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Seven looks to UK as it considers ‘Live’ Big Brother

Updated: Seven exec says fans wanting a 'Live' Big Brother have a valid point and the idea is under consideration.

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EXCLUSIVE:

With Seven having confirmed the return of Big Brother Uncut, could a ‘Live’ show be next on the cards?

Seven’s Head of Scheduling Brook Hall says isn’t ruling it in or out, although the next season, expected in November was filmed a year ago.

“We tried over the years to broaden Big Brother out and had varying success. We tried to make it pre-recorded, family safe, more games. (2023) will be a more stripped-back to traditional Big Brother, where the cast is younger,” he recently told TV Tonight.

“There won’t be so much gameplay, it’ll go back to more Big Brother from the past. It was becoming almost Survivor-esque. During COVID we had control over it, it was amazing. But we’ve now thought there’s so much in that space, let it be more raw Big Brother.”

Yet an ongoing plea from Big Brother fans is to return to the ‘Live’ edition, which traditionally screened in an edited version, 24 hours after filming and with Live nominations.

“I think they’ve got a valid point. I would admit that,” said Hall.

“Trust me, when we discussed doing this we said ‘It’s evolving too much’….probably the first season we got away with it, but then contestants realised what it was when they watched it.

“Yes, it’s not live. But that has been discussed and in fact, the UK has commissioned the return of Big Brother with full on, Live nominations. I can say we are looking at how that goes.

“It was funny, after we’d shot they announced they were booting up the old version. So we’re looking at that.”

Big Brother returns to Seven soon.

Update: Big Brother Uncut will screen in 2023 on 7plus.

15 Responses

  1. It’s funny though because we’ve been telling 7 this since it came back before it even first started up again and they haven’t listened until the UK does it and it’s like oh maybe we should. Honestly should have happened this year for a revamp but it’s too late for that now. They went all love fest on us. Will be interesting how this year goes though with that theme and the addition of uncut on 7plus but it could be too little too late and we never will get the show how it was intended to be, live.

  2. I never understood all the games. It’s not what I watched Big Brother for, and I always skipped the games episodes. Fast forward a few season and the games were seemingly every night.

  3. I think I have up last season after a week as it was so boring, pre taped and sanitised, you can tell they’ve been told to watch their language etc by the way they all speak so there’s no natural interactions, each episode so edited and taken mostly up with the challenges so I gave it away. Let’s see if this years draws me back in, certainly not as exciting as the live anything can happen years.

  4. It really needs to go back to the way it use to be. It needs to be people of all ages and with different opinions. I remember as a kid watching it and seeing people discussing their opinions and it always seemed interesting to me. These days reality TV is all about romantic and sexual relationships and big brother use to be more of social relationships which was it’s drawcard. Strip it right back to how it use to be and it will do so much better.

  5. Big Brother absolutely should be live, but it’s also about trust too. Seven has completely lost it’s trust with the fanbase so even if they go live now the damage is already done. It needs a complete reset and for a future live series to reach it’s true potential it’ll need to be away from Channel 7.

  6. The whole appeal of Big Brother was the live aspect and the fact that it was pure voyeurism where if you were so inclined you could go on the website at 1 in the morning and watch somebody have a coffee scratch their arse and fall asleep. Then you would get bored, watch the edited highlights the next day and phone up to vote somebody off. but the show became a shadow of it self after the pearl clutching because of a turkey slap. So the nation decided we would rather watch the mess that is damaged people pretending the’re married. Big Brothers time is past it’s as relevant as RBT repeats.

  7. See, I’m torn.
    I have no interest in Big Brother: Love Shack.
    But if they are going to revert to the old school Live version. I’m tempted to watch so it doesn’t get cancelled.
    I understand with Covid, you had to be careful, but that version should have been the exception, not the rule.
    I am loving the current UK series, and want 7 to go back to this version of the show.
    Live shows.
    Live public evictions. (I need my power back.)
    Tasks that go across multiple days.
    A range of people across various ages.
    Like, I want to see more conversations between people who don’t normally sit down and talk.
    I want to see a version where you get the left-leaning person in a conversation with a right-winged person.
    I want to hear the roar of the crowd when Sonia goes on in the house and says “Housemates, this is Sonia. We are live on Channel 7, please do not swear.”
    Heck, I just want the UK series producers to come in and make our version too.

  9. I’ve really been enjoying BBUK, great casting, fun tasks and house drama. A proper Big Brother social experiment not survivor in a house. I’ve watched each channel 7 series for lack of better options but I think I’ll skip this year now I’ve had a proper fix from the UK.

  10. Remarkable, fans have a “valid point” for actually wanting a Big Brother season. Not this nonsense.

    When the show is live, when there are updates, live streams and constant material. It’s a completely different experience. It’s so much more engaging and you’re invested. You’re along for the ride. Now we just have something filmed last year, no one’s in the house. We watch a few nights of the week if we remember. The episodes are edited to a format. We get no real growth or character as the push romance angles no one cares about. There’s no real sense of life in the BB house because whatever reality there is is edited out to fit the format.

  11. Having been converted to BB by 7’s ‘Survivor in a house’ format, I’ll be switching off to ‘bland 20-somethings in a house doing bugger all’, live or otherwise.

  12. If they do go live, I hope they maintain some of the game aspects of the current version (challenges & allowing the housemates to strategise and politic about the voting).

    Because I think a show that is exactly like the old version (mostly observational in nature with more slow burn drama) will appeal to viewers in 2023.

  13. Based on all the social media comments, this season is going to tank for 7 – so if they were smart, they’d go next year as live to win back the audience. It needs to be the original social experiment.

    They should 100% take into consideration how (most) of the uk has been done. Casting has been brilliant, including a great representation. The pre-season marketing campaign was next to none, the house is great (it puts the Aussie one to shame, really).

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