Silent BB housemate could win £70,000

A broadcaster is launching a "public spirited" attack on reality TV - offering £70,000 to Big Brother contestants if they refuse to speak on the next series.

The contestant who manages to stay silent throughout their stay on the 11-week series stands to walk away with as much cash as the victor of Channel 4's Big Brother.

Satellite network UKTV described its new prize as a "public-spirited" attempt to "diminish the amount of mindless drivel generated by the deluge of reality TV shows".

The network, which has been responsible for shows like Watching Paint Dry - an ironic attack on the genre - said that the prize was designed to help put an end to Big Brother "inanities".

A UKTV spokesman said: "Any contestant who manages to keep it zipped will be doing Britain's TV viewers a huge favour."

The new contestants are set to enter the Big Brother house on Friday, but producers have not revealed how many people will take part in the sixth series.

Contestants can still claim their UKTV prize even if they speak while nominating other housemates in the diary room or talk while completing their tasks, in order to fulfil their contractual obligations with Channel 4.

Charlotte Ashton, director of network programming at UKTV, which describes itself as a reality-free zone, said: "£70k is a small price to pay to improve the quality of one of Channel 4's most popular programmes.

"We firmly believe that the incentive will assist the channel in fulfilling its public service agenda.

"After all, any action which helps to fight the increasingly prevalent social trend of spouting nonsense on national television is an act of social responsibility."

In what might be wishful thinking for some opponents of reality TV, UKTV said: "Should more then one participant successfully complete the challenge, the money will be split between the winners on a graded scale according to how long they managed to survive in the house."

But the broadcaster, which has 10 satellite channels, said it also wanted to interview the winner of its £70,000 prize.