A NEW reality TV show, which will film two people - one disfigured, the other attractive - living together in a house full of mirrors, has been branded a 'freak show' by critics.
In each episode of 'Beauty and the Beast', to be screened first in the UK by Channel 4, a different pair will be followed by cameras both inside and outside the house, to explore how people's lives are shaped by their looks.
"Channel 4 pledged an end to this kind of voyeuristic programming when they announced the finish of Big Brother," said Vivienne Pattison, director of a media campaign group.
"Putting a disfigured person in a mirrored house in the name of entertainment is neither a healthy nor an appropriate subject for a television programme. It sounds like an extraordinary freak show."
However, the six-part series is being made with the co-operation of disfigurement charity Changing Faces.
Details of the programme came to light just as Channel 4's Big Brother nears the end of its 11th and final series.