Sex change child star a Big Brother hopeful

Child star James Harries who underwent a sex change to become a woman has been among the hopefuls applying for Big Brother 3.

He shot to fame in the 1980s as a bow-tie wearing child antiques expert, appearing on TV shows like Wogan.

The 24-year-old underwent a sex-change operation last year, changed his name to Lauren, and hosted an antiques slot on This Morning.

Ms Harries was one of thousands of applicants for the latest series of Big Brother, which returns to screens next Friday.

Originally from Cardiff, Harries appears on screen wearing a black velvet top and dangly earrings alongside one of her pet dogs.

Big Brother spent eight weeks watching more than 10,000 video entries. Many hopefuls went to bizarre lengths to convince the producers they should make the final line-up.

One man pierced an intimate body part live on screen, and another played the accordion in a field naked but for a pair of wellies. A bikini-clad woman stood on a central reservation with a sign that read "Beep if you want to see me on Big Brother".

The producers remained unimpressed by the hundreds of hopefuls who stripped naked in a bid for TV fame.

One of the producers said: "I must have seen at least seven or eight different men running around wearing nothing but a horse thong that neighs."

Big Brother returns to screens on Friday with a new house, 'tougher rules' and 12 housemates rather than 10. The final line-up is a secret but will consist of six men and six women.