Stephanie Beacham's Big Brother 'hostage' advice

Stephanie Beacham thinks this year's Celebrity Big Brother contestants should treat the experience like a hostage situation.

The Dynasty star came fifth in the 2010 series of the show, and reckons her success was down to a phone call she made before she entered the house.

"I actually was given very good advice. I phoned up a friend just before I went in who had been in the SAS and I said, 'Give me a quick lecture on a hostage situation,'" she revealed.

"The advice was magnificent: Never volunteer, take 20 seconds before you respond to everything, look after a weaker member of the group because it will strengthen the group, and find everything that's done to you hilarious. They are trying to humiliate you and break you down - they can't break you down if you find everything they do to you funny."

Stephanie said the contestants in the house - who include TOWIE's Kirk Norcross, Loose Woman Denise Welch, and Hollywood star Michael Madsen - should just be themselves.

"I made it to the final and I had a ball. It was an extraordinary feeling to forget about the camera and just live. Forget about the fact that it was televised, which I did," she added.

"It was an experience that I far from regret."