Last night's opening at 9pm averaged 6.2m viewers and a peak audience of 8m, according to unofficial overnight figures giving it a 26% share. It beat 'The Apprentice', which recoded an audience of 4.8m between for its slot between 9pm and 10pm, and the 'British Soap Awards' on ITV1, which drew an average of 6.2m viewers from 8pm to 10pm.
Bookies installed 23-year-old Welsh nanny Laura as the early favourite. She describes herself as "happy, happy, happy", and her ambition is to buy her own funeral home.
Also among the favourites was peace protester Carole, who is an unemployed sexual health worker with an attitude. She promised in her introduction tape: "I am gonna shake it something rotten and they will be shaking shitless. If people want an argument, here's the fucking argument!"
Lesley, a 60-year-old retired head-hunter, is the favourite to be evicted first, because she appears to be a bit of a wallflower. She is the oldest housemate to make it onto 'Big Brother'.
Also in the firing line is 22-year-old temporary receptionist Shabnam, who said that the housemates who would annoy her "would be the ones who don't listen to me".
One contestant entered the house to boos -- Charley, 21-year-old cousin of Manchester United player Keiran Richardson, did not impress the crowd by boasting she does not have a job but goes to "celeb hangouts and meet[s] great people".
She is likely to be adopted by the lad mags, who also have blonde twins Sam and Amanda, Victoria Beckham look-alike and wannabe Chantelle, and Tory-voting indie girl Emily to play with.
Bank worker Nicky, who declares she has "lots of leadership skills", seemed to have ended up on the wrong show, but it's too late for her to join 'The Apprentice'.
Lastly, 36-year-old raver and cleaner Tracey is in the wrong decade, but bellowing 'Have it!' as she entered the house was a big crowd pleaser.
Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles, who will present 'Big Brother's Big Mouth', promptly declared he hated them all.
Big Brother's next move is expected to be bringing a man into the house tomorrow.
Angela Jain, Channel 4 commissioning editor for 'Big Brother' and head of E4, said: "This heralds a fantastic start to 'Big Brother'. We remain as committed as ever to making this year's series the most entertaining yet."
'Big Brother's Big Mouth' scored 1.2m on Channel 4 at 11:15pm, making it the second most watched programme at the time.
The E4 streaming scored well also, as 1.1m turned over to watch live action from the house at 10:15pm, with an average of 572,000 staying tuned until 12:45am.
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