Thursday, November 18 2010, 14:38 GMT 
Brian Belo has claimed that The Only Way Is Essex is the perfect replacement for Big Brother. Belo, who is friends with the cast of the ITV2 series, said that Essex had captured some of the original appeal of the axed Channel 4 reality show.
"I think that The Only Way Is Essex was needed," he told DS. "We needed a British version of The Hills. Big Brother started out about normal people and being aspirational, but then it all got a bit weird.
"If you watch The Only Way Is Essex, you can say, 'Ooh I fancy that person, I want to be like them and dress like them'. Big Brother had stopped being like that.
"It's also a show that proves it's okay to cast people who are very similar. You can sometimes make a show for a niche market rather than trying to please everyone."
Speaking about his relationship with the show's stars Amy Childs and Kirk Norcross, he added: "I've known Amy since she was 17 and knew that she would be the star of the show. Me and Kirk used to be friends and we still speak every so often. I'm really happy for him and I used to go down the Sugar Hut quite a bit."
The Only Way Is Essex will return for a Christmas special and a second series in 2011.
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