Boy George in court bid to go on Celebrity Big Brother

Boy George, who spent four months in prison this year for imprisoning a male escort, is fighting to be locked up again - in Channel 4’s Celebrity Big Brother house. Under the terms of his probation, the Culture Club singer, whose real name is George O’Dowd, does not have the right to join the show, the final series of which starts on January 3. Today he was due to become the first person to go to the High Court to appeal for the right to appear on reality television.

O'Dowd, a 48-year-old former drug addict, was sentenced to 15 months in jail for imprisoning a male escort in April 2007. He handcuffed Norwegian Audun Carlsen to a wall in his east London home.

Boy George was freed in May this year under strict curfew conditions which included wearing an electronic tag. Although he no longer wears the tag he is still required to meet with his probation officer. The programme’s producers are understood to have offered to accommodate O'Dowd's special circumstances, but his probation officers declined his request. They were thought likely to argue in court today that allowing the singer to appear on the show would undermine confidence in the judicial system.

Boy George will reportedly earn £200,000 if he is allowed to join the other celebs understood to have been lined up for the programme. They include US rapper MC Hammer, former Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson, and the notorious Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss. Like O'Dowd, Fleiss has also spent time in jail - she served 21 months for tax evasion in the late 1990s.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Since this item was posted, Mr Justice Bean ruled in the High Court on December 23 that Boy George cannot participate in the final series of Celebrity Big Brother. The Probation Service said they were "pleased" with the judgement. ·