ON JULY 14, 2000, ten housemates moved into into a makeshift house in Bow, east London for a houseshare with a twist - they would be kept inside for nine weeks, with cameras watching their every move.
The show was, of course, called Big Brother, and since that first series, which spawned the likes of Nasty Nick and eventual winner Craig Phillips, we've had endless romances and cat fights between some pretty eccentric housemates.
And now the sho
w - which is now based in Elstree, north London - is preparing to celebrate its tenth anniversary.
"Culturally it's one of the most important television shows in the history of the medium, and ratings-wise it's been one of the biggest shows in every domestic market around the globe," says Dundee-born George Lamb, this year's sole host of Big Brother's Little Brother - the main show's daily spin-off.
"They're gonna throw absolutely everything they've got at it this year and they want it to be bigger and better than it's ever been."
The programme has come under fire in recent years, prompting rumours over whether it will be axed.
Even Lamb believes the show's contract won't be extended beyond next year, partly due to host Davina McCall leaving.
"Davina said that she's got two years to go on her contract. It's evident that there is only one more series after this - I'm assuming they're not going to be doing Big Brother without Davina," says Lamb.
"Some of the senior guys at Channel 4 - I read in the newspaper - said they (would] have signed out after series 10 but they're contractually obligated to do another one."
For now at least, Lamb, who turns 30 this year, is more than happy to carry on his position as host of BBLB - which he describes as a "phenomenal beast".
"But I think like anything, you don't want to outstay your welcome in life," he admits. "It's kind of done everything it can do, it's achieved everything it can do, and life's about developing and pushing yourself and going that little bit further. I think everybody involved in it wants to go and do something else and open a new chapter of their lives."
That said, Lamb enjoys his role interviewing the latest evictees on BBLB - and was particularly taken by one of last year's contestants. "Lisa was absolutely bonkers - what a funny weird lady she was," he laughs. "Very nice, very pleasant, looked a bit odd and was massive.
"She was mesmerised when she was on Little Brother. I was talking to her and she was looking around. I said: 'Lisa! Lisa! Lisa! Come back to me darling!'
"It's weird meeting these people. It's weird what drives someone to be part of it."
Not surprisingly, Lamb is also a fan of Celebrity Big Brother, which has had six series during the regular Big Brother's run.
"My favourite task ever was getting George Galloway to drink milk out of the saucer - I think that's the best thing that anybody's ever done ever, maybe in the history of mankind," he jokes. "I thought that was brilliant."
Lamb replaced the much-loved Dermot O'Leary as co-presenter of BBLB last year alongside Zezi Ifore, when O'Leary went of to host X Factor. But his young co-host Zezi was vilified by critics, and left halfway through the series. George is defensive of his pal.
"She's a lovely girl and I'm sad it didn't work out for her," he says. "Unfortunately she got thrown in at the deep end and she didn't have enough experience, and as a result it just didn't pan out the way they'd thought.
"Sometimes you have to go away and come back a bit stronger. But it just wasn't her time."
• I Big Brother starts on Channel 4 on Thursday, 9pm
