We have to face up to the truth – reality TV is here to stay. No matter how much we bash it on here (and this series of The X Factor has been truly woeful), it’s obvious that the juggernaut will carry on rolling and rolling along. I actually enjoyed this year’s I’m A Celebrity, but the rest? Nah.

We always try and give an opinion here on TV Scoop, good or bad, but it’s clear that reality TV has its fans. We get loads of comments asking where they can apply for X Factor or Big Brother auditions, and some of the people who leave comments are under the astonishing belief that we actually are in charge of these programmes. If only! So, read on over the jump to find out how you can audition for these brilliant exponents of reality TV.

Big Brother is currently auditioning for the next series (series nine). If you live anywhere near Manchester, Belfast and Dublin you’re a bit buggered (unless you travel to one of the other auditions), because auditions in those cities have already taken place.

On December 8th and 9th, the Big Brother auditions roll into Cardiff (the Millennium Stadium, no less). It then visits Birmingham on the 15th and 16th (Thinktank @ Millennium Point, Curzon Street), Glasgow’s SECC (East Entrance) on January 5th and 6th, Newcastle’s St James’s Park on the 12th and 13th, and London’s Emirates Stadium (home of Arsenal) on the 19th and 20th.

Venues open at 8.30am but, as always, you’ll find some daft sods camping out all night. There are a few things to bear in mind – you have to be over 18, and you have to bring some proof of age. We have a rule too – if you insist on auditioning, please don’t be too much of a git. If you get through we’ll have to watch you for a few months, so the cooler you are the better. Go here for the full blurb.

As for The X Factor, we’re still a few weeks away from the end of this series, so audition news for next year is fairly thin on the ground. A quick spy on various forums suggest that June seems to be the usual audition time. Instead of asking us, it’s best to keep your eyes open on the official site here.

Again, one word of advice – please be better than the people we’ve seen this year.