'Big Brother 9' drew 5.4m viewers as it kicked off last night by bringing a couple into the house for the first time, and subjecting them to a twist -- they must pretend not to know each other.

The unofficial overnight figure is 800,000 viewers lower than the 6.2m that 'Big Brother 8' attracted last year.

The launch episode, which was on between 9pm-10.40pm, took a 25% share of all people watching TV in the slot, matching the share for the launch episode of 'Big Brother 8'. It peaked at 10pm with 6.1m viewers and a 28% share.
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'Big Brother 8' opened with 6.2m viewers and a 25% share last year, while 'Big Brother 7' launched with 6.9m viewers and a 31% share. The previous series, 'Big Brother 6', began with 5.8m viewers and a 29% share.

In last night's show the couple, called Mario and Lisa, entered the house first followed by politics student and part-time pro-wrestling announcer Luke and 19-year-old Stephanie.

Before the fifth person entered the house all four were called to the diary room and told about their secret mission, which was to pretend that Mario and Stephanie were in fact the couple.

If they succeed in fooling everyone the four will be immune from nomination next week, but in a further twist Davina revealed at the end of the show that Mario and Stephanie will have to go as far as getting married in the house, or so they will think.

Stephanie first appeared on television as a 13-year-old on 'Popstars: The Rivals', but after reaching the final 25 contestants, producers discovered that she had lied about her age, after claiming she was 16.

Davina McCall returned after the twist to introduce the 12 other new housemates, who include a blind comedian, an albino black man and a Thai massage therapist obsessed with cookies.

Radio producer Mikey, who lost his sight 10 years ago, became the first blind man to enter the house. His favourite party trick is to do stand-up comedy while dressed up in women's clothes.

Thirty-year-old Kathreya entered the house as Big Brother's first Thai housemate, wearing a shiny pink outfit and carrying a jar of cookies. Her dream is to travel the world and taste cookies in every country.

Other contestants include a kindergarten nurse called Rebecca, who refers to herself in the third person as "The Bex", and a 21-year-old student called Sylvia, who came to the UK at the age of 11 when civil war started in her native Sierra Leone.

Some classic Big Brother quotes came from Dennis, a flamboyant dance teacher from Edinburgh, who said: "Without dance, I'd be nothing." Single mum Alexandra, who claimed: "If I just go on about myself it's because you're all boring."

Source: Brand republic