TV Guide: Big Brother Australia on Seven

Posted on 26 April 2021

• Big Brother returns Monday, April 26th on Channel Seven, at 7:30 pm.

In 2020, Big Brother returned to Australian screens with a new voice, new format and new house filled with a modern melting pot of housemates. The season reached a total video audience of 1.385 million and smashed 7plus records.

This year, there’s more to Big Brother’s house than meets the eye in a new season that will air Monday, April 26th on Channel Seven, at 7:30 pm.

In the first week, 20 housemates will enter the Big Brother house where they’ll live together for more than 60 days, cut off from the outside world, with cameras and microphones recording their every move 24 hours a day.

These housemates think they know Big Brother, but with new rules and twists in a house full of secrets, they’ll have to think on their feet and play the game hard if they want to make it to the end.

Big Brother’s House Tasks are back to surprise, torture, and delight the housemates as they try to secure rewards.

Housemates will also compete in Nomination Challenges in The Basement and new challenge arena, The Yard, to win the power to nominate their fellow housemates for eviction.

There’ll be an eviction every episode in which housemates will individually vote to decide who will leave the house. Big Brother host Sonia Kruger will use these eviction ceremonies to interrogate the housemates about their strategies, motives and alliances, as well as unpack all the gossip from inside the house.

Earlier this week, Mediaweek spoke to Seven’s director of production Andrew Backwell about what’s in store for the show.

“The twists and turns in series two are sensational, it’s not just a replication of season one. You go on a journey and just as you think you are about to get it, there is a new twist or turn that leaves the housemate dumbstruck.

“We are calling it a house full of secrets because the twists and turns are just amazing, very very clever,” said Backwell.

Last year was the first time ever the show wasn’t done live, and Backwell said the show had to focus on explaining the benefits of this to its audience.

“We had to sell the idea to the audience that it’s not happening in real time but you still decide who the winner is. And with post-production you can tell a great story in it.

“Last year we achieved that. There was a perception that Big Brother in previous seasons had been a lot of young people sitting around the pool talking rubbish, but Endemol Shine, and the exec producer Amelia Fisk managed to take the format and give it some real storytelling.”

Backwell said that executive producer Amelia Fisk has taken Big Brother to another level this year after piloting the show’s successful return to market in 2020.

“What Amelia has done with season two is take what she did in season one and amplify it. We have got a better cast, a broader cast, the challenges are bigger, and the gameplay is more extreme.

“Our series two of Big Brother is one of the best reality TV shows in the country and that is because of Endemol Shine and Amelia Fisk who has done a sensational job.”

The Contestants

Ari, 22, NSW