The Channel 4 reality show's bosses have scrapped the "back to basics" ethos of previous years and have instead kitted out the house with plush velvet sofas, boudoir lighting, a 12-seater dining room table, fake fur pelts and antique animal skulls.

In keeping with the "hell lies in others" theme, the walls of the sitting room are also decorated with flame frescoes and padded walls.

The kitchen is scarier still, designed to look like an "autopsy room" with clinical stainless steel fittings, Damien Hirst-style pickling jars, and walls painted in hospital scrubs green.

There is no house "prison" this year, and neither are the celebrities expected to tend their own vegetable patch nor restrict themselves to just one suitcase - but producers warned that hell might freeze over as the show progresses.

"Who wants to go digging up vegetables in the middle of January? They won't do it. They're celebrities and they like to be warm and cosy. They might like that but whether it will happen all the time - who knows?" said executive producer Shirley Jones.

Ms Jones also revealed a structure was being built for the garden, which is currently bare apart from a lawn and some decking. She would not say what it was, but did revealed that it's "going to play quite a big part".

The house also has a covered outdoor "snug" area with sofas, throws and a log fire, a luxury bathroom fitted with a chaise longue, bathtub and private shower.

It is not yet known what the diary room and bedroom will be like, nor whether there will be a private bedroom for one lucky housemate as there was in the last celebrity series.

On the overall design of the all-seeing house - which is fitted with nearly 50 surveillance cameras and 25 microphones - Ms Jones said: "Some people will like the animal skulls and padded walls and velvet furniture and some people will be like, 'that's awful and not very pleasant'. She added that the famous line from Dante's Inferno, "Abandon hope all ye who enter here", inspired much of the house's design.