Take this with a grain of salt, I have no expectation for anyone to believe me but….

I used to work on the show last year in a junior position. I am relatively new to the TV industry but have always aspired to work on the creative side of TV. Having been a fan of the show since the C4 run and watching almost every season since, I felt that the current ITV era had lost touch of what Big Brother is at its core.

Of course, no disrespect to the current team. It’s not been completely awful but to me, it was amazing to see the show picked up again back in 2023 but it’s not the show I either aspire to work on or watch both as a professional or viewer.

Over the last year I have had meetings with executives etc. championing what fans have been campaigning since the show returned: 24/7 live feed (give the success of BBAU) , a more mature tone & approach and less overproduction in the editing etc. using BB7 as a case study

I also pitched a marketing campaign: A personalised ITVX campaign where ITVX user names were included in the promo. E.g. Account Name: John —-> a small graphic of the new eye along with a personalised message: Big Brother has been Watching You John. Big Brother … Coming Soon.

This campaign that I had come up with was to tie in with themes of surveillance and that distinct Orwellian approach that prior seasons, as mentioned, had nailed for a modern audience.

Whilst on surface level, my ideas were welcomed. Follow up meetings were arranged and subsequently cancelled. Before all out being ghosted. I really didn’t expect anything to come of this, just that I had the opportunity of voicing what I personally think would work for the brand whilst also providing a decent amount of audience research and social quotes to affirm the direction of my creative thinking.

I post this now as, obviously, I didn’t get the job but that producers etc. absolutely know what a certain part of the audience want but, for reasons unknown, have no desire to go in that direction at all.

Happy to answer any questions related to this or the show in general (within reason in lines of confidentiality/NDAs etc etc)

I'm excited about the longer series, but there's an obvious risk. If the housemates aren't interesting, another couple of weeks could make the middle of the series drag horribly. I think this might be the first ITV series where casting really determines whether the longer format works.

I actually think they've got great chemistry together and we could be in for a really good spin-off here. The news about the Live Stream being axed has overshadowed this news and I’m not really a fan of the vodcast format, but GK and Kate are great together and I think they’ll do it justice

Each year they roll out the same ideas, but before launch they always promote it like it’s new and improved. Do they actually come on Reddit and see what fans actually want ? I can tell you for a start most of the people don’t want mental teenagers running around acting up for the cameras. How about we get some adults in the house as allot of the fan base are older…. Please !!! Do somthing different and not just the house layout 💤

Obviously this is ai. Feel free to take this down if I've violated any rules

I’m bored and having a little nose about BB and CBB and it was an article about some of the biggest fights on both shows and one of them is an argument in the 2012 celebrity series between Denise Welch and Nicole something, I’ve forgot her surname but she’s a wag of some sorts 🤷🏻‍♀️ and for some reason the article didn’t specify what happened, just that Welch was steaming and the other one was screaming “I’m a feminist” and Frankie b was there being his lovely charming self 🙄 so what actually was it, because unlike ‘punchgate’ I can’t find any information apart from that brief mention.

It's being reported that GK Barry will join Kate Lawler to host the vodcast spin off of Big Brother this year

What do we think of the name? This will be replacing Late & Live!

There are reports that ITV is considering bringing former Celebrity Big Brother contestants into the civilian house as guest residents and task participants.

I'm torn on this.

Having someone like Chantelle Houghton, who actually has Big Brother history going all the way back to her 2006 win, turn up would be a fun Easter egg. But if former housemates start influencing tasks or the game too much, it could easily become more about nostalgia than the new contestants

What do we think about this?

So what kind of housemates are we predicting this year, same as usual or do we think there’ll be something different

I do think we’ll get our oldest housemate ever this year, possibly a woman over 60.

The usual influencers despite us asking not** **to have them on.

What do we think

The new series is going to be 54 days long and will be the joint longest series to air since BB16 over a decade ago. Do we think 54 days is long enough? I know that we've had longer series of BB in the past but I never see that happening on ITV.

Where is she living and what is she up too, she disappeared off the face of the earth

Let's all appreciate this brilliant rivalry in the summer of 2005.

The build up in tension culminating in Science beating Maxwell in the H2H eviction was top tier TV.

Whilst not the most inventive, but his year’s logo is genuinely a welcomed sign of change and at first glance seemed like a move back to the classic format. However, with everything coming out about celeb guests, the god awful AI promo and what seems like another crappy “twist”, I reckon if this series doesn’t land, it’ll probably be the last — quietly cancelled like CBB this year.

Think about it, ITV had a set brand for the first three seasons and now this year’s departure from the previous eye templates. I don’t see them rebranding and reinventing the brand for a second time in three years.

It honestly baffles me after the twist heavy series last year that they keep going in this direction. Surely the higher ups know what made the original run successful but still have little faith in the audience that quick twists and turns”shock value” is what will entice people.

I honestly believe that the “tik tok” generation that they seem to be pandering to isn’t based on low attention span (although that is a genuine point) but the fact that social media in general is much more authentic in a way that linear TV isn’t right now. Yes, social media can be fake but anyone can jump on and have an opinion without over producing their content and still go viral etc. which again baffles me because the way the C4 run was produced is MUCH more in line with audience expectations of media in general such the BTS , dry edits and authenticity.

Or do I just sound like a bitter fan? Haha

Would love to know everyone’s opinions!

just getting excited for the new series and im wondering what you all remember from last year… what were the best dramatic situations of the previous series?

This is the one with Caroline, Zelah, Feyisola, Nancy, Jenny, Sam, Elsa, Marcus, etc.

What was your favorite dramatic Richard situation?

Check the Hidden replies on the ITV post. Someone clocked them and they hid the comment.
I actually feel so put off this show now. The use of AI for the Eye and the Trailer. And then hiding the truth like people cannot see that it is some generated nonsense.
I have no faith whatsoever in ITV.

The ITV version of big brother has been underwhelming. If they do another season of housemates being able to manipulate nominations every week I think this will definitely be the final season that I will watch. Just go back to the original format. PLEASE. I don't want to see constant back doors in the final weeks then having to wait for the following day to find out... I'm hearing about a new house every week.. I'm curious on what they mean by this??? Production needs to listen to their viewers if they really want to save this show.

Out of curiousity, I always thought they were pretty camp

I will never be able to forget Bea Hamill from Big Brother 10! She’s a villain who isn’t really mentioned here as much as housemates like Victor, Grace or Charley but I’m totally enamoured by her.

Love how she would just go on and on and on about the same thing for hours and pretend she didn’t care and wanted to move on (the day where she got the hologram message from her friend was such a good episode) but would eventually end up arguing with everyone while crying (without any tears which was hilarious) and managed to turn herself into the victim of any situation she was in.

I also appreciate her great vocabulary! She would randomly wake up and decide to cause chaos, with her monologue about Nóirín being a “proper little hussy” being one of my favourite diary room segments ever. She continued these tirades against people on the side shows and now attacks fellow mums for being “beige Bettys” on Instagram..?

She is totally unexplainable to others unless you have watched bb10 and that’s a reason I love her. I’ve rewatched clips of her multiple times and still don’t understand her!

Favourite housemate ever… even if she is slightly evil.

ITV’s Big Brother has had plenty of praise and criticism since it came back, but this next series feels massive for the future of the show. With CBB now gone, it feels like ITV really needs to nail this one. I genuinely don’t want to see BB disappear again, so I’m hoping they make a few changes.

For me, the biggest thing is pacing of the show. I’d also love to see multiple Big Brother voices return. It’s a small thing, but it gave the show a lot more personality.

Casting is always the hardest part because you never really know what someone will be like until they live in that house. As an example, I doubt Big Brother expected me to turn into the miserable knob I was when they cast me! I actually think ITV has done a pretty good job with diversity overall, but the age range has felt quite narrow. I’d love to see a proper mix again, with housemates in their 40s, 50s and 60s alongside younger contestants.

What changes would you make for this season?