By ninemsn staff
An insider at the Big Brother camp has claimed that contestant Emma told the reality show's producers she did not want to be informed if her father died while she was in the house, News Ltd papers report.
Emma's father Raymond Cornell died last week after a battle with cancer, and producers have publicly defended keeping Emma in the dark by saying "it was the wish of the family" that she not be told until she left the house.
If confirmed, the revelation that Emma herself asked not to be told if her father died will further explain Big Brother's reluctance to come forward with the painful news.
Knowing that her father was terminally ill, should Big Brother have agreed to not tell Emma if he died? Share your thoughts with ninemsn here.
A source told The Courier Mail that despite facing heightened criticism for their actions, the Ten Network program had decided to follow the family's wishes.
"With her partner and her brothers, she (Emma) was definitely part of that decision-making process," the insider said.
However, Emma's boyfriend Tim Stanton said yesterday he was unaware of any such agreement.
"She may have said something like that to her family, but as far as I know that is not true," he said.
"He's (Mr Cornell) been sick for a long, long time — it wasn't expected that three or four weeks after she went in there that this would happen."
The debate raged yesterday over Big Brother's decision, with many labelling the show's actions inhumane.
"Will they break the news to her on air, for ratings?" World Vision chief Tim Costello told ninemsn. "This is patent ethical irresponsibility ... she's only got one father and she'll suffer guilt and possibly resentment for the rest of her life."
In a ninemsn poll, almost 90 percent of more than 60,000 voters demanded that Big Brother tell Emma of her father's death.
Hundreds of ninemsn readers also wrote in their thoughts, many saying the show has stooped to the "lowest of lows" with the latest controversy.
"I think that it is only typical of the Big Brother show to degrade and humiliate its people … They should tell her and make arrangements to get her home ASAP and pay all costs PLUS compensation and plenty of it," wrote Bill Clayton.
Haydn, from Victoria wrote: "For Emma to not be told of her father dying and that she had missed the funeral will have shocking effects on her for a long time to come … This unforgivable event should never have happened. Now Big Brother has gone way beyond a game and should be taken off the air."
AJ was one of the few who supported the program's stance.
"If you want to attack anyone, attack the family for not wanting her to know. Big Brother is abiding by the family's wishes. Is that so wrong?"
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