MY hopes and wishes for the New Year lasted only a matter of days before one was sunk when the execrable, so-called reality show 'Celebrity Big Brother' returned to our screens like the umpteenth sequel to Nightmare On Elm Street. Only this time John McCririck was playing the part of Freddie Kruger!

I would rather have a leg amputated without anaesthetic than watch the rubbish which these days is produced under the banner of entertainment. The opportunists who promote and produce it must consider that watching an ageing, fat man pick his nose and eat what he has extracted is entertaining. Either that or they firmly believe the average IQ of people hooked on 'Big Brother' and similar trash sagas equates to that of a nutmeg.

One of the 'celebrities' among the current crop is someone called Bez. His curriculum vitae reveals that he is famous for shaking maracas while performing an alcohol/drug-fuelled dance in front of a Manchester pop band called The Happy Mondays. God help us.

I have forced myself to watch segments of this bizarre programme because of the presence of McCririck. His chauvinistic comments, ill-temper, silent protests, nose-picking, rudeness and acid put-downs of other inmates of this madhouse have put him in the tabloids.

His antics had Richard and Judy, who review 'Big Brother' on their programme, discussing him with his wife, Jennie, whom he labels 'The Booby' after a tropical bird which, he says, has little or no intelligence and squawks all day long.

I don't know how many people have grown to dislike McCririck because of his showboating on Big Brother. He is already well-known to racing enthusiasts through his high-profile role on Channel 4 Racing, where his eccentric dress, outrageous headgear, arm-waving and face-pulling have made him the show's court jester and the team's most instantly recognised face.

I met 'Big Mac', as he is known, in the mid-1980s when I was Racing Editor and columnist for Eddie Shah's daily tabloid Today. I found him friendly and approachable. He has an encyclopaedic mind for racing stats, is a consummate professional and a million miles from the clown he portrays in front of camera.

McCririck is the most shameless self-publicist in the world. He is also the most successful. An Old Harrovian who tried his hand at bookmaking and failed, he won awards as a journalist on the Sporting Life before a fatal fall-out with the management. He later successfully sued The Star after it libelled him over an alleged agreement to publicise a particular bookmaker in his TV slots.

The only reason McCririck would appear on something as desperate as Big Brother would be to further his media image, in whatever form. The fact that he has created so much fuss on what would otherwise have been as mind-numbingly boring a show as its predecessors proves my point.

Oh, yes, and The Booby is anything but. She plays the game as well, and as cleverly, as her husband. They will be laughing all the way to the bank, for the umpteenth time!