Boxing legend Mike Tyson in Bigg Boss 5

Former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson has reportedly been finalized as a participant in the Indian version of Big Brother.

The programme, known as Bigg Boss, starts in October, and will be hosted by Bollywood stars Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt, reports the BBC.

Last season, former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson made a special appearance in the Bigg Boss house and proved a ratings booster for the show.

The late reality TV star Jade Goody appeared in Bigg Boss in 2008.

Goody died in March 2009 after a high-profile battle with cervical cancer; she learned she had the condition while on the show.

There were rumours that that the boxer would feature in the celebrity-line up during this season's Big Brother in UK, which has moved to its new home on Channel 5.

Tyson is no newcomer to India - in 2007, he made his Bollywood debut, starring in a music video for a Hindi film called Fool-n-Final, a comedy centred on a bunch of criminals.

Tyson's series is about his love for pigeons

Former world boxing champion Mike Tyson will open up about his love for pigeons in a new documentary series.

The 44-year-old has been breeding and racing the birds since childhood.

His new six-part series called ''Taking On Tyson'' starts on the Discovery Channel in March, reports the Sun .

Tyson, who has served time in jail for rape, calls pigeon-fancying a ''secret solace''.

"I have been dedicated to pigeons even when I have been fighting or getting locked up," he said.

The documentary shows him caring for birds in roof-top coops in his home city of New York.