The seventh series of Big Brother will start much earlier in May than anticipated, Channel 4 has confirmed.

ITN, which provides news services to Channel 4, reports that sixteen contestants will take part for this year's run, which is scheduled to begin on May 18 for a thirteen week run.

Speculation mounted in the run-up to today's news that Channel 4 would give its flagship reality series an earlier start date to fend off competition from Celebrity Love Island on ITV.