Bigg Boss Kannada (season 5)
The fifth season of the Kannada-language version of Indian reality television series Bigg Boss premiered on 15 October 2017.
Sudeep reprised his role as the host of the show. The finale of the season took place 28 January 2018, and rapper Chandan Shetty was declared the winner of the show and was awarded the prize money of 50 lakh. Sales representative Diwaker was voted the runner-up.
Sudeep had signed a deal with the channel Colors Kannada to host the next five seasons starting from the previous season. During the grand finale of Season 4, it was announced that the next season will start with new contestants and a renovated Bigg Boss house built for the previous season in the Innovative Film City at Bidadi, Bangalore. This will be the first season to allow non-celebrities to the Bigg Boss house with online auditions taking place from July 2017.
The application process of the auditions for non-celebrities was exclusively carried by mobile app called Voot. Nagendra Bhat Bilalige was the reality writer for this season.
The show was extended by one week instead of 98 days. Among the five finalists Niveditha and Divakar are auditioned contestants, where as Chandan, Karthik and Shruti are celebrities.
Housemates Status
Housemates
Along with the usual celebrity contestants, the housemates of this season includes contestants selected through online audition process. The total of 17 housemates include 11 celebrities and 6 commoners.| Housemates | Occupation | |
| Chandan Shetty | Rapper | |
| Divakar | Sales representative | |
| Karthik Jayaram | Television and film actor | |
| Niveditha Gowda | Student | |
| Shruti Prakash | Singer and television actress | |
| Sameer Acharya | Priest | |
| Anupama Gowda | Television actress | |
| Riaz Basha | Radio jockey | |
| Krishi Thapanda | Model and actress | |
| Jaya Sreenivasan | Numerologist | |
| Jagannath Chandrashekhar | Television actor | |
| Ashitha Chandrappa | Television actress | |
| Sihi Kahi Chandru | Actor and television presenter | |
| Tejaswi Prakash | Film and television actress | |
| Dayal Padmanabhan | Film director, producer and actor | |
| Megha | Student | |
| Suma Rajkumar | Homemaker and ventriloquist |
Wild-card entries
| Housemate | Occupation | Contestant type |
| Vaishnavi Chandran Menon | Film actress | Wild card Contestant |
| Lasya Nagaraj | Actress | Wild card Contestant |
| Samyuktha Hegde | Actress | Long-term Guest |
Three contestants entered the house through wild cards. Presenter Akul Balaji was the second entrant who promoted his new dance reality television reality show Master Dancer. Actresses Lasya and Samyuktha Hegde were the final two entrants. Hegde was evicted from the house a few days later after she assaulted Sameer Acharya for allegedly touching her inappropriately. However, later she admitted in the confession room that Acharya was not at fault and that she reacted at the "heat of the moment".
Celebrities Claim to Fame
- Shruti Prakash – television actress and singer. She is known for her role of Sita Modi in the Star Plus popular show Saath Nibhaana Saathiya which starred Devoleena Bhattacharjee and Mohammad Nazim.
- Karthik Jayaram – Actor, Model and engineer. He is known for appearing in many Sandalwood films like Varadanayaka and Care of Footpath 2. He also is well known for playing Ravana in Star Plus popular show Siya Ke Ram.
- Tejaswini Prakash – Actress and model. She is known for appearing in Sandalwood films like Savi Savi Nenapu and Preethi Nee Heegeke.
- Krishi Thapanda – Model and actress. She is known for making her Bollywood film debut with Akira in 2016 with Anish Tejeshwar.
- Chandan Shetty – Rapper. He is known for singing many songs for Sandalwood films.
- Sihi Kahi Chandru – Television actor and presenter. He appeared in many Sandalwood films like Josh, Julie, Naanu Nanna Kanasu. He also played the main lead in the show Sihi Kahi.
- Samyuktha Hegde – Actress. She is known for appearing in the Sandalwood film Kirik Party. She participated in MTV Roadies.
Episodes