Blind housemate for Big Brother?

The Big Brother house is set for its first blind housemate, according to reports.

If the stories from The Sun and various websites are true, the reality television show will unveil its second disabled housemate as the ninth season kicks off on Thursday on Channel 4.

Pete Bennett, who has Tourrettes Syndrome, took first prize during Big Brother 7.

Channel 4 has refused to confirm or deny the reports ahead of the start of the show.

Andrew Taylor, director of fundraising and marketing for Action for Blind People, said the potential move from Channel 4 was a “huge opportunity” for viewers to see blind and visually impaired people in a “positive light”.

He said: “Our only concern is how suitable the house would be for the person and whether the other housemates would have been given any visual awareness training. We find that this is often even more important than the actual physical environment…but we think it’s great that Channel 4 is potentially doing this.”