Plenty of talk has surrounded the future of Celebrity Big Brother and Big Brother, but rumours of a cancellation may be premature.

Of course, as things stand, the existing deal with Channel 5 runs until the end of 2018 – so at the very least we can still look forward to a civilian Big Brother series in the summer followed by another Celebrity Big Brother run.

And despite ratings dropping slightly, there's no denying that the franchise still attracts a very passionate fanbase and holds up very well compared to similar reality TV programmes.

Channel 5

Related: Has the time come to evict Big Brother from the TV?

The Daily Star is reporting that Channel 5 is keen to air Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother beyond this year, but is looking at cutting the shows' budget to make it possible and worthwhile against lower ad revenue.

A Channel 5 spokesperson told Digital Spy that there are no updates on the shows beyond 2018 at this stage.

The most recent Celebrity Big Brother series – which was very well-received – was won by Shane Jenek/Courtney Act, and it will be interesting to see if the next regular Big Brother will retain some of the tweaks that were made.

Channel 5

Related: Where are Big Brother's most iconic couples now?

Isabelle Warburton stormed her way to victory in the 2017 series of Big Brother with more than 52% of the final vote.

The Big Brother shows are presented by Emma Willis, with Rylan Clark-Neal hosting Bit on the Side.

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