Male model from Lytham and X Factor hopeful from Blackpool enter Big Brother house

Sam Giffen and Ryan Ruckledge travelled down to London last week to prepare for the infamous reality show, which started on Channel 5 at 9pm.

Their participation in the show was kept secret, with Sam's last tweet, sent last Tuesday, saying simply: “Hello LDN.”

The pair can now expect to face numerous ‘evil’ twists in what is the show’s 17th series, according to Rylan Clark-Neal, presenter of sister show Big Brother’s Bit On The Side.

Rylan promised an ‘eclectic bunch’ of housemates would be staying in the camera-filled house with the duo, who are said to know each other - and be fierce rivals - and be completely unaware the other was going in.

While Sam is in the main Big Brother house, Ryan is in the 'other house', where the housemates have been tasked with targeting and replacing those in the main house.

Host Emma Willis told viewers the 'others' know some of the main contestants, and have clashed in the past.

As Sam went in, she said: "According to the people of Blackpool, you have not seen anything yet."

“I know I say it every year, and I sound like a broken record and some years we haven’t got it right,” Rylan added.

“This year is completely right.

“It’s going to be amazing. We’ve got a very eclectic bunch, I have to say.”

He continued: “This year is probably the most mixed we’ve had in a long while: different races, genders, sexuality, age, everything.”

Sam was pictured with pals at the Beach House Bistro Bar, at Festival House on the Prom in Blackpool, last Tuesday, and travelled to the capital the following day.

A stylist at high brow male grooming salon The Fat Cat Club, Sam is also known for his charity work, and for being a close friend of resort comedy legend Les Dawson's daughter Charlotte.

Last month, he cut people’s hair for free at the Amazing Graze Homeless Centre, in Springfield Road.

He said: “Some of these people have no homes, no food, no family, no friends, no showers.

“This amazing centre offers them support and helps them get back on their feet, whether it’s to become clean and sober, or helping them find a shelter.

“They are hugely grateful for any donations and volunteer work. Putting a smile on their faces can make their day.”

In contrast, singing wannabe Ryan, who was rejected from The X Factor last year during the boot camp stage, has courted media controversy.

During the hit ITV reality show, he was shown arguing with fellow singers, with judge Simon Cowell calling him a 'horror of a human being' before sending him home.

He had earlier taken to the stage in 2013 alongside pal Liddia Railton-Newby, but their less than tuneful rendition of Flip and Fill's Shooting Star failed to win over the judges.

He later told The Gazette he hoped the exposure might land him a job on TV, saying: "I just wanted to be on The X Factor. It was just about having a laugh. We know we can't sing."

Last year, Ryan was branded 'sickening' after dressing up as household favourite Cilla Black for Halloween, just three months after she passed away.

Hosted by Emma Willis, the new series of Big Brother features two houses for the first time.

Fans had suspected a twist of this nature was coming, due to the construction of a new Big Brother house extension.

The new set-up will give viewers the opportunity to watch all the action in both houses form the set at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood.

In previous years, Big Brother has utilised secret rooms and annexes, primarily for twists such as fake evictions.

This time, bosses have promised an ‘unpredictable’ and ‘ominous’ new series.

Housemates have been warned to prepare for ‘paranoia and suspicion’ as they discover a ‘dark force at work which will have a dramatic and divisive effect’.