The makers of Big Brother have announced that the show is being axed at the end of the current series.

Big Brother’s Twitter account shared the news that the 19th series, launching on Friday night, would be the last.

Channel 5 confirmed Celebrity Big Brother was also ending.

The show first appeared on screens in 2000 and was extremely popular, but viewing figures have dwindled in recent years.

A spokesperson said “The forthcoming series of Big Brother will be the last – of either celebrity or civilian versions – on Channel 5.

“We’d like to thank Endemol and all of the production team who have worked tirelessly to make the show a success.”

During the launch of Celebrity Big Brother, Channel 5 controller Ben Frow hinted the franchise would be ending as “the contract runs out at Christmas”.

The final CBB series was won by Ryan Thomas, but was overshadowed by the actions of Roxanne Pallett, who accused Thomas of punching her.

The incident attracted over 11,000 complaints to Ofcom and overshadowed the show’s other storylines for the rest of the series.

Pallett later apologised to Ryan Thomas, saying she “overreacted”.