Enlarge imageLONDON (Reuters) - "Big Brother" producers have postponed today’s planned eviction to give the housemates time to make up after a drunken brawl forced the reality TV show off air.
Channel 4 said eviction nominees student Vanessa Nimmo, 26, and hairdresser Daniel Bryan, 30, will now learn next week which of them will leave the house.
"The housemates are continuing to work through their differences," Channel 4 said. "Producers wish to give them sufficient time to come to a resolution as a group."
Police viewed tapes of the trouble and producers cut the live feed for 90 minutes early on Thursday while security guards kept contestants apart.
Channel 4 said the 11 housemates had been offered counselling and had met the production team to discuss the incident.
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Hertfordshire Police said it was looking at a tape of the brawl and no decision had been taken on whether to take action.
Media regulator Ofcom said it had received 16 complaints about bad language and violence.
Channel 4 and the show’s producer Endemol UK were accused of orchestrating the violence to boost ratings and spark interest in what some see as a tired formula.
"Producers are presiding over an orgy of carefully planned, artfully manipulated degradation," the Daily Mail thundered.
The Mirror blamed the "foolish puppeteers" behind the programme, while the Sun said "they wanted outrageous behaviour and they got it".
The papers gave blow-by-blow accounts of the violence, which began when a food fight escalated.
Student Victor Ebuwa, 23, called legal administrator Emma Greenwood, 20, a "dirtbag" and the pair traded death threats.
Bodybuilder Jason Cowen, 30, ordered student Marco Sabba to stop dancing and said: "I’ll take your head off."
Eviction nominee Vanessa, who has struck up a relationship with Jason, broke down in tears on Thursday and ranted at fellow housemates.
"I know you all don’t like me," she said. "I don’t care if I go."
