Ariana Grande's sibling signs up for Big Brother

Ariana Grande's older half-brother is following the pop star into the limelight after signing up as a contestant on the new season of reality show Big Brother.

Aspiring actor/dancer Frankie Grande will have cameras follow his every move as he tries to survive elimination, while living in the Big Brother house as part of a group of 16 strangers, in a bid to win a $500,000 cash prize.

But the 31 year old, who has his own following on his YouTube.com channel, admits he will be keeping the identity of his famous sibling a secret from housemates at first - and will be entering the three-month competition using his dad's surname.

He tells People.com, "I'm going to drop Grande and just use my father's last name, Marchione."

However, Frankie insists he has the full support of his singing sister: "I got to call Ariana on camera and tell her what I was doing and she just said, 'I know how much you love the show. Go make them fall in love with you... but don't show them all of you, because a lot of people will hate you for that.'"

The Problem hitmaker has also sent Frankie her best wishes via Twitter.com.

In a post on Thursday (19Jun14), she writes, "congrats to my big brother on being cast in season 16 of big brother... so proud of u / I'm a nervous wreck #bb16 you're gonna kill it (sic)".

The new season of Big Brother kicks off on 25 June (14).