New Delhi: In yet another Big Brother controversy, a contestant in the Australian version of the reality show will not be told of her father's death because he did not want to disrupt her tilt at TV stardom, her boyfriend said on Thursday.
The producers of the show have not told Emma Cornell, the contestant, about her father who died last week. They claim they are acting according to her family's wishes.
Emma’s father died of cancer and the family requested the producers that his daughter, should not be told about it until she left the Big Brother house in Queensland state either by eviction or eventual victory.
Twenty-four-year-old Emma, who was aware of her father’s condition, is competing in the programme that began a month back.
The producers' decision has met with criticism in Australia, with many saying that Emma should not be kept in the dark.
"Her dad didn't want her to be upset or to feel like she had to leave the house to come to his funeral. He didn't want to ruin the experience for her," Emma's partner Tim Stanton told Australia's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Sydney-based Emma and her father had reportedly been estranged for several years, but recently re-established contact.
Psychologist Chris Hall, from the Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement, criticised the hit reality show's producers and said Emma should have been told of her father's death to make her own choice about how to deal with it.
"I've worked with lots of bereaved people, and I've never had somebody complain that they've been told too much," Hall told The Age newspaper.
However, Big Brother's producers said they would not reconsider their decision because "it was the wish of the family" that Cornell's death be kept from Emma.
(With agency inputs)
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