Celebrity Big Brother’s new UK v USA series has hit a stumbling block after contestant Angela Raiola has been forced to pull out.
The US reality star, known as Big Ang – who first found fame on Mob Wives – had been signed up to appear in the Channel 5 show this summer, according to The Sun.
But the 54-year-old niece of renowned New York mobster Salvatore Lombardi has had to withdraw form the show after undergoing surgery earlier this month to remove a tumour the size of a lemon from her throat.
Angela is a big personality in the US after finding fame on VH1 reality show Mob Wives, about families with connections to the Mafia, and then got her own spin-off show Big Wives.
CBB bosses now need to find a new US celebrity to battle it out against UK stars in the reality TV show.
Model Janice Dickinson is reportedly already signed up for the series, which will begin in August.
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