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Marley wins Big Brother 2021

26 year old nice guy takes out the title in a Live to air finale.

Disability support worker and basketballer Marley Biyendolo has won the title of Big Brother 2021, taking out the $250,000 prize.

Marley, who was favourite to win, defeated finalists Christina Podolyan and Sarah Jane “SJ” Adams in a live finale last night.

His win comes on top of a $10,000 prize already won during a series challenge.

The 26-year-old from Melbourne, proved popular in the house, winning over rivals with his honest personality and showing physical strength in challenges. He was joined on stage by father Clotaire and brother Dieuson, as he paid tribute to his mother Victoria, who passed away from cancer four years ago.

“I wanted to play a truthful and honest game and show everyone in the outside world that doing these things can allow you to succeed in life,” he said. “I’m so proud of the game I played, and I know my mum’s proud of it.

“I’m going to take care of dad, whatever he needs, whatever he wants, and set him up for the rest of his life.”

The finale, hosted by Sonia Kruger, was a battle between possibly the show’s most diverse finalists ever, with Biyendolo having Congolese heritage, while Christina Podolyan is Russian-Australian and Sarah-Jane Adams is the oldest contest in an Australian Big Brother.

Housemates reunited on stage last night included Tilly, Daniel, Mary, Adriana, Katie, Carlos and final evictee Ari. Others were forced to appear virtually due to COVID restrictions while plans for an audience were also abandoned.

Casting is now underway for Big Brother 2022 at www.bigbrothercasting.com.au

22 Responses

  1. Regardless of Covid or not, the finale seemed messy and thrown together last minute. IMO, should of been like

    -Show footage of HM in house one last night
    -Last morning in house have champagne breakfast with all evicted HM return (see who has made up, hasn’t etc, awkard encounters etc. Like when mary didn’t say goodbye to Marley when evicted, how would that interaction have been?)
    -Family enters the house (scrap them on the screen in living room – BB1 to Ben “I have one last Surprise for you…” – family comes in)
    -On stage, all HM already seated so Sonia can talk to everyone (keep HM on a screen to the side who are on Zoom…what was the point, really)
    -Chats with final 3 (diary room chair and Sonia on a random chair next to them seemed very bizzare and pointless. Stage was way too big, even if they did plan an audience)
    -Winner announced (no family on stage)
    -Close with lights being turned off in each room of house with echos of biggest chats that have happened (like Ch…

    1. That would have been great but she show was prerecorded ~2 months before it aired (sans the finale), so they wouldn’t have forced the housemates to wait for an extra few months before they can leave.

      If it was recorded as it happened like… every other big brother season ever, I’m sure they would have done this!

  2. I think the final 2 episodes could have been merged into a great finale. Have the celebration of making the Top 3 at the start of the finale and then move into the winner announcement. I also like ‘andrewsyd’ comment about seeing never-before seen moments in the finale.

    A random solution I had to make one episode each week of the pre-recorded BB have more fan interaction, is to film 2x house tasks (maybe from the 2 contestants who were saved from the previous evection for consistency) and then allow Australia to vote for which task is played on TV each “Wednesday” night. Have the other one available after on 7Plus. This could allow more engagement from fans, and then create more exclusive content to watch later online.

  3. Congratulations to Marley, a fully deserved win. Ok he played the dad card a bit much at the end but he played an honest game & absolutely smashed the physical challenges.

    As i’ve said before, i think 7 have done an outstanding job with the production of this series. I understand covid restrictions messed up their plans for the finale, but i would think by now most productions would have a well thought out plan B for if these situations arise. 7 don’t seem to have done so for the live finale.

    So one of my favorite housemates Jesse & the others who were not able to be there in person basically got next to no screen time. They had the technology to show them on the screen, i don’t know why they couldn’t leave that up there & interact with them a bit more.

  4. I love this new format and always hated the original. So I guess it’s kind of for a different audience really. The only thing I don’t like is the finale episode, because it is nothing like the rest of the series. Sticks out like a sore thumb and two years in a row, that last episode has not been enjoyable.
    What they could do to improve it is save “unseen” moments for the finale and incorporate them into a more in-depth group discussion between Sonia and the housemates. Instead of going over the same-old predictable topics they usually mention. There must be a lot of unused content good enough to show that just doesn’t really fit into a normal episode.
    And if COVID weren’t a thing, there would probably be more of an opportunity to create some sort of content for the finale that’s more of a follow-up on how they have/haven’t reconnected over 6 months since filming.

    1. The final episode needs to be the housemates in the house. Then they leave to a studio. But I guess that isn’t viable now it isn’t live until the final day. The magic has gone from the BB Finale. Even ch9 did a great job of it and especially the memorable year they had every housemate dancing throughout the house and camera runs as they handed the prize money in a briefcase along the line until it got to the house.

      1. Absolutely agree! Having the final 3 in the house, eliminating 2 and then announcing the winner while they are still in the house then have them on stage – used to be so good watching the winner take it all in, alone, inside the house in the original series.

  5. Yes, lack of social distancing is stupid…hope 7 stops pre-recording the show, it really should be live so that it can be “Australia’s vote” throughout the whole season.

  6. Notwithstanding the lockdown issues, the finale was pretty average I thought. Too much focus on Danny, and some of the housemates were not even allowed to say a thing – whether on stage or by remote. Dragged out final segments, could have at least been used to check in with some of the others. But that said, Marley was a worthy winner.

  7. If newsreaders are social distancing during strict lockdown, why is the BB cast not? Hugging and gushing and not a mask to be seen? Absolutely beyond a joke, and almost worthy of further investigation by authorities.

  8. I would like to know the percentages of votes. Who ran second and who ran third and by how much did Marley win by? Happy for him though, he seems like a genuinely nice guy. Don’t nice guys usually come last?

  9. I tuned in for a little bit at the end to see who won… havent watched for 3 or so weeks. What a low budget terrible finale. Im absolutely done with BB on 7 they have well and truly ruined it.

  10. I was glad to see Marley win, as he was the one I voted to win out the three of them. I was glad SJ didn’t win, as she is a personal friend of Sonia and Sonia saved her during the season.. I would of liked to of see either Danny or Ari win, because they were the most entertaining players of the season.

    I applied for the next season, hopefully the producers have see enough to cast me on the next season!

  11. A very deserving winner, he got my vote. If Danny was there, would’ve voted for him as he made the most moves and best game play.

    Last nights show was pretty cringeworthy with Sonia’s questions in particular for Christina. Seems like she was trying to get answers from her regarding her relationship with Brenton and one were forthcoming and then talking about a wedding. Just not needed.

  12. I do love the stringent social distancing of live shows up until the announcement where everybody just hugs each other anyway. Surely the show’s organisers should be fined? That aside, a great series boosted by Danny the underdog. I just wish the final episode was better, maybe they could pre record another day in the house incorporating past contestants with mini challenges etc and then cut to the announcement on stage? I found myself fast forwarding to the last 5 mins just like last year.

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