I was watching Big brother diaries, and i noted that Ray said "you have to live in the UK to apply", but that he "didnt move over to the UK just for that purpose".

Now, though we have had Republic of Ireland contestants, they have never had an address in their home land, eg Anna, Brian and Ray all had UK adresses, Tom was from Northern Ireland, but was in UK obviously.

But, i dont ever remember seeing that in fine print anywhere, that you had to live in UK, surely they accept applications from Republic of Ireland, i mean, if you are willing to make your way to either the Belfast auditions, or any other one, then why should be a problem?.

Anyone got any info on this?.

You definitely have to be a resdent of the UK at the time of your application.It's no coincidence that Anna,Brian and Ray were resident in the UK when they were chosen.

As you saw this evening,Ray was living in Dublin for the first three series of BB and actually wanted to apply as far back as BB2 but couldn't because he was living in the Republic.

It's a curious rule,there are no such limitations on Pop Idol,Fame Academy etc (A girl I know from Dublin made the final 32 in Fame Academy 1)

But why though?,
and where does it state this for definite?.

Well it IS "Big Brother UK" not "Big Brother Great Britain and Ireland". Besides I'm sure there will be a Big Brother World within a few years, you can probably guarantee it after the popularity of BBA and BBUSA this year.

Clearly people from the Republic have been told they're not eligible.Only a couple of days ago I read of a guy who will have to move to the UK in order to be eligible for BB5.

It's obviously written in the BB rules that it is open to UK residents only.Pehaps they're worried about being flooded with applicatons from all around the world or something?

[list=1][*]I don't know for sure - you'd need to ask Endemol. Some have suggested it's to do with licencing - BBUK can't been seen to be encroaching on the possibility of Endemol selling the format to RTE or another foreign broadcaster by 'stealing' that country's potential applicant base.
[*]On the Terms and Conditions enclosed with the application form you can download from the C4 site during the auditions process.[/list=1]

Point 1 is a very good one.Endemol have no foothold in Irish TV whatsover (surprisngly enough).There may well be some legalistic or copyright reasons why residents of the Republic of Ireland (or other countries) cannot enter.

Interesting to note all the same that Fame Academy (an Endemol production) allows Irish applicants as do Pop Idol,Popstars etc.There must be somthing intrinsic to the BB format that won't allow it......perhaps as you say they have one eye on an Irish BB in future.

Sorry, I can't remember the thread but I know it was mentioned that they're going to do an Irish BB soon. I think it's going to be a celebrity one.