Brian set to replace Ant & Dec.
Byline: VICTORIA MITCHELLBIG Brother winner Brian Dowling is being lined up to take over from Saturday morning favourites Ant and Dec in the children's telly ratings war.
The former air steward, who won Channel 4's cult show, is set to replace the duo when they leave their SM:tv slot in the New Year.
Yesterday, the ratings battle between the BBC and ITV escalated when Dani Behr stepped in to front an "edgy" new show.
It's part of the Beeb's latest bid to win back Saturday morning viewers who have turned to ITV's SM:tv.
If Brian, from County Kildare in Ireland, does take over from Ant and Dec, he would be one of the first openly gay presenters on a kids' show.
Since scooping the pounds 70,000 jackpot, Brian, 23, has gone on to wider fame. Last week, he appeared in a London fashion show and he also attended the Moulin Rouge premiere.
He is understood to have signed an exclusive contract with production company Blaze TV which makes SM:tv after turning down an offer from Big Brother producers Endemol.
The BBC hopes former Word presenter Dani Behr, famous for dating footballers Ryan Giggs and Les Ferdinand, can stop the ratings slide with The Saturday Show, said to be much "sexier" than Live and Kicking.
But former Scots Live and Kicking presenter Heather Suttie has branded Dani totally unsuitable.
Heather, from Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, said: "Dani Behr's just not right for kids' TV. What's she famous for apart from sleeping with footballers and having a nose job?"
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| Publication: | Sunday Mail (Glasgow, Scotland) |
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| Date: | Sep 23, 2001 |
| Words: | 260 |
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