Shattered claims first victim

A former air stewardess has become the first person to leave the new reality TV show in which competitors have to go without sleep for a week.

Ellen, 28, from Bishop Stortford, made a quick exit from Shattered after failing a memory test.

The Channel 4 show follows Big Brother, Survivor and I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here!, where contestants were filmed round the clock and subjected to a range of fiendish challenges.

The £100,000 winner of Shattered will have to show they have the most stamina by staying awake and performing physical and mental tests. Ellen failed to remember the number of peas she had earlier counted into a jar, guessing 3,176 when the correct number was 2,482. "I didn't think it would be a big challenge and I didn't concentrate," she said.

Ten participants, aged between 19 and 33, were selected for the show, being filmed in London's Docklands. One will be eliminated each night and those remaining after a week, will compete in a sleep-off.

Ellen predicted the winner will be Jimmy, 33, a former soldier from Brighton.

The group were kept awake for 36 hours, then allowed to sleep for two hours before being woken for the first episode at 10pm last night.

They have been warned to expect unpleasant side-effects such as hallucinations, memory-loss, paranoia-irritability, blurred vision and incoherence. Daily "endurance challenges" designed to put the group to sleep will include physical exercise, boring lectures, massages and being driven to Manchester and back in a heated limousine.

Chairman of the British Sleep Society Neil Stanley described the effects the contestants could expect to suffer. "After three to five days without sleep, you may start to get hallucinations or delusions," he said. "As long as the contestants know why they are hallucinating or delusional they're not dangerous."

However, Cary Cooper, professor of health and psychology at Lancaster University, condemned the show. "It's putting people through suffering just for the titillation of viewers," he told the Express. "It reminds me of torture techniques used to extract information from prisoners of war."

The contestants, who are not allowed to take medicines, alcohol or drugs and must undergo daily medical examinations, are free to leave the show at any time.

The show is hosted by Dermot O'Leary and made by the producer of Big Brother, Endemol. Daily hour-long episodes will be shown at 10pm with extra footage on E4.