Celebrity Big Brother signs Kate Middleton’s uncle Gary Goldsmith as insiders say show’s ‘most controversial’ recruitment could be ‘TV gold’

Gleeful Celebrity Big Brother (CBB) bosses are reported to have recruited the Princess of Wales’ uncle Gary Goldsmith as a contestant on the next series of the reality show.

The outspoken businessman, 58, is reported to have inked a meaty deal with bosses for the return of the celebrity edition of the series after a six year absence.

Mr Goldsmith, brother of Kate Middleton‘s mother Carole, is reported to have signed the contract for his appearance this week after allegedly trying to get onto I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! in 2023.

Show insiders say producers are delighted to have secured him as a contestant because of his links to the royal family – and because of his penchant for saying what he thinks, particularly about Kate’s brother-in-law, Prince Harry.

CBB, which is expected to air in March, is also reportedly lining up contestants such as Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Levi Roots and music manager Louis Walsh.

Kate Middleton’s uncle Gary Goldsmith has been recruited for the return of Celebrity Big Brother on ITV, according to reports

Mr Goldsmith is the brother of the Princess of Wales’ mother Carole – and is known for his candid remarks 

Celebrity Big Brother is set to return this year after a six-year absence from our screens

ITV has taken the reins of Big Brother following a stint at Channel 5, which axed the programme in 2018 after taking it off of Channel 4, which itself had binned the format in 2010.

Sources at the programme told The Sun of Mr Goldsmith: ‘Gary is champing at the bit to get on Celebrity Big Brother. He finalised the terms of his deal today and can’t wait to enter the house.’

ITV bosses have reportedly been keeping tabs on Mr Goldsmith – who, writing for the Mail a year ago, slammed Harry’s autobiography Spare as ‘petulant, self-serving…fluff’ – since his I’m A Celeb audition.

That ended in failure, allegedly because bosses were worried about his potential to embarrass the royal family, but CBB chiefs believe his brusque, shoot-from-the-hip style of straight-talking will fit the format of TV’s most infamous house.

The source added: ‘The CBB team love him because of his link to Kate and the fact that he’s confident and loud and won’t hold back.

‘He’s made it clear he will talk about everything and anything, and he’s pretty outspoken when it comes to Harry and Meghan. He could be TV gold and ITV knows it. The deal he signed is for good money.’

Mr Goldsmith was a guest at William and Kate’s wedding in 2011; he made his living building an IT recruitment business, but has been caught up in scandals including being pictured with drugs in Ibiza.

Since then he has attacked what he sees as insults to his family, including his niece and William, including episodes of The Crown, royal biographer Omid Scobie’s book Endgame and Harry’s memoir Spare.

At the end of 2023, he hit out at Endgame, which made a claim in its Dutch edition that the Princess of Wales was one of the ‘royal racists’ allegedly concerned about the skin colour of Harry and Meghan’s son Archie.

Writing for the Mail, he said in December of Scobie: ‘His book made me feel nauseous. I had to put it down many times because the content made me so angry and I haven’t even been able to finish it.

‘And now we’re even being told that Kate has been “accidentally” named as the supposed royal racist, along with her father-in-law, King Charles.

‘It’s utterly ridiculous to consider that Kate is a racist.’

A CBB spokesperson told the Sun: ‘All names are purely speculation at this stage.’