BIG Brother bosses were forced to secretly put the house on lockdown amid an explosive fight night.
Tension erupted in the TV spy house after a string of high-octane format twists including a surprise midweek eviction, public nominations and tricky challenges where the housemates have fallen into two bitterly rival camps.
Viewers last night watched the intense action as it aired on ITV’s edited episode but The Sun can reveal the actions terrified bosses took behind the scenes.
Worried execs forced the two groups apart and locked one half into the bedroom to keep feisty Paul, who was behind the angry outburst, and Trish away from each other.
Big Brother had security on standby as they tried to defuse the situation in case the row became physical.
After leaving the housemates in lockdown for over an hour, execs were able to calm down a raging Paul.
A source said: “Everyone talks about Fight Night in 2004 but no one expected this year’s sanitised cohort to be a contender for Fight Night 2.0.
“Big Brother acted fast to stop things becoming physical and pulled the rival groups apart, locking one half in the bedroom.
“Security were on standby but luckily a lock and key was enough to stop things becoming physical.
“It’s fair to say tensions in that house are reaching fever pitch.”
The drama began when Yinrun was rewarded for passing a secret mission with a boozy party, to which she invited Chanelle, Jenkin, Tom, Trish, Dylan and Noky.
Disgruntled at their lack of invite, Olivia and Paul were left to look on at the party from the upstairs seating area with Matty, Henry and Jordan.
Paul, who The Sun exposed for uploading X-rated photos online, let rip and began to yell abuse before heading down to cause mayhem.
He said: “Your little d**khead party, I’m sick of it,” as he held two cocktails over the sink, threatening to pour them down the drain.
He then turned on Miss Universe GB winner Noky and spat: “What are you staring at?”
Trish then came to Noky’s defence and said: “You are a bully.”
The row erupted as the pair hurled insults back and forth.
Viewers had some idea the row was afoot as its genesis was accidentally featured on the show’s live stream – and broadcast to millions on spin-off show Big Brother Late and Live.
Execs grappled to cut the stream and cancelled planned filming from the camera runs.
ITV were forced to slap a warning on last night’s 75-minute episode, alerting viewers that it would contain such strong language and aggression.
The warning was said to be along the lines of: “It’s getting heated in the Big Brother House tonight. With strong language and some nudity.”
Latest figures suggest just under 4million viewers are now watching the reboot of Big Brother across their TVs and later via streaming.