Big Brother 'is mental health risk'

Big Brother housemates risk serious mental illness and even nervous breakdowns as a result of the pressures of the reality TV show, a psychiatrist has warned.

Dr Raj Persaud, consultant psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in London, said producers of the Channel 4 show were putting contestants' psychological welfare in danger in their quest for better viewing figures.

"Sooner or later someone in the house will have a breakdown either during the show or once they have left," he said. "At what price do you buy ratings?"

Speaking in the final week of the third series of the show in which housemates compete to win £70,000 by avoiding eviction, Dr Persaud warned that being shut up in the camera-filled house could harm potentially vulnerable housemates.