AN East Lancashire grandmother could soon be a regular face on TV screens in the popular Big Brother show.

Channel 4 decided that the programme, which began on Saturday, would have a new twist this year by giving the public the opportunity to choose a replacement for the first person voted out of the house this Friday.

A day after being told she had not made the final line-up, 45-year-old gran Anne Edgar received a phone call to say she had been selected as one of three people who could replace the evictee.

Anne, who owns the Harlequin Workshop, in Barrowford, is now being kept at a secret location abroad with the other two hopefuls -- 27-year-old part-time model Natasha and 32-year-old property company director Josh -- until the votes are counted and announced.

This is not the first brush with fame for Anne's family.

Anne and her eldest daughter Helen have appeared on the quiz show Supermarket Sweep and Anne's youngest daughter Lorna was chosen to go on a date to Borneo on ITV's Blind Date earlier this year.

Helen, 25, is carrying out a poster campaign to persuade people to vote for her mum.

She said: "I got her an application form because I was applying myself but I didn't make it. Mum went through a very tough selection process of interviews, auditions and group activities and she knew she had got through to the last 15.

"Last Wednesday she was asked to go to London and it was all top secret. On Friday morning she said she was being sent off to somewhere hot, which we think might be Portugal, with the other two contestants.

"The voting finishes this Friday and me and Lorna are going down to meet Davina McCall at the live show. If mum gets voted in she will stay abroad for another week until the first eviction."

If Anne is selected she will enter the famous Big Brother house on Friday, June 8. Helen, who may now have to postpone her July wedding, said: "I think she's got this far because she's something different. They are not going to have lots of grandmas ringing up to go on Big Brother but, then again, she is not a normal grandma.

"She goes clubbing two or three times a week and just loves socialising. She gives me a run for my money and I am only 25. She has a wide circle of friends and at her shop she makes and sells club and dance wear so she deals with a lot of young people.

"I think she'd get on with the others in the house but she won't take any nonsense and she is bossy. They are all a similar age and have similar characters at the moment so it would be good to have someone a bit older."

"I think the only things she will miss are her family, especially her grandson Harrison, and her mobile phone."

The prize is £70,000 and Anne already knows how she would spend her winnings.

Helen said: "She lost seven stone recently and has a new image with blonde hair and contact lenses but she said when she lost the weight her body didn't go back to how it used to be.

"She said she would use the money to put all her bits and bobs back in the right places."

The outcome of the voting will be shown live on Channel 4 on Friday. To vote for Anne call 09011 154411.