KEITH Chegwin found himself the butt of a practical joke in the Celebrity Big Brother house, when he was tasked with making his housemates laugh.

What the 58-year-old didn’t realise was that his housemates had been told about his ‘secret mission’ – and that the real task was that they were not allowed to laugh at his one-liners.

The father-of-two desperately tried to make the other cele- brities chuckle, but they kept a straight face and managed not to cave in to his comedy efforts.

Keith has now survived three weeks in the Channel 5 reality show, but for the first time since the programme launched on January 7, he is no longer the favourite to win.

Outspoken Katie Hopkins has overtaken Keith as the bookies’ favourite to win the show, with odds of 2/1, just ahead of Keith whose odds are at 3/1.

Katie was declared the ‘most entertaining’ housemate in a public poll, and has appeared to win over the British public through her attempts to stand up to celebrity blogger Perez Hilton.

This week housemates took to the Diary Room to nominate for eviction night.

Keith, who lives in Ashmansworth, selected actress Patsy Kensit for not getting involved in the house, and pop star Kavana, after the pair fell out.