Big Brother (British series 8)
Big Brother 2007, also known as Big Brother 8, was the eighth series of the British reality television series Big Brother. The show followed twenty-three contestants, known as housemates, who were isolated from the outside world for an extended period of time in a custom built House. Each week, one or more of the housemates were eliminated from the competition and left the House. The last remaining housemate, Brian Belo, was declared the winner, winning a cash prize of £100,000.
The series launched on Channel 4 on 30 May 2007 and ended on 31 August 2007, lasting 94 days - the longest British edition of Big Brother to date. Davina McCall returned as presenter for her eighth consecutive year. Eleven housemates entered on launch night, with an additional seven men being introduced by the time of the fourth week. The series was watched by an average of 3.9 million viewers, the lowest viewed series of the show at the time.
The first series of Big Brother to air since the highly controversial fifth celebrity series, Big Brother 8 was the subject of viewer complaints and press attention, mainly regarding the ejection of a housemate for the use of a racial slur.
Production
Auditions
The first round of auditions started on 6 January 2007 at the SECC in Glasgow, where there was a queue of three hundred people.Sponsorship
On 8 March 2007, it was announced that The Carphone Warehouse would not return to sponsor Big Brother 8 after cancelling its sponsorship of Celebrity Big Brother 5, and on 21 March, that Virgin Media would sponsor the show, for a reported £3 million. Virgin Media's idents for the show use footage from Big Brother programmes from all around the world, including Germany, Brazil, Philippines and the Netherlands.Eye logo
The iconic Big Brother eye has been redesigned to what has been described as a "centrifugal inter-locking RGB rainbow test card" by its designer Daniel Eatock.Broadcasts
On Channel 4, Davina McCall remained as main host of the live shows such as live launch, evictions, finale and other special shows where there may be a twist taking place. Marcus Bentley returned as narrator of the nightly highlight shows.For the first time since Big Brother 5 in 2004, there was also no highlight show broadcast on Saturday nights.
In the early years of Big Brother, a live stream would feature on Channel E4, however this was omitted from the schedule until the final series Sunday night's highlight show would, instead, show just a handful of footage from Friday, and would instead focus more on Saturday's events in the house.
McCall also hosted, a psychology show broadcast on Sunday before the main show. It was similar to Big Brother's Big Brain, which was broadcast the previous year before being axed. It did not return in any subsequent series' of Big Brother.
Dermot O'Leary returned as host Big Brother's Little Brother. On 28 November 2007 he announced his departure from the show. With his last presenting role being in the following in January 2008.
Diary Room Uncut returned in the same time slot as last year. On Fridays, housemates would make podcasts.
Big Brother's Big Mouth returned in the same late night timeslot, however Russell Brand did not return, having quit the show earlier in the year. No permanent replacement was made and instead a different host took control each week.
Ofcom statement
Before the launch programme, Channel 4 presented a statement from Ofcom explaining the racism incidents from Celebrity Big Brother earlier in the year.This was followed immediately by a Channel 4 ident, and then the Big Brother titles. Channel 4 also broadcast the Ofcom statement on the morning of 31 May 2007 before the early morning repeat, and again immediately before the first eviction on Friday 15 June.
House
It was initially believed that this would be the last series to be aired from the house in Elstree Studios, with a new house set to be built in Hammersmith for 2008, although, Endemol decided to renew the lease at its current location for another two years.The layout of the house remained much the same as the previous series, although the kitchen moved to the other side of the main living area. One big theme in the house was annoyance; the kitchen appliances were scattered around the house, with the oven and heat proof surface in the bedroom and the fridge in the garden. As further annoyance, the bathtub was placed in an open space right next to the main living room. Where the oven was in the bedroom was approximately where the kitchen area was located in Big Brother 7.
The bedroom contained a single, double and triple bed as well as two four-person beds. Outside the bedroom window, in the main living area, is a lip shaped sofa that the presenters of the show refer to as "the lips". The house also contains a salon/bathroom, which houses two large hair dryers and two steam suits.
Garden
As well as the kitchen fridge, the garden contained a swimming pool, a seating area and, due to the smoking ban that came into effect in all public places during the series, a smoking area which housemates had to use from Day 1, even though the smoking ban didn't come into play until 1 July. This was checked by health officials, and deemed acceptable. The grass from the previous series has been replaced with AstroTurf. The garden was one of the smallest this year, in comparison to the garden in Big Brother 7.On Day 25 it was revealed that a caravan was hidden behind a garden wall. The caravan came with two single beds and sleeping bags. Brian and Charley went "on holiday" to the caravan for one night. The caravan was again accessible from day 36, this time any of the housemates were allowed to use the room.
An extension to the pool was revealed on Day 67, along with a bar area. The area was hidden behind the "wet" sign in the garden.
"The Insider" on BBLB revealed that there was a fully functioning washing machine hidden in the garden, throughout the show. Dermot O'Leary revealed this to the housemates during the BBLB reunion show.
Because of the Big Brother 7 water shortage, the garden included a water tower, which at the beginning of the series was full. The water tower was located next to the fridge and the mangle.
Vestibule
Between the entrance/exit stairs and the main house was a vestibule area. This was used for several tasks, rewards and punishments, such as Ziggy's dating task, Amanda and Sam's birthday party, the punishments on Day 43, and the "Sin Bin" which is the room Charley was made to stay in while the rest of the housemates had their sin party.Diary Room
A corridor was added between the Diary Room door and the main house which changes colour from red to blue to green when the "eye" button to open the door is pressed. The diary room chair was changed to a much larger see-through chair which contains white neon lights. For, the lights inside the chair were coloured purple, to keep up with E4's theme. The diary room resides in almost the same place as last year, but set back a bit, making the living area larger.As in recent years, the diary room was used for several tasks. The Time Machine from Big Brother's time machine task was in the diary room. It was also used for the Seven Deadly Sins task.
Hidden rooms
The House contained a number of hidden rooms that were accessed either through the diary room or through a store room off the living area. At various points in the show, all or part of these rooms were opened up for various tasks and twists.- One of these rooms was slept in by Thaila Zucchi, in her role as "Pauline", and it was Australia-themed and contained a kangaroo statue, a surfboard, plants and beanbags. The bedroom also contained the dossier from which "Pauline" could find out things about her housemates. Only "Pauline" was allowed in the room at that time.
- The rooms were later on used to house five 'halfway housemates' as part of a twist. It included a dormitory, common room, wash room and kitchenette as well as a small garden.
- For the BBTV task, a newsroom was built, where two housemates transmitted news to the rest of the house, such as messages from home. The rooms were also used as a studio for a gameshow and later a talent show.
- It was used as a "The Happy Room" to cheer up Charley and Billi, who were instructed to wear "happy" t-shirts and baseball caps for the duration of their stay. The room was full of red beanbags, and featured cheery slogans on the walls. While in the room, Big Brother played the tune, If You're Happy and You Know It.
- During the seven deadly sins task, it was turned into "The Room of Nicky" and contained pictures, books and footage of Nicky and also a sofa with cushions spelling N-I-C-K-Y. Nicky was instructed to stay in the room and learn to appreciate herself until Big Brother allowed her to leave.
- For Big Brother's birthday task, a Practice Room was built, where the entertainers had to practice. A party room was then provided with a ball pool, small stage, and an area for food. Amanda and Sam, Gerry, Nicky, and Ziggy were chosen as the party guests. Carole's job was the face painter. Chanelle and Liam performed magic. Charley and Tracey were clowns. Brian was the final musical performer.
Halfway House
Day 59
Amy, David, Jonty, Kara and Shanessa enter the Halfway House. David visits the main house.
Day 60
In the morning Amy visits the main house, followed by Jonty in the afternoon.
Day 61
In the morning Shanessa visits the main house, followed by Kara in the afternoon.
Day 62
Housemates in the main house choose David and Kara to enter the house swapped with Ziggy.
Day 63
The Halfway Housemates have a task called Jack in a box to win a place in the main house. Shanessa won and was swapped with Liam who Shanessa chose.
Day 64
The four Halfway housemates had to choose to swap with four housemates in the main house they chose David, Kara, Shanessa and Tracey who moved in halfway house and were automatically faced eviction.
Day 65
The halfway housemates are given a last night to go into the main house for a few hours.
Day 66
The first halfway housemate to be evicted is Shanessa, the second is David. Then Kara and Tracey re-enter the main house for good.
Housemates
There were a total of 23 housemates in this series of Big Brother, making it the largest number of housemates to enter the Big Brother house ever. Each week, two or more housemates were nominated to be evicted by the general public until the winner was left. All of the housemates that entered on the first day were female, then on the third day; a male housemate – Ziggy – entered the house. On 7 June 2007 it was announced on Big Brother's Big Mouth that Day 10 would see the addition of two male housemates, in replacement of the cancelled eviction. These two housemates were Gerry and Seány. On 15 June, four new male housemates entered the house. They were Billi, Jonathan, Liam, and Brian. Jonathan left on Day 35 due to a family death from day 34 that he wanted to attend to.The series was eventually won by housemate Brian Belo on 31 August 2007, with twin housemates Sam and Amanda polling second place, and housemate Liam in third. The main eye colour featured this year was multi-coloured. A new housemate called "Pauline" entered the house on 8 July, supposedly from Big Brother Australia, however, her true identity was actress Thaila Zucchi, and worked as a mole for Big Brother, before being removed on Day 42. Five new housemates, Amy, Jonty, Shanessa, David & Kara entered the house in a separate room called Halfway House on Day 59. Rylan Clark, who would go on to appear in Celebrity Big Brother 11, was scheduled to be a surprise housemate during this series, passing the auditions and waiting in hiding to enter the house. However, the day before he was due to enter, his identity was leaked in the press.
| Name | Age on entry | Hometown | Day entered | Day exited | Result |
| Brian Belo | 19 | Essex | 17 | 94 | |
| Amanda & Sam Marchant | 18 | Stoke-on-Trent | 1 | 94 | |
| Liam McGough | 22 | County Durham | 17 | 94 | |
| Ziggy Lichman | 26 | London | 3 | 94 | |
| Carole Vincent | 53 | London | 1 | 94 | |
| Jonty Stern | 36 | London | 59 | 94 | |
| Kara-Louise Horne | 22 | London | 59 | 87 | |
| Tracey Barnard | 36 | Cambridgeshire | 1 | 87 | |
| Gerry Stergiopoulos | 31 | London | 10 | 80 | |
| Amy Alexander | 21 | Grimsby, Lincolnshire | 59 | 73 | |
| David Parnaby | 25 | Ayr | 59 | 66 | |
| Shanessa Reilly | 27 | Cardiff | 59 | 66 | |
| Chanelle Hayes | 19 | Wakefield | 1 | 62 | |
| Charley Uchea | 21 | London | 1 | 59 | |
| Nicky Maxwell | 27 | Watford | 1 | 52 | |
| Laura Williams | 23 | Rhondda Valleys | 1 | 38 | |
| Jonathan Durden | 49 | London | 17 | 35 | |
| Billi Bhatti | 25 | London | 17 | 31 | |
| Seany O'Kane | 26 | Derry | 10 | 24 | |
| Shabnam Paryani | 22 | London | 1 | 17 | |
| Lesley Brain | 60 | Gloucestershire | 1 | 11 | |
| Emily Parr | 19 | Bristol | 1 | 9 |
Weekly summary
Each week in the Big Brother House is summarised in the table on the main page. A typical week begins with the nominations, shopping task, and ends with the eviction of a Housemate during the following Friday's episode. Evictions, tasks, and other noteworthy events for a particular week are noted. Some of the events listed may not be in order of sequence.| Week 1 | Tasks | On Day 2 the housemates were given a breakdancing task, they were split into two crews and competed against each other. On Day 3 Shabnam and Carole conducted a podcast by order of Big Brother. The podcast is a weekly task taking place on Fridays and is available for download on the Channel 4 website. On Day 10 Carole hosted the weekly podcast. |
| Week 1 | Punishments | On Day 6, Shabnam was punished for discussing nominations, and Big Brother made the bathroom off-limits to all housemates. On Day 8, Ziggy and Emily were punished by being forced to pick another housemate to be punished on their behalf. They chose Shabnam. As a result, Shabnam's clothes, make-up, and belongings were confiscated by Big Brother. Emily was asked to leave after using a racially offensive word. |
| Week 1 | Entrances | Sam, Amanda, Lesley, Charley, Tracey, Chanelle, Shabnam, Emily, Laura, Nicky and Carole entered on Day 1, Ziggy entered on Day 3, Gerry and Seány entered on Day 10. |
| Week 1 | Exits | Emily was ejected on Day 9. |
| Week 2 | Tasks | Big Brother gave the housemates a charades task with a twist of having to play it under water. As a prize for completing the task successfully, housemates were rewarded with a chinese take away meal. On Day 12 Gerry and Seány were instructed by Big Brother to interview each of their fellow housemates in the "Big Brother Board Room" to decide which two housemates would be nominating alongside them. On day 14 the housemates were given a shopping task which instructed them to remain lying down, dressed in sardine suits in a sardine tin filled with brine and fish guts. The housemates failed the task after only remaining in the tin for one hour and 26 minutes. Hidden in a small sardine tin in the garden was the magic number, four hours and 20 minutes, this was the time limited Big Brother had set for the housemates to remain in the tin in order to win the task. On Day 15, the house were given a pile of pork pies and tankards of beer, and a dart board. On the bottom of each pie, there was a conversation topic, and all housemates had to contribute to the discussions. Afterwards, all housemates had to nominate one person to put up a set of shelves in the Diary Room without instructions. The housemates chose Carole, who failed the task Seány and Gerry conducted the weekly podcast. |
| Week 2 | Punishments | On Day 14, due to Gerry and other housemates discussing nominations, Big Brother took away the house's bathroom privileges. On day 15 Seány pushed a pork pie into the diary room camera, and as punishment Nicky had to clean the windows for two hours. |
| Week 2 | Entrances | Billi, Jonathan, Liam, and Brian entered on Day 17. |
| Week 2 | Exits | Lesley left voluntarily on Day 11. Shabnam was evicted on Day 17. |
| Week 3 | Tasks | On Day 18, Billi, Jonathan, Liam and Brian successfully performed "YMCA" as 'The Big Brother Village People' and won a luxury shopping budget. Housemates also had to swim the equivalent distance to the width of the English Channel in the swimming pool for this week's shopping task, which they successfully completed. Amanda, for completing the most lengths, was given the task of completing the shopping list for this week, alone. On Day 22, Seány, Carole and Jonathan had to choose a housemate to receive what the housemates believe is the £100,000 prize fund. They chose Liam. Billi, Brian, Jonathan and Liam conducted the weekly podcast. |
| Week 3 | Punishments | After using written communication, Ziggy and Carole were given chalk and school ties, and were made to write "I must not participate in written communication within the Big Brother house. This is a fundamental breach of the Big Brother Rules, for which I apologise." and "I must not take writing materials lent to me in good faith by Big Brother and then use this writing material to communicate secret messages. Both acts are a fundamental breach of the Big Brother Rules, for which I apologise." 100 times. |
| Week 3 | Exits | Seány was evicted on Day 24. |
| Week 4 | Tasks | On Day 25, the housemates had a Knobbly Knees Contest, in which Brian and Charley won. Their prize was a holiday in the Big Brother caravan. On Day 26, they were told that for this week's task, the housemates must stay awake for 60 hours, and were only allowed 3 hours of sleep between them, and if someone closed their eyes for more than a minute, a clock on the wall would begin counting down. For a mini task on Day 27, Liam and Laura were dressed up as Little Bo Peep, and had to correctly count how many times the other housemates – who were dressed as sheep – jumped over fences placed in the garden. They completed this task successfully, and earned an extra hour on the sleep clock. However, the housemates voted and decided to quit the task, and subsequently failed the task. Amanda, Brian, Laura and Ziggy conducted the weekly podcast. |
| Week 4 | Punishments | For discussing nominations with other housemates, both Billi and Charley's nominations were cancelled. For failing their sleep task, housemates were forced to live on a diet of 3 portions of slop a day. After Billi and Charley continuously argued, they were sent to the happy room to cheer up. |
| Week 4 | Exits | Billi was evicted on Day 31. |
| Week 5 | Tasks | Carole had to match the seven deadly sins to housemates. She picked Laura as sloth, Tracey as greed, Ziggy as gluttony, Liam as lust, Amanda as pride, Nicky as envy, and Charley as wrath. Each housemate was given their own task. Four or more housemates must pass this task to receive a luxury shopping budget. All but Charley passed. As a reward, The contestants were given a party with a chocolate fountain, alcohol and "Seven Sin costumes" while Charley sat in the Sin Bin watching them and missing the party. Gerry, Brian, Chanelle, Carole and Sam conducted the weekly podcast. |
| Week 5 | Exits | Jonathan left voluntarily on Day 35. Laura was evicted on Day 38 |
| Week 6 ' | Tasks | Unbeknownst to the housemates, their task this week was to discover that their new housemate Pauline was really British actress Thaila Zucchi. They were successful, and received a luxury shopping budget. They also were given characters and a storyline, and had to perform their own soap opera, Housemates. They also had to perform Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head". Other tasks including making quilt patches, banners and songs, and reading incorrect messages in different languages for a fake global initiative called Warmth Not Waste, made up by Big Brother. The weekly podcast was conducted by Charley and Nicky. |
| Week 6 ' | Punishments | As part of fake week, the housemates were punished for crimes they did not commit. Carole, Brian and Amanda had to glue sweetcorn back onto corn on the cob, Chanelle, Charley and Gerry had to measure 3 balls of string with a 3 cm ruler, Liam, Nicky and Sam had to paint a wall and watch it dry, and Ziggy, Tracey and Amanda had to cut grass with nail scissors. For talking about nominations, Charley and Nicky's suitcases, and all their clothes and makeup, were confiscated. |
| Week 6 ' | Entrances | 'Pauline' entered on Day 40. |
| Week 6 ' | Exits | 'Pauline' left the House on Day 42 once she had finished her task. Charley was evicted from the House on Day 45. However, the eviction was actually fake and Charley was interviewed and then put back into the House. |
| Week 7 | Tasks | Housemates had to have a party for Big Brother's birthday, where five housemates partied, and the remaining six provided the entertainment. They had to party until Big Brother told them to stop. Housemates passed this task. Liam and Sam conducted the weekly podcast interviewing housemates for "Big Brother's Birthday". Nicky had a personal task to perform a stand-up routine to win the housemates a takeaway and Gerry had to answer questions to win alcohol to go with the takeaway. |
| Week 7 | Punishments | For discussing nominations, Chanelle and Ziggy were restricted to only one nomination each. |
| Week 7 | Exits | Nicky was evicted on Day 52. |
| Week 8 | Tasks | On Day 53, the housemates were given the task of answering philosophical questions. For their weekly task, housemates have to run a TV Channel, BBTV. After completing various TV shows and news bulletins the housemates passed the task. On Day 58, the housemates were asked to match sounds they heard to different housemates. They passed the task, and were given toilet paper with their faces on as a prize. The housemates also got a chance to speak to the Australian Big Brother House. All housemates conducted the weekly podcast, each performing a 2-minute radio show. |
| Week 8 | Entrances | Amy, Jonty, Shanessa, David and Kara entered the "Halfway House" on Day 59. |
| Week 8 | Exits | Charley was evicted on Day 59. |
| Week 9 | Tasks | On Day 63, the halfway housemates had to sit in boxes and jump out at 8:10. The housemate who jumped the nearest to the time would be moved to the main house, and would need to pick a housemate to move to the halfway house. Shanessa won. The weekly Podcast was hosted by the Halfway Housemates. |
| Week 9 | Transfers | Kara and David moved into the main house on Day 62, after they were chosen by the current Housemates. The Housemates then had to choose one of themselves to move to the Halfway House, to which Ziggy said he wanted to go. Shanessa entered the main house on Day 63, after winning the Jack-in-a-Box task, and had to choose a current Housemate to replace her. She chose Liam. Amy, Jonty, Liam and Ziggy moved back into the house on Day 64, in exchange for David, Kara, Shanessa and Tracey. |
| Week 9 | Exits | Chanelle left voluntarily on Day 62. Shanessa and David were evicted on Day 66 |
| Week 10 | Tasks | For this weeks task, housemates have to 'travel through time' and each complete mini-tasks. On Day 68, Sam and Amanda had to decide whether they would become one housemate. As a result, they were automatically put up for eviction this week. Kara and Brian had to battle against Big Brother 3's Alex and Adele for their task. They failed this task. They also had to put on a fashion show to win alcohol and music. The weekly podcast was conducted by Liam and Ziggy. |
| Week 10 | Exits | Amy was evicted on Day 73 |
| Week 11 | Tasks | On Day 74, housemates were each given a word and had to think of as many synonyms for that word as possible. They passed the task. The weekly task involved the housemates performing various tasks, with those who improve the most during the task being granted 'guru' status, whilst the others will all face eviction. On Day 79, Big Brother took Gerry and Jonty's toy monkeys, Freddie and Munkitty Tunkitty, on an around the world journey, during which they "wrote" postcards from around the world. The housemates had to guess where the monkeys had been. If they correctly guess, they win a speciality dish from that country or place. |
| Week 11 | Punishments | For drawing symbols using eyeliner, Amanda, Sam, Gerry, Jonty and Kara had to do all the cooking and cleaning for the house. Because Carole hid some biscuits in her drawer and the housemates ate them, knowing they were confiscated, as well as Carole whisking eggs, despite the new rule saying that the above housemates were the only ones who could do this, the luxury shopping budget was reduced to a basic budget. |
| Week 11 | Exits | Gerry was evicted on Day 80 after the gurus; Amanda and Sam, Tracey and Ziggy voted to evict him over Carole. |
Week 12 | Tasks | For this week's shopping task, housemates had to attend Big Brother's Finishing Academy where they were taught how to speak and act properly. |
Week 12 | Punishments | Amanda, who had broken her twelfth microphone, had to talk through a loud hailer. |
Week 12 | Exits | Tracey and Kara were evicted on Day 87. |
Week 13 | Tasks | On Day 88, the six remaining housemates performed duets. Carole and Jonty performed Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers's "Islands in the Stream", Liam and Ziggy performed Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan's "Especially for You" and Amanda, Sam and Brian performed Katie Price and Peter Andre's "A Whole New World". On Day 89, The housemates took part in the Big Big Brother Quiz, which was based on events that had happened during the series. During this task, ex-housemate Chanelle returned as a mystery guest, who Carole and Ziggy had to identify through touch alone. On Day 90, The housemates had to design a task in pairs, the best of which would be carried out later in the day. Liam and Brian won this task. On Day 91, the housemates had to create 'Big Brother: The Movie', and were given costumes, props and a video camera in order to recreate their time in the house. On Day 92, Big Brother took the day off, and left the house in charge of one housemate. The housemate chosen to become Big Brother for the day was Jonty. |
Week 13 | Punishments | Carole, Liam, and Ziggy were punished for discussion nominations. Their punishment came on Day 90 when Big Brother called, Jonty, Brian and The Twins to the diary room to nominate two of the three of the housemates. They nominated Ziggy and Carole but Big Brother later revealed they were playing a joke on them. |
Week 13 | Exits | Jonty, Carole, Ziggy, Liam Amanda & Sam Brian |
Nominations table
Ratings
Official ratings are taken from BARB.Criticism and controversy
Racist language
Nine days into the series, Channel 4 was criticised for deciding to air the word "nigger" on their daily highlights show. After the criticism they received for not handling the Celebrity Big Brother racism allegations properly back in January, they were quick to intervene after Emily used the word in conversation with Charley. On the other hand, Charley and Nicky subsequently used the same contentious word several times, in reference to Emily's use. No action was seen to be taken against them. After Emily's disqualification from the competition was announced, 922 viewers complained to Ofcom, the British television regulator, believing that it was unfair. Another 270 people expressed dissatisfaction with Channel 4's decision to air the word "nigger" uncensored. Parr was invited on BBLB, which also caused disturbances, but postponed her appearance. The press and Dermot presumed she postponed due to the controversy, but as she revealed in her BBLB interview, it was not.Furthermore, on Day 40, Channel 4 confirmed that Charley had been called to the Diary Room and reprimanded after using the word "nigger" twice on one night. This was not broadcast on the nightly highlights programme or the live feed, further inflaming rumours about favouritism towards Charley. A Big Brother spokesperson claimed "Charley used the N-word as a black woman to refer to another black person. We judged her use of the term different from Emily's. But Big Brother called her to the Diary Room to remind her that this word could cause offence."