Sex, goodbyes and lots of videotape as 'Big Brother' descends into civil war

Big Brother is supposed to be a test of the endurance skills of 12 young people who compete to survive 10 weeks in front of the television cameras. But, with the third season of the phenomenon now in full swing, one worrying question is looming: will even one of them be left in the house when the show is due to end on 26 July?

The show has bred a cast of insufferable characters who now appear intent on tearing it apart. Two contenders have already quit of their own accord in disgust at the foul-mouthed crassness of the other contestants, and three more are reportedly angling to opt out of the nightmare in Channel 4's specially designed "home" at Elstree Studios, Hertfordshire.

A controversial decision to split the house in two, with a poor half and a rich half, has created militancy among the contestants in the running for the £70,000 prize, who claim it has become a prison.

Meanwhile the contestants are vying to plumb new depths of sleaze. Blonde Kate has admitted to a threesome. Grumbling Jade has been exposed as a shoplifter, failed topless model and apparent purveyor of oral sex to PJ. And Lee and Sophie may have been the first Big Brother couple to have intercourse on TV.

Even former fans of the show have now become fierce opponents. The Mirror, which previously revelled in Big Brother antics, has appointed its own Anti-Big Brother Correspondent, Kevin O'Sullivan, to mock the "moronic" contestants. "I always knew the utter tedium of Big Brother would struggle to survive the boredom of a third series," he wrote yesterday.

David Wood, deputy editor of the industry magazine Broadcast, said he thought many people were more interested in the football than any goings-on in Hertfordshire, where Channel 4 even installed double beds to crank up the expectation of high jinks.

"I'm watching the World Cup and I can't be arsed with Big Brother," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, the big TV story is football, in spite of the miserable scheduling as far as Europeans are concerned."

But he also thought Big Brother was looking a bit tired. "Some TV ideas have a finite lifespan. Maybe Big Brother has seen its healthiest days."

The first hint of trouble this year came with the quick departure of Sunita Sharma, a 25-year-old legal trainee. "I usually like to be the life and soul of the party, but maybe this is not my party," she said.

Crass behaviour from fellow housemates, including bad language and games in which they simulated sex positions, forced her out. Ms Sharma was followed this week by Sandy Cumming, an ex-squaddie, who fled the house with a massive hangover saying he had to go "for my sanity".

None the less, Channel 4 executives are declaring themselves delighted because the bad-mouthing and bawdiness is proving a hit with audiences. An average of 4.8 million people are tuning in, winning the minority channel a 23 per cent share of viewers. Most significantly, 43 per cent of them are the 16 to 34-year-olds beloved of advertisers.

A Channel 4 spokeswoman said: "We're delighted with the way it's gone so far. The figures are increasing week by week. It's great for us."