'Celebrity Come Dine With Me' hit over house hiring

‘Celebrity Come Dine With Me’ has come under fire after it was revealed some of the show’s stars are lent properties instead of using their own homes.

Contestants including Christopher Biggins and Sherrie Hewson have appeared in different episodes of the Channel 4 show using hired houses, although viewers were led to believe they were seeing inside their own homes.

Producers claim it was done either for the convenience of filming schedules or because the stars do not want their actual properties shown on TV.

However, they insist contestants on the non-celebrity version always use their own homes.

A Channel 4 spokesman said: “For logistic and security reasons, some of the celebrity dinner parties are filmed at a rented location rather than their own homes.

“This is only the case for the celebrity spin-offs. Contributors for ‘Come Dine With Me’ host their dinners at their own homes.”

But many viewers were left unimpressed as part of their pleasure of the programme comes from seeing inside celebrities’ house.

A viewer told the Daily Mail newspaper: “Surely there is an obligation on the programme makers to make it clear to the viewers. That's the format of the show - it is supposed to be a dinner party at their house.”