Big Brother’s back, and this is fantastic news… As long as it’s done right.
When it started, on July 18, 2000, it changed the face of television forever.
It was the first reality show, and for many, still the best – fresh, exciting, genre-defining. Everything we see today on the reality shows can be traced back to the original.
It showed what was possible, what viewers really wanted. There would be no Kardashians without Big Brother proving people are fascinated by other people’s every move, which is a sobering thought at the very least.
I was gripped from the start. We worked overnight to cover evictions at the magazine I worked on, which ran a helpline to help readers left bereft when the series’ finished.
When I joined The Mirror, I compiled a daily rundown of the housemates’ performances, and even went into the house with TV Editor Nicola Methven for a mock day-long run for journalists, during which I almost had a nervous breakdown. (It’s much more stressful than any of the contestants had made it look.)
It’s clear what needs to happen to make Big Brother 2023 – to be hosted by Mo Gilligan, according to the bookies – the success it deserves to be. No influencers. That’s what Love Island – oh, and every other reality show – is for.
What was great about Big Brother, and what changed over the years meaning the show lost its way, its heart, and most of its viewers, was that it featured real people. Really real people, that is, not pretend real people who have hundreds of thousands of social media followers and a manager before they even set foot in the house.
People who are genuinely interested in participating in a social experiment, not trying to appear on telly in a desperate bid for fame.
In the five years that Big Brother has been off air, the message must have sunk in: Alison Hammond is the exception not the rule.
In the early series’ every contestant became a bit famous – pretty briefly, mostly – because reality stars were a novelty, a phenomenon.
Big Brother was the first time people from a reality show were put on newspaper and magazine covers instead of celebrities, and the sales proved it was a winning formula, so it was repeated.
Former dental nurse Jade Goody made millions. Suddenly, becoming a rich, public figure seemed within reach for everyone.
But that bubble has well and truly burst. Early Big Brother was innocent and sweet. There were builders, mortgage advisors, teachers. All ages. Chickens, craft-based tasks. It was charming, fascinating, ground-breaking. Can they do it again? You REDACT ITV2 decide!
Meanwhile, let’s remind ourselves exactly why BB was so great….
The access
This was the first time viewers could – thanks to the red button – genuinely watch participants around the clock.
There were, of course, cameras in the bedroom, so you could even watch the housemates sleep if you wanted to. Over time, they almost began to feel like friends to some viewers, who spent more time with them than with their real life friends and family after having the telly on in the background all day.
It provided a level of access never seen before or since.
The acceptance
Air steward Brian Dowling came out as gay on the show in 2001, and Nadia Almada was the show’s first transgender contestant in 2004.
Both had been nervous about how they would be received by the voting public.
Both won their series, Brian with 58% of the vote and Nadia, left, with 74%.
The diary room
The reality show confessional – a place contestants go to speak directly to the public, away from all the other participants – is par for the course these days, but it started here.
It gives viewers a chance to see another side of people, which can often prove informative and important when casting our votes.
Without the Diary Room, we would have missed so many moments of telly gold, including the late Nikki Grahame’s famous WHO IS SHE??? rant from series seven in 2006.
The romance
After the chaste smooches of series one, things amped up a bit.
Compared with what we see nowadays, it’s funny to remember how shocked we were at the sight of Michelle Bass and Stuart Wilson’s feet sticking out of the end of the sexy lair she’d created under a table.
Blinking fan Helen and Paul had a romance as did Ziggy and Chanelle. But, the only pair still together are Grace and Mikey from BB7, who married in 2009.
The arguments
Famously things went too far in 2004 when police had to be called during the infamous Fight Night.
That aside, seeing contestants being irritated by the smallest things as they tried to live in a small space with strangers, and then attempting to settle disputes, was mesmerising.
Viewers had intense opinions about whether you should wash chicken before you cook it and whether it was acceptable to urinate in the shower. (It isn’t.)
The laughs
The thing people forget about Big Brother was just how funny it was.
Many of the contestants had a great sense of humour – because they weren’t being cast for their looks or talent.
But even more of them could be unintentionally comedic – like when Alison Hammond broke a table in the garden.
Lots of the tasks, and costumes chosen for them, were hilarious – special mention to the legendary cardboard box task in series six.
