and media’s appetite for a contestant fades quicker now as there are lots more reality stars vying for attention. Many contestants now are vacuous, boring people with nothing to say and no talent to sustain any long-term interest.

“The financial media deals on offer to evicted housemates are so much smaller than, say, five years ago, as a buy-up interview doesn’t guarantee any extra sales for a publication. Top agencies that would have happily taken on Big Brother contestants five years ago are now steering away from them as there is a feeling they can have a negative effect on your client list, as there’s little talent on display.”

Simon Hanning, who represents Pete Bennett, the winner of the show’s seventh series and a sufferer of Tourette’s Syndrome, said that the PR industry had fallen out of love with Big Brother.

“There are negative views about this current series wherever we go,” he said. “Which in turn points to a feeling of Big Brother running out of steam.

“I imagine the current crop of housemates will not benefit from the ‘quick buck’ that previous housemates have managed to earn through magazine deals and I wonder if they will manage to earn the sort of life-changing amounts that they expected before entering the house. I wish them well, but I wouldn't touch any of them with a barge pole.”

Craig Phillips, the Liverpudlian builder who won the first Big Brother, said that recent contestants have found themselves in the awkward position of not getting enough fame to make a living, but having too much to easily return to working life.

He said: “I speak to a lot of Big Brother contestants from the past few years and they’re all struggling. They can’t get work in the media but they can’t get a ‘normal’ job in a supermarket. It’s not going to be all red carpets for this year’s winner.

“When I won it was very new to the public and the media and it was pretty well received. Sadly for all these people that have come later, after the second or third series the public feel it’s been and gone. They’re not sick of it but they know what to expect. Anyone who comes to me now and asks about applying for Big Brother, my honest advice is, ‘don’t do it’.”

Despite its downturn in viewers, and the lack of interest in its so-called stars, the series is unlikely to disappear. Julian Bellamy, head of programming at Channel 4, said recently that he believed the show was the station’s “post-watershed soap”.

“In all likelihood it feels like it has settled into a rhythm. Are we likely to get 10 million viewers again? That is going to be a tough call,” he said.

“Big Brother is still an incredibly important show for us. It still gets twice the audience of the slot average. It has two more years on its current contract and it all depends on what happens after that. As long as it continues to be as robust as it is we will have it on the channel.”

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