Chris

For the love of Mike ... would some of you learn to read!

Here are the facts:

1. Richard Desmond owns Channel 5.
2. Richard Desmond wants to put Big Brother on Channel 5.
3. Richard Desmond owns The Daily Star.
4. Richard Desmond does not own Big Brother.
5. Richard Desmond wants to use the Daily Star to help push negotiations for Big Brother in a favourable direction.
6. Richard Desmond runs a story in the Daily Star that appears to say it's a done deal - until you read beyond the first couple of sentences, where you find out that:
- No contracts have been signed.
- No date has been set for signing contracts.

Big Brother will probably come back. If it does, it will almost certainly come back on Channel 5. But at the moment, what you are reading is a very public attempt by Richard Desmond to influence the final stages of negotiations in his favour.

This suggests to me that there are still a couple of serious sticking points. The very public use of the Daily Star might be a genuine exclusive reveal that those sticking points are now addressed, or it could be a final desperate throw of the dice. Nothing is settled until there is ink on the contracts.