LONDON, Jan 2, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Coolio, Verne Troyer and La Toya
Jackson are among those competing in the next edition of the British reality
show "Celebrity Big Brother," the BBC said.

Ulrika Jonsson, Ben Adams and Mutya Buena, along with five others, are also
participating in the competition series, in which celebrities are sequestered
together in a house and monitored 24 hours a day for two weeks, during which
time they will be voted out of the house one by one.

The BBC said the first eviction is scheduled for next Friday.

This is the first edition of the show since British television personality Jade
Goody made racist remarks to Indian actress Shilpa Shetty in 2007, sparking
54,000 complaints to the BBC.

The show's executive producer, Sharon Powers, said she doesn't expect a repeat
of the 2007 incident since this year's housemates have all been warned about
what they can and cannot say on the air.

"We have made the rules really clear to them -- what sort of language won't be
tolerated and unacceptable behavior," Powers said.

"Frankly, they are not stupid," added producer Phil Edgar-Jones. "They know if
they say anything like that, they will be chucked out. We do understand there is
a lot of scrutiny of television at the moment. If things are getting out of
hand, we will deal with them."