Big Brother (British TV series) series 7
Template:In-progress tvshow Template:Big Brother housemates Big Brother UK series 7, broadcast in the United Kingdom in 2006, is the seventh season of the popular Big Brother reality television series. Shown on Channel 4 from May 18, 2006 to August 18, 2006, it is the longest series yet at thirteen weeks long. The series has been criticised by many different organisations for the introduction of a man with Tourette syndrome to the house and forbidding, for a short period, contestants to speak in Welsh. On the opening night, the programme obtained a peak audience of 8.1 million viewers, one million greater than the previous year's show.[1]
The show's format is unchanged from previous years. A number of contestants (known as "housemates") live in a purpose-built house at Elstree Studios, totally isolated from the rest of the world. Each week, one is evicted from the house, by way of a public vote. The final housemate to leave wins £100,000. There is no runner's up prize.
Companion shows Big Brother's Big Mouth and Big Brother's Little Brother are retained this series, with the addition of Big Brother's Big Brain (a psychology show), hosted by Dermot O'Leary. Live action is available online through the official C4 website and, with a 15-minute delay, is available by pressing the red button on E4 via Sky Digital (UK, not ROI subscribers) and Freeview. On Freeview this will be removed in mid-July and replaced with FilmFour.[2]
Contents |
|---|
Housemates
Of the seventeen housemates introduced into the house, fourteen entered on the launch night. This is greater than previous years. Due to the departures of Shahbaz and Dawn, two new housemates — Sam and Aisleyne — were introduced as part of the Meal or No Meal task. Five more will enter in the coming Friday to the a secret house next door, totalling 22 housemates, a new record.
This series overall has seen the largest number of housemates to leave without eviction, with three so far, beating the third series, where two housemates walked out and had a total of 14, the fifth series, in which two were ejected and had a total of 13 and the sixth series which, because of the "Secret Garden" twist, ended up with 16 housemates.
Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace
Aisleyne (born December 2 1978) is a bitchy cunt from London, who entered on Day 12 as a prize won during the Meal or No Meal task in week 2. Aisleyne was rumoured to be dating a cow, after a photograph of her kissing one appeared in the papers shortly after she entered the house. The News of the World claimed that Aisleyne has had romantic relations with former Miss Universe contestant Anne Billington. It has also been claimed that she has a long-term girlfriend, who is currently serving a ten-year prison sentence for armed robbery [3]. She sparked bitching among Imogen, Grace, and Sezer who vowed to give her a hard time in the house. On Big Brother's Big Brain, it was mentioned that according to the Machiavellian test that all contestents took before the show, Aisleyne would be more willing than her fellow housemates to manipulate others in order to succeed in the house. When Grace flung a glass of water at Susie seconds before her eviction from the Big Brother house, Aisleyne was the most vocal housemate, expressing shock and disgust at Grace's actions. On the sixth week, with five nominations, faced eviction to the secret house next door.
Bonnie Holt
Bonnie Holt (born February 1986), the first housemate to enter, is a care worker from Loughborough, working with people who have Down's syndrome.[4] She was noted for her strong Loughborough accent, which caused some people to call her "Bonneh". She was the series first evictee, on Day 9, with 78% of the vote. This may have been due to the fact that she was rather quiet and shy during her time in the house, failing to show much of her loud and upfront nature seen in her audition tape, however this audition tape may have been the cause for her to be ejected first due to the immense booing that she received as she entered for the first time.
Dawn Blake
Dawn is a 38-year-old exercise scientist from Birmingham, who thinks "the realities of life are shit". She claims to be the great great granddaughter of poet William Blake[citation needed], though William Blake had no children. In her audition for the show Dawn claimed that she thinks Gandhi, Bob Geldof and Mother Theresa are rare examples of genuinely "nice" people and everyone else in the world are just "bastards". She also stated that because of this, she doesn't have, or need, any friends, and is somewhat of a loner. However, similar to almost all the housemates, her personality in the house seemed to differ greatly from her personality in her audition tape, as she was generally friendly to all the other housemates. On entry to the house, she claimed that if she were to be reincarnated, she would want to come back as either Jesus or Adolf Hitler.
Dawn was ejected from the house after a coded communication with the outside world, thereby breaking one of the fundamental rules of Big Brother. [5] Dawn had asked to leave the Big Brother house after receiving the message; when producers were reluctant to let her leave, she told Big Brother about this rule-breaking, thus forcing them to remove her. When called to the diary room to be informed of her ejection, she consistently talked over Big Brother in order to emphasise that in her view she was not removed, but left voluntarily.
During her time in the house Dawn was subject to accusations by fellow housemate Nikki of causing a BO epidemic in the house's towels and clothes; however, Dawn did not find out about this during her stay in the house. When she was ejected from the house she said "Oh, shut up!" 37 times. An extended version of the conversation, shown later, revealed that she had calmly asked to leave voluntarily before this tirade.
George Askew
George is a 19-year-old student from London, whose friends include Princess Beatrice of York and Sam Sangster (son of the race-horse owner Robert Sangster). A former student at Ludgrove School (he was there at the same time as Prince William and Prince Harry), he went on to Harrow School. George is the son of a former private secretary to the Prince of Wales. He is a great-grandson of the 4th Earl of Ellesmere (through his paternal grandmother, Lady Susan Askew) and his great-uncle was the 6th Duke of Sutherland. One of his father's cousins married into the Bowes-Lyon family, Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and so it has been claimed he is linked to Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.[6]
Whilst in the house, George seemed to form an affection for Grace, despite all the other housemates assuming he liked Nikki. Grace seemed rather fond of him too, and until his exit on day 13 it was thought that he and she might get together.
On day 13, George left the Big Brother house. He had told Grace his intentions earlier and she could not persuade him to stay. Before leaving he told Big Brother in the Diary Room: "My reason for leaving the Big Brother house is the thought of fame and how I would like to continue my private life – and fame is too much for me."[7], he has not been replaced.
Glyn Wise
Glyn (born 9 January, 1988) is a student, self-proclaimed "Sexiest Lifeguard in North Wales" and nudist from Blaenau Ffestiniog in Gwynedd. He entered the house in his lifeguard attire complete with buoyancy aid. His first language is Welsh and often speaks to fellow housemate, Imogen in Welsh. Subtitles are used to translate their conversations. Despite the apparently relatively high regard with which Glyn seems to hold himself and his physical appearance, he has only achieved a little success with the opposite sex by receiving a lap dance and snog from 35-year-old Lea. He is the most intelligent housemate according to an intelligence test which all the housemates sat. Other tests revealed him to be the happiest and most perceptive housemate. He often breaks into song spontaneously and has done partial streaks whilst in the house, both deliberate and otherwise. In comparison to his first week and a half where he was extremely quiet, shy and reserved but it appears that he has now come into his own.
Grace Adams-Short
Grace (born August 1985) is a dance teacher from Plymouth but now lives in London. A self-confessed Sloane Ranger. Grace became close to Mikey and George and it was disputed both in and outside of the house as to which one she would "pair up" with, until George left. While in the house, she stated that she would not model for Nuts or Zoo but would for something like FHM. She also claimed she would not pose topless due to her job.
Her time in the house heralded a number of exposés of her life, including claims that she was a childhood bully[8], and a failed pop star [9].
Grace cried after hearing repeated chants of "Get Grace out" from the eviction night crowd on Day 23.
Grace was evicted on Day 30, throwing a glass of water over Susie as she left. She received 87.9% of the vote. Before entering the house, Grace appeared on a TV show called Senseless for MTV, in which her ex-boyfriend fooled her and sent her on a date with a cross-dresser. This was originally shown on MTV on 12 June 2006, four days before Grace's eviction from the house. [10]
Imogen Thomas
Imogen (born November 27 1982) is a bar hostess and former beauty queen from Llanelli, South Wales. She was Miss Wales in 2003. Imogen claims to have had sexual relations with footballers Sol Campbell, Cristiano Ronaldo and Dwight Yorke, with whom she reportedly finished the relationship because "he was no longer famous enough".The Sun claimed that she had an affair with music producer Stephan P. Ashton. Up to week 5, Imogen was not allowed to nominate properly. In week 1 she was in the Big Brotherhood, and there were no nominations. In weeks 2 and 3, she was banned from nominating for discussing nominations. In week 4, only the "Golden Housemate" was permitted to nominate, and in week 5, as punishment for yet again discussing nominations she was forced (along with 4 other rule breakers) to nominate one fellow rule breaker in front of the group. She has only nominated once, in week 6.
Lea Walker
Lea is a single mother and model from Nottingham aged 35 [11] who has spent a reported £35,000 on plastic surgery, raising funds by selling her house.
She recently made a drunken confession to fellow housemate Pete that she found him attractive, which shocked him, because he always saw her as a mother figure to him, but told her he was flattered and that he was cool with it all.
A documentary named "Plastic Surgery Ruined My Wife" was aired on Five in which Lea was featured due to her large breasts.
Lisa Huo
Lisa (born January 4 1979) is a Chinese upholsterer from Ashton-under-Lyne. She speaks fluent Shanghainese [1], and lived in Shanghai, China until she was two. She admitted to fancying Pete, but as week 3 progressed, Lisa's friendship with Pete began to deteriorate, as he made it clear he only liked her as a friend and she appeared to take pleasure in torturing and killing insects, something that upset Pete greatly and led to an angry confrontation. Lisa became known for her regular use of the words "mint" (to describe something good), "alright", and in particular, "fuck".
In light of her 'rejection' by Pete, Lisa seemingly changed camps, spending less time with her original friends and more time with Grace, Imogen and Mikey. On Day 26 she won the Waiting Task, thereby gaining immunity from nomination for that week. She was evicted on Day 37 having received 60.3% of the public vote. During her interview, Davina showed a clip of her in which she swore 88 times in a 20 minute diary room conversation.
Mikey Dalton
Mikey (born 1983, real name: Sahin Michael Hamadani) is a 23-year-old half-Iranian Liverpudlian software developer and model. When he was at school, Mikey changed his name by adopting his mother maiden name and his middle name in fear of a racist backlash.[12] During his time, his activities in the house have been so far been dominated by flirtatious activity with both Imogen and Grace. Although after George's departure he became fairly close to Grace, to the extent that upon her eviction Davina McCall questioned her as to what had happened the night before under the duvet of the bed they shared, and despite his promise to wait for her, he has become physically close to Imogen since. His video package at the start of the series saw him claim that he dislikes feminists and believes that women and men are not equal, which brought him a negative reaction from the crowd. Despite these claims, this side of his personality has not been seen in the house and Mikey has been a fairly reserved housemate.
Nikki Grahame
Nikki (born April 1982) is a model and dancer whose ambition is to marry a Premiership footballer, or a rich person, to use his credit card for unnecessary manicures etc, according to her audition VT.
Nikki has been known to become emotional at the slightest provocation. Her grievances have ranged from a lack of male attention to not being provided with her £16 make-up remover or her clothes. Nikki also demonstrated a distinct lack of aptitude in cooking food (she allowed a wok containing only olive oil to burn) while criticising a meal prepared for the house by Grace. Most recently Nikki became distraught when a beer she had hidden for herself was found and consumed by Mikey.
Nikki has appeared as an extra in an episode of EastEnders.[13]
Pete Bennett
Pete (born 1982), second housemate to enter, is a 24-year-old rock and roll singer from Brighton, who has Tourette syndrome. His band, Daddy Fantastic, claim to be influenced by Jimi Hendrix and Scooby Doo. According to a report in the Sunday Mirror, Pete's most prized possession is a teddy bear given to him as a birthday present by Robert Smith, lead singer of The Cure, who is a friend of Pete's mother Anne.
There is ambiguity over Pete's surname. Some claim that it's "Bennett"[14] and some that it's Stephenson.[15] His name is Bennett but his mother is Mrs Stephenson, having remarried [16]. During a conversation with Aisleyne, he said that he too had a double-barrelled name, which explains the discrepancies.
Richard Newman
Richard (born August 1972) is a 33-year-old Canadian, and self-styled "sexual terrorist" (for his elaborate fantasies of sexual relations with other men). He has taken on the role of the "father figure" in the house according to former fellow housemate George. He is also something of an "agony uncle" and is always giving advice to other housemates. He even taught Glyn how to wash his clothes. Richard says that he has a preference for 'big, dumb men' and his ideal weekend away would be spent in prison. He also said his dream birthday present would be a bigger bed, because his current one can only hold two people.
According to the shouting test, he is the loudest housemate. He once referred to Imogen as "dull, boring and plastic". Although he has portrayed himself as caring for the other housemates, Richard led the group in sending Shahbaz to Coventry.
Sam Brodie
Born as a male in 1987, Sam is a 19-year-old half-Indonesian half-Scottish cross-dresser from Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland, and is an unemployed nail technician. Sam entered on Day 12 as a prize for Meal or No Meal. Although not having had a sex-change operation, Davina revealed on the live programming that Sam prefers to be referred to as a female. Sam confessed to the housemates to being biologically male on the same night as entering the house, and said they could act however they wish. Sam appeared to have insomnia and became known for repeatedly telling all the housemates that they are "amazing".[17][18] Sam speaks fluent Malay, Indonesian and French. [2]
Sam caused some problems in the house as the other housemates felt Sam was "too nice". Sam also caused controversy among housemates by entering or staying inside the bathroom whilst others used the toilet. On day 23, Sam lost out to Nikki and became the third housemate to be evicted from BB7, with 53.7% of the vote. Sam is to become a dad in the near future, following a drunken night with a best friend, and is said to be "delighted" [3].
Sezer Yurtseven
Sezer (born February 25, 1980) is a 26-year-old Turkish-Cypriot, claiming to be a stock broker and property developer from London. Sezer previously played cricket for Kent up to under-19 level. He is a former boxer, competing in white collar boxing [19], [20] and he claims he is the youngest person to have been on the London Stock Exchange floor at the age of 18, but Stock Exchange closed when Sezer was 6.
However, it turns out Sezer is not a complete fantasist. He is registered with the Financial Services Authority as having worked in commodities and foreign exchange trading at three different firms: a brokerage called ADM between 2001 and 2002, then as an independent trader at London Capital Group until 2004, and at a trading arcade called Schneider Trading Associates up to February 2006. Sezer is also a director of three companies, including the eponymous Cezer Trading and Seven International Property (both dormant having never traded). Given his self-declared wealth, it is seen as odd that at 26 year old Sezer still lives at home with his mother. [21]. The Sun revealed that Sezer had been arrested for an alleged date rape in 2004 but the charge was dropped due to lack of evidence. [22]
Sezer was evicted on day 16 with a record 91.6% of the vote. It is believed that Sezer was evicted because he told fellow housemates that the girls watching would vote to keep him in. He even told Imogen that if they were both up for eviction, he would win because more girls vote than boys. Several housemates later cited this as being sexist. It was this perceived smugness and vanity, and his confiding to housemates that he intended to "bully" at least one other housemate, that probably led to Sezer's downfall. He was self-assured right up to the moment his name was announced, at which point his mouth literally fell open. He walked out to boos and jeering. After watching footage of himself in his eviction interview he admitted he was ashamed of his behaviour and looked visibly uncomfortable.
In the week after eviction, Sezer tried to prove he was a nice guy after all, by completing tasks such as dating Vanessa Feltz and visiting an elderly person's residential home on Big Brother's Little Brother.
Shahbaz Chauhdry
Shahbaz (born March 1969) is a Glaswegian of Asian ethnicity. He styles himself as "the Paki poof" (the "poof" referring to his homosexual orientation) or a "wacky Paki", a phrase that caused offence with at least one housemate. Shahbaz writes poetry in his spare time and longs to get it published one day. He also knits and despite classifying himself as unemployable, according to the Daily Star he once worked as an entertainer in a detention centre for illegal immigrants[citation needed].
Shahbaz was criticised by some housemates for what they regard as childish behaviour including throwing most of the food in the house in a box in the garden. It was generally accepted that he did not adapt well to life in the house. Through his acting-out behaviour and "theatrical" monologues Shahbaz was cast aside by his fellow housemates, except Pete, Glyn and George. Shahbaz was being monitored by production team psychologists following comments that he intended to commit suicide whilst in the house [23] and he asked to leave the Big Brother house, departing on Day 6. On this final day in the house he was subjected to bullying and ostracisation by other housemates, which included them locking him outside in the garden, mocking him, stealing his clothes while he was swimming, insulting him, throwing his breakfast in the bin and then shouting at him for wasting food, and pointedly leaving the sitting room upon his entrance. All housemates present left the living room except George, who stayed in the room claiming that he was his "own man".
After leaving the house, it had become clear that Shahbaz understated his mental condition to psychologists, therefore cheating the selection process [24].
Susie Verrico
Susie (born 21 March 1963, maiden name: Willis) is a model from Kent who entered the house with a Golden Ticket from the promotion with Nestlé Rowntree's. Some of her most notable work during her modelling career was as a stripper in HIM's cover version of Chris Isaak's Wicked Game. She has also been a lapdancer, despite being married to a wealthy businessman husband[citation needed]. Her husband had bought sixty boxes of Kit Kats, but they still didn't find one. He later bid £4000 on eBay for one, subsequently winning. Susie also auditioned for the show, as well as Big Brother 3, 5 and 6 (series 5 of which she was a reserve housemate that was not entered). Because of this, several housemates recognised her from auditions and the press carried suggestions that the lottery which ended up with her entering the house was rigged.
As the Golden Housemate, Susie was obligated to abide by the Golden Rules:
- Susie was forbidden to discuss the outside world with the other housemates.
- Susie had her own Golden Quarters, including a Golden Bedroom, Golden Toilet and Golden Shower.
- Susie had to wear gold at all times.
- Susie was the only housemate to nominate in week 4. The other housemates knew this before the nominations, but were forbidden from telling Susie. The two housemates she chose (Nikki and Grace) therefore automatically face eviction. Any housemate that revealed this to Susie would also have faced eviction.
Following her nominations of Grace and Nikki in Week 4, Susie was bullied by the two for her choices. This included Susie's room being raided and robbed of a bottle of champagne by Grace who then shared it with several close housemates in the toilets, and Grace throwing a cup of water at Susie during her 30 second eviction countdown.
Susie has also faired fairly highly on the controversy scale both inside and outside of the house with newspapers fronting headlines with the, supposed, news that the Golden ticket idea may have been a scam.
Chronology
Weeks 1 and 2
During week one, "The Big Brotherhood" task was introduced, in which some housemates were elected to "The Big Brotherhood" and hence received their suitcases and were immune from eviction that week.[25] Lisa and Shahbaz, as leaders of "The Big Brotherhood", chose the housemates who would enter this group, until just three were left (Dawn, Glyn and Bonnie). These then faced the public vote and Bonnie was evicted on Day 9.[26]
On Day 5, Shahbaz hid the housemates' food in the garden. After it was uncovered, Shahbaz admitted to the act and, increasingly ostracised and bullied, left the show voluntarily on Day 6.[27]
On Day 7, Dawn asked to leave the Big Brother house after receiving a message from her family that her sister was ill. Dawn admitted to the other housemates that this was code that "things [ie press coverage] were getting too heavy". As a result, Dawn was ejected from the house by Big Brother for rulebreaking the following day.[28]
The second task introduced to the housemates was that of "Meal or No Meal" (a pun of Endemol's other television series, Deal or No Deal). The task entailed the housemates answering various questions, in order to win a luxury food budget. At the climax of the task (on Day 12), Pete was asked questions answered wrongly in previous rounds. Getting three out of four right, Pete won the house two new housemates, Sam and Aisleyne.[29] Some of the original housemates adapted badly to the new arrivals, criticising them nearly immediately. Sezer was the main instigator and vowed to bully them.[30]
George left voluntarily on Day 13.[31] That same day, both Sezer and Imogen were banned from nominating due to their discussion of tactics the previous night. In this round of nominations, Richard, Lea and Sezer were revealed as facing the public vote.[32]
On day 16, Sezer became the second person to be evicted from the house with a record 91.6% of the vote.[33]
Weeks 3 and 4
On day 23, Sam became the third housemate to be evicted from the house. Susie became the Golden Ticket winner and thus the Golden Housemate after Aisleyne randomly picked a bingo ball out of a bingo-style machine. During this time, as housemates were in the garden and BB was speaking through the intercom, the crowd outside the compound could be heard chanting "Get Grace out!". The intercoms would usually have blocked the noise out with pre-recorded audience banter. Susie must wear gold at all times and was the only housemate allowed to nominate in week 4, but she was not informed of this until after she had nominated. She nominated Nikki and Grace. Grace was evicted on day 30 with 87.9% of the public vote. After Grace's eviction Susie became an "ordinary" housemate.
Week 4's task was called "The State of Susie". The house was designed as a country under Susie's dictatorship. Housemates had to rally at a statue of Susie and swear allegiance to the State of Susie when a fanfare sounded, eat nothing (excluding bread and margarine) but Susie's favourite food (lobster, poached salmon and strawberries) and sing no song except Susie's three favourites. As housemates kept accidentally singing other songs, they failed the task just four hours after the task began, and occurred 11 fails during the first day of the task. Overall, a record 33 fails were recorded, 30 more than that allowed.
On Day 30, Grace was the fourth housemate to be evicted via public vote. Moments before leaving she doused Susie with a glass of water, leaving the housemates stunned. Aisleyne, the only housemate to stick up for Susie, lost her temper with Grace, but was told to shut up, and was called a moose by Grace, as she cheerfully exited the house, ignoring what she did. It was the first time in this series that housemates were not ordered to close the door, leaving others to see camera flashes and sounds of booing.
Weeks 5 and 6
On Day 33, five out of the remaining ten housemates were punished by Big Brother for discussing nominations the week before. The punishment required them to each nominate one of their fellow five offenders in view of all of the other housemates. Nikki had the highest number of these nominations and automatically faced the public vote. The other five housemates nominated as normal, without choosing Nikki. Imogen, Lisa and Mikey gained the most nominations and were put up for eviction alongside Nikki.
The housemates' task for week 5 was to perform a baton-twirling routine dressed as Majorettes. Glyn was appointed troupe leader, and led the housemates to pass the task, and earn a luxury shopping budget for week 6.
On Day 36, it became apparent that three of the female housemates were attracted to Pete, and a large part of the highlights show was dedicated to their attempts to gain his attention and affection, largely to no avail. Lisa was the fifth housemate to be evicted on Day 37 and left the house to both cheers and boos.
The next day the housemates were split into three teams and set a task, whereby one team had to scrub one person with a large bar of soap in an effort to completely rub it away. The winning team (Imogen, Glyn and Susie) was rewarded with a luxury health spa, including copious amounts of champagne. Later that night, Glyn became very drunk and vomited several times in the bedroom, bathroom and garden.
On Day 41 it was announced that Aisleyne and Susie would face the public vote to move into the neighbouring house.
On the same day, housemates were given a task where a tank containing 792 pints of milk was placed in the garden. The housemates were told to block plugs with their hands on the tank and keep the milk above a certain level before the 48 hour timer (also placed in the garden) timed out. However, this was not the real task. Big Brother called a housemate to the diary room to collect replacement batteries for the microphones. Imogen answered this call and was informed she must fail the task without the housemates realising she was a saboteur. She succeeded, only 8 hours into the task.
Nominations and evictions
| × | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eligible for public vote | Bonnie, Glyn |
Lea, Richard, Sezer |
Nikki, Sam |
Grace, Nikki |
Imogen, Lisa, Mikey, Nikki |
Aisleyne, Susie |
| Evicted | Bonnie | Sezer | Sam | Grace | Lisa |
Title sequence
The title sequence this year contains 'hidden' words, which are clearer when watched in slow motion. At the start is a red screen (blue, purple and orange for BBLB, BBBM and BBBB respectively), containing phrases such as "This is the title sequence for Big Brother", "Not for transmission", and a copyright date of 1903 (written MCMIII), the birth date of George Orwell. Other words flashed on screen include "You are being observed", and, in sequence the text "cam 01", "cam 09", "cam 08" and "cam 04" is show at the top of the screen, making 1984, another reference to 1984. [4]
Secret house
After Lisa's eviction on June 23rd, Davina announced the latest twist in the series. Next to the house is a smaller dwelling, complete with garden. On June 30th, five new housemates will enter this house. The public, instead of voting for a housemate to be evicted, will be voting to transfer one of the current housemates to also live in the new house.[34] The housemate that is moved will return to the original house. The six living in the second house will live "parallel lives" to the eight next door but will be "set their own special tasks".[citation needed]
Criticism
More than years previously, Big Brother has been criticised in the media for both its choice of housemates and its practice once the housemates are inside. Initially the programme faced accusations of exploiting a man with Tourette syndrome, by accepting him as a housemate.[35] The Tourette Syndrome Association of the U.K. claimed that this year's contestant, Pete Bennett, could suffer in the house, and also stated that parents were concerned that their children could be subjected to bullying as a consequence of Pete's behaviour inside the house. Channel 4 said Pete's inclusion could educate people about the syndrome.[36] Pete's mum said "I'm angry when people say Pete shouldn't be on the show - that it is in someway exploitative. It's ridiculous. Do we want people with Tourette's to be accepted or marginalised?"[37]
Further criticism arose when contestant Glyn Wise was reprimanded for communicating in his first language, Welsh, to housemate Imogen Thomas. Big Brother deemed this a form of 'code' and issued a warning to Glyn, who retorted "But Welsh is British". Following the incident, the Welsh Language Society complained to Channel 4, Ofcom and S4C, asking "are we moving towards a state where 'big brother' is watching over us and deciding what language we can and cannot speak?" Since this incident, however, there have been numerous occasions on which Glyn and Imogen have been aired speaking Welsh, with the language subtitled for English-speaking viewers. Clearly, there is no longer the problem of the prohibition of Welsh language in the house. [38]
The programme attracted more criticism on May 31 for putting a total of five "vulnerable" people in the Big Brother house. As well as Pete, Shahbaz was revealed to be mentally and emotionally unstable and threatened to commit suicide on live television; Lea suffers from Body dysmorphic disorder and has previously attempted suicide; 19-year-old Sam has admitted to being ostracized by family members because of homosexuality, and possible gender identity disorder; and Nikki has suffered from anorexia and been sectioned in the past due to the condition. A spokeswoman for mental health charity SANE claimed that producers are "playing fast and loose with people's lives." A spokesperson for Rethink commented "The programme should not profit from people having a breakdown." A spokesman defended the show saying that a psychologist is always available for housemates.[39]
References
- ^ "Big Brother gets record ratings", BBC. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.
- ^ "Good News for Freeview Customers", Big Blagger. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.
- ^ "Aisleyne's Secret Tyson Dates", Daily Mirror. URL last accessed on 2006-06-26.
- ^ "Big Brother: Bonnie", Digital Spy. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.
- ^ "Dawn is Shown the Door", C4. URL last accessed on 2006-06-08.
- ^ "The Leveson-Gower Family". Retrieved 2006-06-08.
- ^ "Big Brother's George quits house". Retrieved 2006-06-08.
- ^ "EXCLUSIVE: BIG BULLY", Daily Mirror, URL last checked 2006-06-08.
- ^ "Grace is a flop star", The Sun, URL last accessed 2006-06-08
- ^ "Who Said Love is Blind? URL last accessed on 2006-06-19.
- ^ "Lea reveals her true age!" Big Brother UK website, URL last checked 2006-06-10
- ^ "'Scouser' Mikey is Iranian" The Sun. URL last accessed on 2006-06-24.
- ^ "Big Brother star was an extra", BBC EastEnders. URL last accessed on 2006-06-14
- ^ "Shahbaz walks out of Big Brother", BBC. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.
- ^ "Don't 'beep' Big Brother's Pete", BBC. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.
- ^ Evening Standard 2006-05-31
- ^ "Nightmare on Elstree", C4. URL last accessed on 2006-06-03.
- ^ "An Insomiac's Nightmare", C4. URL last accessed on 2006-06-03.
- ^ "Boxing Clever" The Independent, URL last accessed 2006-06-08.
- ^ "City life", Telegraph, URL last accessed 2006-06-08.
- ^ "Sezer may not be all he seems", Financial News, URL last accessed 2006-06-08
- ^ "Sezer in rape quiz", The Sun, URL last accessed 2006-06-08.
- ^ "Shahbaz walks out of Big Brother", BBC News, URL last accessed 2006-06-08.
- ^ "Shahbaz misled Big Brother psychologists", Digital Spy, URL last accessed 2006-06-08.
- ^ "Big Brother Strikes", Big Brother Channel 4 website. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.
- ^ "Bonnie Has Been Evicted", Big Brother Channel 4 website. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.
- ^ "Shahbaz Has Left the Building", Big Brother Channel 4 website. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.
- ^ "Big Brother Cracks the Code", Big Brother Channel 4 website. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.
- ^ "NEWSFLASH: New Housemates Arrive", Big Brother Channel 4 website. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.
- ^ "Hard House", Big Brother Channel 4 website. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.
- ^ "Goodbye, George", Big Brother Channel 4 website. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.
- ^ "Nominations Revealed", Big Brother Channel 4 website. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.
- ^ "Sezer evicted", Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2006-06-13.
- ^ "Digital Spy - "More twist details; BB to stage fake eviction"". Retrieved 2006-06-28.
- ^ Tourette's man 'exploited by Big Brother', Daily Mail. URL accessed 2006-06-03.
- ^ "Tourette's housemate 'exploited'", BBC. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.
- ^ "He's not being exploited, says Pete's mum", Daily Mail. URL last accessed on 2006-06-10.
- ^ "Big Brother's warning over Welsh", BBC. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.
- ^ "Big Brother TV's evil eye", The Sun Online. URL last accessed on 2006-06-01.
See also
External links
| Big Brother | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celebrity Big Brother |
| ||||||
| Special | |||||||
| Related articles | |||||||
