Celebrity Big Brother hasn’t even got going properly yet, and already the accusations have begun.
We’re sure there’s going to be plenty of snide comments between the housemates once the series gets into full swing. But the first blood has been drawn by viewers of the Channel 5 show.
Some fans got rather irate when Made In Chelsea star Ashley James, 30, made a revelation shortly after meeting her fellow housemates during last night’s launch.
And it was even suggested that the blonde beauty had broken the rules of the programme.
This year’s series promises to be one of the most interesting in the show’s history. To mark 100 years since women were given the vote, the programme will start with an all-female cast, before the male celebs arrive later on.
And there are some real characters in the house. As well as Ashley, there’s former MP Ann Widdecombe, 70, Corrie legend Amanda Barrie, 82, and writer (and Boris Johnson’s sister) Rachel Johnson, 52.
But prior to all of that, there was the build-up – and by the sound of it, there was a fair bit of waiting around involved.
No sooner had Ashley arrived, resplendent in a white trouser suit, than the talk turned to how tedious it had been.
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It was at that point that Ashley made what many viewers considered to be a faux pas.
She told Ann, Rachel and Meet The Kardashians star Malika Haqq, 34: “I’m so glad I brought books.”
Cue a rush of activity on Twitter, as fans leapt to pick up on what they believed to be a rule-breaker.
One wrote: “Did someone just say they brought books? I didn’t catch it all but did they mean in the house? Sure that’s not allowed.”
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Another added: “She brought in books? SINCE WHEN was that allowed!!”
“So Ashley has took [sic] books in?? Bet they didn’t want us knowing that. Whoops!” said a third fan.
And the conspiracy theories would only have been fuelled by the footage immediately cutting to presenter Emma Willis as she prepared to welcome the next guest onto the show.
However, it was later claimed that Ashley had NOT broken any of the show’s strict regulations.
According to Digital Spy, Channel 5 confirmed that the reality star had merely taken books into her hotel while she waited for the series to start, and not into the house itself.
Meanwhile, Ann Widdecombe seemed to suggest during the launch that women’s rights are better than they’ve ever been.
She told her new mates: “I get very mixed up when people say inequality things because… you and I can both remember inequality.
“You could advertise a job with two rates of pay below – one for a man and one for a woman.”