© Channel 4
According to The Guardian, the broadcaster may reach an agreement in time to start airing the show in August.
The newspaper alleges that there were plans to announce the deal this week, but "legal wrangles" have held up final talks.
A three-week run of the Celebrity spin-off, followed by an autumn and winter traditional series could potentially be delivered before the end of 2011. The show would then return to its normal format of Celebrity Big Brother in January and non-celebrity edition in the summer in 2012.
Talks between Channel 5 and Endemol broke down last year, but the broadcaster's owner Richard Desmond is thought to still be keen to bring the reality show to the channel.
Headlines in the Desmond-owned Daily Star earlier this week about Cheryl Cole potentially hosting the new series fuelled speculation that an agreement for the show's return was close. Cole's management team have since dismissed the speculation linking their client to the programme.
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