Apparently, U.S. reality shows are not the only ones to be fraught with controversy. An enormous brouhaha appears to be in the works in England as the British edition of Celebrity Big Brother is coming apart at the seams!

These shows always attempt to mix up personalities, but TV watchers were puzzled when feminist Germaine Greer, author of The Female Eunich, agreed to be part of the cast. This didn't last long, however. Ms Greer quit the program yesterday calling the house a 'fascist prison,' and the producers irresponsible.

She may have not been too far off the mark. In an attempt to stir up the pot, producers pulled a casting stunt that seems cruel and unusual, even by reality TV standards. One of the members of the show's cast is Brigitte Nielson (Surreal Life, Strange Love). Brigitte seems to be hot on the reality show circuit right now but nothing could have prepared her for the shock of having her former mother-in-law, Jackie Stallone, introduced into the house.

No kidding. Nielson hadn't seen Sly's mum since their divorce in 1987 and was horrified at the idea of having to spend time locked up with the woman. Although she and Stallone were cordial to one another when they met, Nielson later told the camera, 'I was so happy, and now I'm miserable.'

Germaine Greer called a news conference and said that reality TV could only get 'dirtier and dirtier.' Greer, 65, had planned to use the money she earned while appearing on the program to save a rain forest in Australia. I guess the forest will just have to wait. Greer also cited poor treatment from another housemate as leading to her decision to quit the show.

As for Nielson, we can only hope that she will be rescued from this mess. Who knows? Perhaps love interest, Flava Flav, will swoop in with his tin horn hat and wisk her right out of this ugly scene!