Big Brother UK (franchise) is the United Kingdom version of the popular international reality show Big Brother. It was broadcast on Channel 4 for its first 11 seasons before moving to Channel 5 starting with Big Brother 12 (UK). The show was once again axed in 2018 before ITV bought the rights to the show in 2022, with Big Brother 20 (UK) being the first British series of Big Brother to air in almost 5 years of the show being axed by Channel 5. The series has received much critical acclaim over its run, with several housemates becoming notable media figures following their time on the show. The popularity of the main series has resulted in four spin-off series (Teen Big Brother, Big Brother Panto, Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack, and Ultimate Big Brother), as well as a celebrity edition of the show which has become a staple in its own right.
How it Works
Big Brother is a reality television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras. Each series lasts for around three months, and there are usually fewer than 15 participants. The housemates try to win a cash prize by avoiding periodic evictions from the house.
Civilian Series
The UK version of the show largely follows the same format as the original Dutch version of Big Brother where each week the housemates will nominate two of their fellow housemates for eviction and the public will then vote to evict the two (or more) housemates who received the most nominations. Previously, Irish housemates have been allowed to apply for Big Brother, and have entered the Big Brother house, however the terms and conditions of ITV's reboot series application form stated only permanent residents of the United Kingdom were able to apply.
What differentiates Big Brother UK from other versions of the show is not only its massive popularity but also its heavy reliance on twists. It is not uncommon for multiple twists to change the standard layout of the game each season, with past twists including the house being divided into Rich and Poor sides, housemates becoming "Power Housemates" and gaining special powers for the week, and housemates being fake evicted and moved into a secret house next door to the main house. It is not uncommon for housemates to move into the house after the series has already begun, and some of the tension on the show can come from the clash between people who have already been living in the house for a while and new people moving into the house.
Celebrity Version
The celebrity edition of the show contains a number of differences from the regular version of the show, although the core idea remains the same. With some exceptions, all housemates are celebrities in the outside world, and as such are often paid more for their appearance on the show than regular housemates are. Further, the celebrity version of the show often lasts for a much shorter time than the regular version does. Housemates are often only in the house for a maximum of about a month, as opposed to the 2-3 months regular housemates spend in the house. As a result of this, evictions on Celebrity Big Brother are held every few days rather than once a week, and double evictions are much more common.
Originally, the winner would have the money they would have received from winning instead donated to a charity of their choice. This practice has since been discontinued, and the winner often receives no special prize at all outside of the money they were paid to appear on the show.
Civilian Series
History
Celebrity Version
History
The first series of Celebrity Big Brother was intended to be a one-off special series for charity, and was held in association with Comic Relief. Only six housemates participated in the series, and they were only in the house for eight days. The series finale was aired on Red Nose Day 2001, and winner Jack Dee's winnings were donated to Comic Relief. The second series of the show continued the charity element of the original series, this time by having all proceeds gained from public voting split among four charities. This would be the last series to feature a charity component and all series since would be treated as a standard Big Brother series.
Celebrity Big Brother 4 became notable due to the fact that its winner, Chantelle Houghton, was not a celebrity at all but instead tasked by Big Brother to convince her fellow housemates that she was a celebrity.
The show was the subject of a large amount of controversy during its airtime, mainly during Celebrity Big Brother 5 (UK) and Celebrity Big Brother 22 (UK). In 2007, Shilpa Shetty was the victim of racist bullying from Danielle Lloyd, Jo O'Meara, and most notably Jade Goody. This caused the series to be scrapped the following year, and was replaced by the spin-off Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack. During Celebrity Big Brother 22, Roxanne Pallett accused Ryan Thomas of assaulting her.
When the regular version of Big Brother UK moved from Channel 4 to Channel 5, Celebrity Big Brother moved along with it, and Celebrity Big Brother 8 became the first overall series of Big Brother to air on Channel 5. Although ITV revived the civilian series, the revival of the celebrity edition has yet to be announced.
List of Series
Series | Channel | Series Run | Days | Housemates | Winner | Runner-Up(s) | Prize | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Big Brother 1 |
Channel 4 | July 18, 2000 - September 15, 2000 |
64 | 11 | £70,000 | |||
Celebrity Big Brother 1 |
Channel 4 BBC One |
March 9, 2001 - March 16, 2001 |
8 | 6 | ||||
Big Brother 2 |
Channel 4 | May 25, 2001 - July 27, 2001 |
64 | 11 | £70,000 | |||
Big Brother 3 |
May 24, 2002 - July 26, 2002 |
14 | ||||||
Celebrity Big Brother 2 |
November 20, 2002 - November 29, 2002 |
10 | 6 | |||||
Big Brother 4 |
May 23, 2003 - July 25, 2003 |
64 | 13 | £70,000 | ||||
Teen Big Brother |
Channel 4 E4 |
October 13, 2003 - October 18, 2003 |
10 | 8 | Trip | |||
Big Brother 5 |
Channel 4 | May 28, 2004 - August 6, 2004 |
71 | 13 | £63,500 | |||
Big Brother Panto |
Channel 4 E4 |
December 20, 2004 - January 5, 2005 |
11 | 10 | No Winner or Prize | |||
Celebrity Big Brother 3 |
Channel 4 | January 6, 2005 - January 23, 2005 |
18 | 9 | ||||
Big Brother 6 |
May 27, 2005 - August 12, 2005 |
78 | 16 | £50,000 | ||||
Celebrity Big Brother 4 |
January 5, 2006 - January 27, 2006 |
23 | 11 | |||||
Big Brother 7 |
May 18, 2006 - August 18, 2006 |
93 | 22 | £100,000 | ||||
Celebrity Big Brother 5 |
January 3, 2007 - January 29, 2007 |
26 | 14 | |||||
Big Brother 8 |
May 30, 2007 - August 31, 2007 |
94 | 22 | £100,000 | ||||
Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack |
E4 | January 3, 2008 - January 28, 2008 |
26 | 12 | £50,000 | |||
Big Brother 9 |
Channel 4 | June 5, 2008 - September 5, 2008 |
93 | 21 | £100,000 | |||
Celebrity Big Brother 6 |
January 2, 2009 - January 23, 2009 |
22 | 11 | |||||
Big Brother 10 |
June 4, 2009 - September 4, 2009 |
93 | 22 | £71,320 | ||||
Celebrity Big Brother 7 |
January 3, 2010 - January 29, 2010 |
27 | 12 | |||||
Big Brother 11 |
June 9, 2010 - August 24, 2010 |
77 | 21 | £100,000 | ||||
Ultimate Big Brother |
August 24, 2010 - September 10, 2010 |
18 | 14 | Ultimate Housemate | ||||
Celebrity Big Brother 8 |
Channel 5 | August 18, 2011 - September 8, 2011 |
22 | 10 | ||||
Big Brother 12 |
September 9, 2011 - November 11, 2011 |
64 | 15 | £50,990 | ||||
Celebrity Big Brother 9 |
January 5, 2012 - January 27, 2012 |
23 | 12 | |||||
Big Brother 13 |
June 5, 2012 - August 13, 2012 |
70 | 17 | £50,000 | ||||
Celebrity Big Brother 10 |
August 15, 2012 - September 7, 2012 |
24 | 13 | |||||
Celebrity Big Brother 11 |
January 3, 2013 - January 25, 2013 |
23 | 11 | |||||
Big Brother 14 |
June 13, 2013 - August 19, 2013 |
68 | 14 | £100,000 | ||||
Celebrity Big Brother 12 |
August 22, 2013 - September 13, 2013 |
23 | 13 | |||||
Celebrity Big Brother 13 |
January 3, 2014 - January 29, 2014 |
27 | 12 | |||||
Big Brother 15 |
June 5, 2014 - August 15, 2014 |
72 | 19 | £100,000 | ||||
Celebrity Big Brother 14 |
August 18, 2014 - September 12, 2014 |
26 | 14 | |||||
Celebrity Big Brother 15 |
January 7, 2015 - February 6, 2015 |
31 | 15 | |||||
Big Brother 16 |
May 12, 2015 - July 16, 2015 |
66 | 18 | £116,100 | ||||
Celebrity Big Brother 16 |
August 27, 2015 - September 24, 2015 |
29 | 14 | |||||
Celebrity Big Brother 17 |
January 5, 2016 - February 5, 2016 |
32 | 16 | |||||
Big Brother 17 |
June 7, 2016 - July 26, 2016 |
50 | 19 | £70,000 | ||||
Celebrity Big Brother 18 |
July 28, 2016 - August 26, 2016 |
30 | 15 | |||||
Celebrity Big Brother 19 |
January 3, 2017 - February 3, 2017 |
32 | 18 | |||||
Big Brother 18 |
June 5, 2017 - July 28, 2017 |
54 | 22 | £100,000 | ||||
Celebrity Big Brother 20 |
August 1, 2017 - August 25, 2017 |
25 | 15 | £50,000 for charity | ||||
Celebrity Big Brother 21 |
January 2, 2018 - February 2, 2018 |
32 | 16 | |||||
Celebrity Big Brother 22 |
August 16, 2018 - September 10, 2018 |
26 | 13 | |||||
Big Brother 19 |
September 14, 2018 - November 5, 2018 |
53 | 16 | £100,000 | ||||
Big Brother 20 |
ITV2 | October 8, 2023 - November 17, 2023 |
42 | |||||
Celebrity Big Brother 23 |
ITV1 | March 4, 2024 - March 22, 2024 |
19 | 12 | ||||
Big Brother 21 | ITV2 | 2024 | ||||||
Celebrity Big Brother 24 | ITV1 | 2025 |
Ratings
Big Brother UK Average Viewers Per Season | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Launch Date | Final Date | Avg Viewers (in millions) |
Episodes | Network(s) | |
Big Brother 1 | July 18, 2000 | September 15 , 2000 | 4.5 | 52 | Channel 4 | |
Celebrity Big Brother 1 | March 9, 2001 | March 16, 2001 | 5.2 | 8 | BBC One | Channel 4 |
Big Brother 2 | May 25, 2001 | July 27, 2001 | 4.5 | 55 | Channel 4 | |
Celebrity Big Brother 2 | November 20, 2002 | November 29, 2002 | 4.4 | 12 | ||
Big Brother 3 | May 24, 2002 | July 26, 2002 | 5.8 | 72 | ||
Big Brother 4 | May 23, 2003 | July 25, 2003 | 4.6 | 73 | ||
Teen Big Brother | October 13, 2003 | October 17, 2003 | 2.6 | 5 | ||
Big Brother 5 | May 28, 2004 | August 6, 2004 | 5.1 | 82 | ||
Big Brother Panto | December 20, 2004 | January 5, 2005 | N/A | 12 | Channel 4 | E4 |
Celebrity Big Brother 3 | January 6, 2005 | January 23, 2005 | 4.3 | 18 | Channel 4 | |
Big Brother 6 | May 27, 2005 | August 12, 2005 | 4.6 | 90 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 4 | January 5, 2006 | January 27, 2006 | 4.9 | 28 | ||
Big Brother 7 | May 18, 2006 | August 18, 2006 | 4.7 | 107 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 5 | January 3, 2007 | January 28, 2007 | 4.6 | 30 | ||
Big Brother 8 | May 30, 2007 | August 31, 2007 | 3.9 | 96 | ||
Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack | January 3, 2008 | January 23, 2008 | 0.7 | 28 | ||
Big Brother 9 | June 5, 2008 | September 5, 2008 | 3.6 | 108 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 6 | January 2, 2009 | January 29, 2009 | 3.1 | 28 | ||
Big Brother 10 | June 4, 2009 | September 4, 2009 | 2.5 | 108 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 7 | January 3, 2010 | January 29, 2010 | 3.7 | 32 | ||
Big Brother 11 | June 9, 2010 | August 24, 2010 | 3.0 | 86 | ||
Ultimate Big Brother | August 24, 2010 | September 10, 2010 | 3.1 | 22 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 8 | August 18, 2011 | September 8, 2011 | 2.6 | 23 | Channel 5 | |
Big Brother 12 | September 9, 2011 | November 11, 2011 | 1.6 | 71 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 9 | January 5, 2012 | January 27, 2012 | 2.6 | 25 | ||
Big Brother 13 | June 5, 2012 | August 13, 2012 | 1.6 | 73 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 10 | August 15, 2012 | September 7, 2012 | 2.2 | 26 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 11 | January 3, 2013 | January 25, 2013 | 2.8 | 23 | ||
Big Brother 14 | June 13, 2013 | August 13, 2013 | 1.9 | 69 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 12 | August 22, 2013 | September 13, 2013 | 2.3 | 26 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 13 | January 3, 2014 | January 29, 2014 | 3.1 | 27 | ||
Big Brother 15 | June 5, 2014 | August 15, 2014 | 1.6 | 72 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 14 | August 18, 2014 | September 12, 2014 | 2.1 | 26 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 15 | January 7, 2015 | February 6, 2015 | 3.1 | 32 | ||
Big Brother 16 | May 12, 2015 | July 16, 2015 | 1.4 | 66 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 16 | August 27, 2015 | September 24, 2015 | 1.9 | 29 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 17 | January 5, 2016 | February 5, 2016 | 2.8 | 36 | ||
Big Brother 17 | June 7, 2016 | July 26, 2016 | 1.6 | 50 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 18 | July 28, 2016 | August 26, 2016 | 2.1 | 33 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 19 | January 3, 2017 | February 3, 2017 | 2.4 | 36 | ||
Big Brother 18 | June 5, 2017 | July 28, 2017 | 1.2 | 54 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 20 | August 1, 2017 | August 25, 2017 | 1.8 | 25 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 21 | January 2, 2018 | February 2, 2018 | 1.9 | 37 | ||
Celebrity Big Brother 22 | August 16, 2018 | September 10, 2018 | 2.0 | 28 | ||
Big Brother 19 | September 14, 2018 | November 5, 2018 | 1.0 | 45 | ||
Big Brother 20 | October 8, 2023 | November 17, 2023 | 1.7 | 36 | ITV2 |
Key: | Increase in Viewership | Decrease in Viewership |
Trivia
References
Big Brother Franchises | ||
---|---|---|
Africa | Africa · Angola · Cameroon · Liberia · Nigeria · South Africa | |
Americas | Argentina · Brazil · Canada (Quebec) · Chile · Colombia · Ecuador · Mexico · Pacific · Panama · Peru · United States (Spanish) | |
Asia-Pacific | Arab States · Australia · China · India · Indonesia · Israel · Mongolia · Pakistan · Philippines · Russia · Thailand · Vietnam · Turkey | |
Europe | Albania · Balkans · Belgium · Bulgaria · Croatia · Czechia · Denmark · Finland · France (Loft) · Germany · Greece · Hungary (Való Világ) · Italy · Kosovo · Lithuania · Netherlands · Norway · Poland · Portugal (Secret) · Romania · Scandinavia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain (Secret)· Sweden · Switzerland · United Kingdom · Ukraine | |
Virtual | Second Life |