Channel 5 are on the verge of axing Big Brother after eight years on the channel.

The reality show has been on the channel since 2011 but has struggled in the ratings this year with around a million people watching the current celebrity version and even less watching the one with members of the public.

The current contract ends at the end of the year with one more non-celebrity series scheduled to air in September.

Rumours have been rife for some months that the show could move to another channel.

Asked about it's future at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Channel 5 boss Ben Frow said: “It is clear. I have planned for a year without Big Brother .

(Image: PA)

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“Never say never, and you keep all options over, but the contract runs out at Christmas.”

Referring to the upcoming schedule, he added: “We are doing a lot of rethinking.

“I am over quite a lot of things. I don't want more of what I have got. We need things we haven't thought of.

“Creative renewal is driven by a tough year. We are not about completely reinventing the wheel there are no new ideas there are just new ways of doing old ideas. You have to free up the schedule and open it up to new ideas.”

The Mirror approached Mr Frow after he spoke at the festival but he insisted “there is nothing else to say” in terms of current negotiations with Endemol, who make Big Brother.

(Image: Channel 5) (Image: C5)

He added: “Where are we now? August. The contract runs out in December.

“I plan for a year without Big Brother. I look forward to the day when I have a show you are excited about that is not Big Brother.”

Asked if he would mind if it moved to a rival channel he simply said “no”.

Speaking in his controller session Mr Frow also spoke of his frustration when Stormy Daniels , who had an alleged affair with Donald Trump , pulled out of Celebrity Big Brother earlier this month in the hours before the show started.

He said: “We built a whole week around Stormy. I flew someone out to accompany her here.

She disappeared on us. I was bloody furious actually, we built the White House and the whole goddam thing around her.”

He also spoke of his delight at the channel winning its first Bafta this year for Cruising With Jane

McDonald and highlighted a new series with Michael Palin going to North Korea as signs the channel was maturing.

Channel 4 are to make a series on the life of Big Brother star Jade Goody.

Ten years on from her death from cancer at the age of 27, this series will explore the Jade Goody phenomenon to tell a bigger story of social and cultural change in Britain, at a time when reality TV became the biggest and most polarising form of entertainment in the country.

Featuring exclusive interviews and never-before-seen footage, encompassing everything from the rise of celebrity culture and social media to the battlegrounds of class, race and sexual politics, the three-part series will offer a fresh and compelling insight into the story of our recent past.