109 Fun Facts About Big Brother

Which Dutch producer created the Big Brother format?

John de Mol: his firm merged with Joop van den Ende's in 1994 to form Endemol, and though he sold his share to Telefonica in 2000, he stayed on as its creative chief.

Big Brother takes its name from the all-seeing leader in which novel?

Nineteen Eighty-Four: that all-seeing leader, whose face stares from posters everywhere, drew on accounts of Stalin's personality cult.

How long did housemates stay in the first Dutch Big Brother?

About 100 days: the Dutch show became a hit, and within a year versions of it had launched in Germany, Britain and the US.

What working title did the Dutch creators use for the concept before it became Big Brother?

The Golden Cage: the original concept was finally made under that name in 2006, as a separate reality show.

What did Pete Burns claim his coat on Celebrity Big Brother was made of?

Gorilla fur: police seized the coat after viewers complained, but experts found it was old colobus monkey fur, and no charges were brought.

Which musician's company sued Endemol in 2000, claiming Big Brother copied one of its own TV formats?

Bob Geldof: he and his partners had sold their firm Planet 24 but kept the rights to one of its formats in a new company, Castaway, which brought the suit.

Which MP pretended to be a cat on Celebrity Big Brother, lapping imaginary milk from Rula Lenska's hands?

George Galloway: Labour critics accused the Respect MP of neglecting his constituents while he was in the house.

Which Big Brother twist, introduced in 2001, split the house into unequal halves for rival teams?

Rich and Poor: two teams battled for the luxurious half of the house, and many other national versions later copied the split.

Which pop star's older half-brother, Frankie, was a HouseGuest on Big Brother 16 in 2014?

Ariana Grande: Frankie had promised his challenge winnings to the charity buildOn, and he donated them to build a school in Malawi.

Who hosted every season of the American Big Brother from 2000 through 2025?

Julie Chen Moonves: she also co-hosted the daytime talk show The Talk until quitting in 2018, yet stayed on as Big Brother's host.

In January 2016, which star's ex-wife Angie was told in the Celebrity Big Brother house that he had died?

David Bowie: Angie didn't leave straight away, but walked out of the house on Day 15, more than a week after hearing the news.

Who won the first American season of Big Brother in 2000?

Eddie McGee: viewers, not HouseGuests, picked the winner by phone, and he took 59% of the public vote.

In the first US Big Brother, HouseGuests confided their private thoughts in a room of what colour?

Red: unlike later seasons, HouseGuests evicted no one themselves; viewers phoned a premium-rate line to banish nominees.

After its first season, the US Big Brother was revamped around strategy in the style of which show?

Survivor: the crucial change was that HouseGuests, not viewers, now voted each other out, with evictees choosing the winner.

Who won the second US season in 2001, the first played under the strategic HOH-and-eviction format?

Dr. Will Kirby: each finalist had to cancel one evictee's vote, and he still beat Nicole Schaffrich 5-2.

Which competition, introduced in US Big Brother's third season, lets its winner pull a nominee off the block?

The Power of Veto: for most of season 3 a nominee who won it couldn't use it on themselves, but every season since has let its winner do so.

In early US Big Brother seasons, what were food-competition losers limited to eating?

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches: in season 4, Jee Choe won a competition by taking a deal that put every other HouseGuest on the diet for a week.

From season 7 of US Big Brother, what unappetising food did food-competition losers have to eat?

Slop: in season 9, HouseGuest Amanda Hansen fainted from low blood sugar while on slop.

Which Big Brother 23 alliance was formed with the goal of crowning the US show's first Black winner?

The Cookout: all six members reached the final six, and Xavier Prather became the first winner of the raised $750,000 prize.

Since season 4 of US Big Brother, where do evicted jurors live?

Sequestered house: in seasons 2 and 3 every evicted HouseGuest voted on the winner, but since then only the jurors have.

Which Big Brother 10 winner became the first US HouseGuest to win by a unanimous 7-0 vote?

Dan Gheesling: he returned as a coach in season 14, entered the game himself, and lost the final 6-1.

What job did Season 16 winner Derrick Levasseur hide from his fellow HouseGuests?

Undercover police detective: he later turned investigator on TV, hosting the true-crime series Breaking Homicide.

Which Big Brother 8 winner shared the final two with his own daughter, Daniele?

Evel Dick Donato: when father and daughter returned together for season 13, he walked out within the first week.

Which Big Brother 13 winner met her future husband, Brendon Villegas, in the season 12 house?

Rachel Reilly: she and Brendon later raced together on The Amazing Race, and she also ran it with her sister Elissa.

Who won the 2020 All-Stars season, Big Brother 22, with a 9-0 sweep?

Cody Calafiore: six years earlier he had lost the season 16 final to his own ally, Derrick Levasseur.

What was the 2016 US spin-off on CBS All Access that let viewers pick the winner?

Morgan Willett took the $250,000 prize, and the online-only season showed the ceremonies and competitions that TV normally hides.

What was US Big Brother's holiday-themed December 2023 spin-off called?

Reindeer Games: nine returning players competed in holiday challenges instead of house votes, and Nicole Franzel won $100,000.

In 2014, the US Big Brother was first produced in which picture format?

HD: rewiring a house full of round-the-clock cameras took years, which left it the last prime-time network show in standard definition.

Why did US Big Brother 9 air in early 2008 instead of summer?

Writers' strike: CBS aired the season as replacement programming, and season 10 still followed that July, so 2008 had two seasons.

In 2023, the US Big Brother live feeds went free for the first time since season one on which service?

Pluto TV: season one's feeds had been free online, but from season two CBS charged a subscription to watch.

Which beauty company did first-season US Big Brother HouseGuest Jamie Kern Lima co-found and sell to L'Oreal?

IT Cosmetics: rosacea had made on-air makeup a struggle for her as a TV reporter, and L'Oreal bought the company for $1.2 billion.

On which UK broadcaster did the British Big Brother premiere in July 2000?

Channel 4: it dropped the show after the 2010 series, and Channel 5 revived it the next year.

Who presented the UK Big Brother for its first ten years?

Davina McCall: when a new broadcaster revived the show in 2011, she turned down the offer to carry on presenting it.

Which Geordie voice narrated every UK Big Brother series from 2000 through 2025?

Marcus Bentley: producers apparently picked him because they liked the way he said 'chickens'.

What did first UK Big Brother winner Craig Phillips give his entire £70,000 prize towards?

A friend's transplant: he had already been raising money for Joanne Harris's operation before he entered the house.

UK series one housemate Nick Bateman, dubbed Nasty Nick, was removed from the house for doing what?

Manipulating nominations: yet in his five weeks in the house, not one housemate had nominated him for eviction.

Which housemate won both Big Brother 2 and Ultimate Big Brother, the only UK winner of two series?

Brian Dowling: a decade after his first win, he became the show's presenter in 2011.

Where was the UK Big Brother house located for the first two series, before moving to Elstree?

Bow, east London: after planning permission expired in 2002, Newham council ordered the site returned to a natural habitat.

Who won UK Big Brother 5 in 2004, becoming the show's first transgender winner?

Nadia Almada: viewers knew she was transgender but her housemates didn't, and she won with 74% of the public vote.

Which UK Big Brother 3 housemate later entered Celebrity Big Brother 5?

Jade Goody: in 2008 she walked out of the Indian version of the show after learning she had cervical cancer.

Who won Celebrity Big Brother 5 in 2007, the series overshadowed by a racism row over how she was treated?

Shilpa Shetty: as the row grew, sponsor Carphone Warehouse pulled its name from the show with immediate effect.

Who won the first UK Celebrity Big Brother, an eight-day Comic Relief special, in 2001?

Jack Dee: because of the Comic Relief tie-in, part of that first series went out on BBC One in the week before the telethon.

Chantelle Houghton won Celebrity Big Brother 4 in 2006 despite what secret about her?

She wasn't famous: her secret task was to pose as a member of girl band Kandy Floss, and the public then voted her the winner.

When ITV2 revived UK Big Brother in 2023, which pair became its first double act of hosts?

AJ Odudu and Will Best: ITV pushed the revival back to autumn to avoid clashing with its other reality shows, and Jordan Sangha won.

Which UK Big Brother 7 housemate, famous for her Diary Room tantrums, got her own reality show?

Nikki Grahame: evicted on Day 58, she was voted back into the house weeks later and went on to finish fifth.

Which 2008 E4 horror series takes place during a fictional Big Brother, with the real presenter playing herself?

Dead Set: as zombies overrun the outside world, the housemates stay oblivious, and several real former housemates make cameos.

The Australian Big Brother house was built at which Gold Coast theme park?

Dreamworld: the original house burned down in 2019, so the 2025 revival built a new one inside the park's Exhibition Centre.

Who hosted the Australian Big Brother from its 2001 launch until 2007?

Gretel Killeen: a 2008 revamp replaced her with radio hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O, and the show was cancelled after that series.

Which country's Big Brother set a Guinness world record in 2020 with 1.5 billion votes in one eviction?

Brazil: athletes, musicians and other stars weighed in online, and the vote evicted architect Felipe Prior.

By what name is the Big Brother format known in India, where it has versions in many languages?

Bigg Boss: in 2010 the government ordered the Hindi version into a late-night slot over vulgarity complaints, but a court stay kept it at 9pm.

Who hosted every season of Big Brother Canada from its 2013 debut until its 2024 axing?

Arisa Cox: she also became an executive producer, and after the 2024 cancellation Bell Media bought the rights for a CTV revival announced for 2027.

In 2003, the fourth UK Big Brother series swapped one housemate with which other Big Brother edition?

Big Brother Africa: Cameron Stout swapped places with Ugandan law student Gaetano Kagwa, then returned to the UK house and won.

Which animal did the first US Big Brother HouseGuests look after?

A pug: named Chiquita, she had to be trained through an obstacle course for one weekly task, which the house passed.

Which presenter hosted the UK Big Brother on Channel 5 from 2013 until its 2018 finale?

Emma Willis: she had fronted the spin-off Big Brother's Bit on the Side before taking over the main show in 2013.

Which comedian first presented the UK spin-off Big Brother's Big Mouth, from 2004 to 2007?

Russell Brand: when he quit in 2007, he thanked producers for 'taking the risk of employing an ex-junkie twerp'.

Big Brother: After Dark debuted in 2007 as a nightly overnight feed on which US channel?

Showtime 2: it aired uncensored there, but after the 2013 move to TVGN, later renamed Pop, its swearing and nudity were censored.

What happened to the Elstree Big Brother house after 2018?

Demolished: Channel 5 had axed the show, and the house came down within months of its last Channel 5 series.

The UK Big Brother theme was written by Elementfour, a collaboration between Andy Gray and which superstar DJ?

Paul Oakenfold: his partner Andy Gray said he came up with the basic melody while babysitting his five-week-old daughter.

Which image has each UK Big Brother series redesigned for its logo?

An eye: each new design reflects that year's house, and the very first was a close-up of housemate Melanie Hill's own eye.

Whose mother, Jackie, entered the UK's Celebrity Big Brother in 2005 as a surprise for his ex-wife Brigitte Nielsen?

Sylvester Stallone's mother and Nielsen had feuded publicly over the divorce, yet the two mended their relationship inside the house. Jackie arrived on Day 5, cast as the Queen Mother in that week's task.

Derek, the runner-up of Big Brother 23, is the son of which heavyweight boxing champion?

Joe Frazier became the first boxer to defeat Muhammad Ali, in 1971. Fifty years later his son Derek reached the final two but lost the jury vote 9–0.

Which former Trump White House aide criticised his administration on America's first Celebrity Big Brother?

Omarosa told her fellow celebrities that she would not vote for Trump again. She had first found fame on the opening season of The Apprentice, and she finished fifth in the celebrity house.

Big Brother 19's Jessica Graf and her boyfriend from the house won which other CBS reality competition in 2018?

The Amazing Race 30 ended with Graf and her future husband beating ten other teams. The pair later returned to the Big Brother house to host a Power of Veto competition for the season 20 cast.

Which robot first entered the US Big Brother house in season 12 to host a contest, later returning with Kathy Griffin?

Zingbot 3000 rolled in on Day 43 to host a challenge in which HouseGuests travelled back and forth on a platform. In season 16 it brought the comedian along as a surprise guest.

Which word for a love affair between contestants went mainstream through the American Big Brother in 2001?

Showmance is a portmanteau of show and romance, and it also covers flings between actors in a theatre production. On competitive reality shows, contestants often start one for strategic reasons.

Which Oscar-nominated star of The Buddy Holly Story won the UK's Celebrity Big Brother in the summer of 2014?

Gary Busey became the first American winner of the British celebrity series, crowned on Day 26. Film fans also know him from Lethal Weapon and Point Break.

What are US Big Brother HouseGuests called while they must take cold showers and sleep in an uncomfortable room?

Have-Nots are usually the losers of a competition, though in later weeks the Head of Household may simply pick them. Breaking the rules can cost a penalty vote on eviction night.

Why do the US Big Brother live feeds often cut away when a HouseGuest starts singing a well-known song?

Music copyright is the reason: the feeds may block copyrighted songs, and slanderous remarks, on legal grounds. They also go dark during competitions and ceremonies to keep the broadcast suspenseful.

Which future host of The X Factor presented the UK companion show Big Brother's Little Brother from 2001?

Dermot O'Leary fronted the E4 spin-off for seven years before bowing out in 2008. By then he had replaced Kate Thornton as presenter of ITV's talent contest.

In the first season of US Big Brother, who decided which nominated HouseGuest was banished from the house?

The viewing public voted by phone, as in the original Dutch format, and HouseGuests never competed for power or safety. From the second season the players evicted each other instead.

Marissa Jaret Winokur, winner of the first US Celebrity Big Brother, won a Tony Award starring in which musical?

Hairspray gave Winokur the role of Tracy Turnblad, which won her the 2003 Tony for leading actress in a musical. Fifteen years later she beat Ross Mathews 6–3 in the celebrity final.

Celebrity Big Brother US HouseGuest Ariadna Gutiérrez was wrongly announced as the 2015 winner of which pageant?

Miss Universe host Steve Harvey read out the wrong name, so Colombia's Gutiérrez was crowned before being moved down to first runner-up. She later tied for third place in the celebrity house.

Which Big Brother UK housemate of 2002 went on to co-present The Great British Bake Off with Noel Fielding?

Alison Hammond replaced Matt Lucas in the Bake Off tent in 2023, two decades after the third series of Big Brother made her name.

Which former X Factor contestant won the UK's Celebrity Big Brother, then hosted its spin-off Bit on the Side?

Rylan Clark won the eleventh celebrity series in 2013 and presented Bit on the Side from that year until it was cancelled in 2018. He has also fronted Supermarket Sweep and Ready Steady Cook.

Which member of Take That won the second UK series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2002, beating Les Dennis?

Mark Owen took 77% of the vote in the final. Take That had split up six years earlier, so he entered the house as a solo artist.

Big Brother 11's Chima Simone was expelled soon after throwing which piece of equipment into the Jacuzzi?

Her microphone went into the water after she refused to wear it, two days after a secret power overturned her choices as Head of Household. She had also covered cameras and refused to enter the Diary Room.

In the X-Factor twist of Big Brother 4, five HouseGuests were shocked when who moved into the house?

Their exes entered as five extra players, which is why the twist was also written Ex-Factor. The eight original HouseGuests learned the news only after moving in.

Vanessa Rousso, third on Big Brother 17, was ranked among the top five women of all time in which game?

Poker had made Rousso one of the five highest-earning women in the game's history by the time the season began. She got engaged to her girlfriend at the Big Brother wrap party.

Which of singer Toni Braxton's sisters won the second US Celebrity Big Brother by a unanimous jury vote?

Tamar beat Ricky Williams in the live final without losing a single juror. The five sisters had signed their first record deal together in 1989, before Toni was picked out as a solo artist.

Which mythical name did Big Brother 11 give to a secret Head of Household room full of tempting offers?

Pandora's Box first released $10,000 into the house when its finder put a hand inside. Later that season a HouseGuest gave up her place in a competition to see her boyfriend there.

Big Brother 5's Project DNA twist hid a pair of unknowing half-siblings and which other secret pairing?

A set of twins, Adria and Natalie, took turns playing as Adria and swapped places in the Diary Room. The letters DNA stood for Do Not Assume.

Which Big Brother 11 winner later accepted Jeff Schroeder's proposal in the backyard of the Big Brother house?

Jordan Lloyd won the season 5–2, with one of her votes cast by viewers. Schroeder proposed in 2014 while the couple were visiting the season 16 cast, and they married two years later.

Which fan favourite has played four seasons of US Big Brother, from season 6 to the second All-Stars in 2020?

Janelle Pierzina played seasons 6, 7, 14 and 22, and later joined the cast of The Traitors. BuddyTV once ranked her the show's top competition winner on her first two seasons alone.

Which secret power, won by Jeff Schroeder in Big Brother 11, let him replace both nominees on eviction night?

Coup d'État had to be played at one of the next two evictions, and the Head of Household could not be named as a replacement. Schroeder used it on Day 40.

Which Big Brother 12 twist placed one HouseGuest in the house solely to cause drama, for a $50,000 reward?

The Saboteur turned out to be Annie, who needed to last past the fifth week to collect but became the first HouseGuest evicted, by ten votes to none.

Which player won Big Brother 14 at the age of 21, beating a former champion 6–1 in the jury vote?

Ian Terry was 21 years and 6 months old on finale night, which made him the youngest winner the US show had crowned. He came back in 2020 for the second All-Stars season.

Who became the first US Big Brother player to finish runner-up two years running, in seasons 18 and 19?

Paul Abrahamian lost season 19 by a single jury vote, 5–4. He had joined that cast as a surprise swap-in on the first day, after a newcomer accepted a temptation.

Which attorney won Big Brother 23 by a 9–0 vote, becoming the first Black winner of the regular US series?

Xavier Prather swept the jury in 2021, the first Black HouseGuest to win a regular season in the show's 21-year history. He later left his law firm to set up a practice of his own, which he named LawyerLike.

Which former Miss Michigan USA won Big Brother 24 and was also voted America's Favorite HouseGuest that season?

Taylor Hale was the first HouseGuest to win both prizes, and the first Black woman to win a regular season of the US show. Her housemates had shunned her at the start and nominated her in each of the first two weeks.

Which Big Brother 25 winner had been voted out earlier in the season, only to be saved by an ally's secret power?

Jag Bains was the first HouseGuest to win after being evicted, and the first Sikh-Punjabi winner. His rescue came from the Power of Invincibility, which an ally had won in a secret competition.

Which member of the Chilltown alliance won Big Brother 7, the first All-Stars season, in a 6–1 jury vote?

Mike Malin, better known as Boogie, beat Erika Landin on Day 72. He had helped to form Chilltown five years earlier as a newcomer in season 2, where the group soon irritated the rest of the house.

In Big Brother 8, a HouseGuest named Eric earned $40,000 by completing viewer-chosen tasks under which title?

America's Player was handed three tasks a week and completed 20 of the 28 set. Viewers also decided which HouseGuest he should campaign to evict.

Which Big Brother 26 twist let three nominees compete on eviction night, with the winner saved from the vote?

AI Arena matched the season's artificial intelligence theme. It came back the following year as a permanent part of the game under a new name, the BB Block Buster.

Which former UFC bantamweight champion won the third US Celebrity Big Brother, beating Todrick Hall 7–1?

Miesha Tate won four Head of Household competitions during the season. The final vote, on 23 February 2022, went her way by seven jurors to one.

Which fish and chip shop manager won Big Brother Australia in 2003 and won the show again in 2022?

Reggie Bird took 72% of the final vote in 2003 as the Australian show's first female winner. Her second title came on a different network, as one of eight past housemates mixed in with newcomers.

Which reality TV veteran entered Big Brother 25 as a HouseGuest in the same cast as her son, Jared?

Cirie Fields finished in fifth place. Earlier that year she had won the first American season of The Traitors.

Big Brother 17's Austin Matelson later became which masked star of All Elite Wrestling's Jurassic Express?

Luchasaurus is the ring name Matelson uses as a masked luchador, and he made his All Elite Wrestling debut in 2019. He joined Big Brother during a two-year break from the ring and finished fifth.

Which professional football player won Big Brother 20, edging the final jury vote by five votes to four?

Kaycee Clark had spent her first week in a pinwheel unitard as a punishment, stuck in whatever room she was in whenever it spun. She later competed in several seasons of The Challenge.

Which lifeguard lost the Big Brother 20 final by one vote but was named America's Favorite HouseGuest?

Tyler Crispen had held The Cloud, a power that could shield him from nomination at one ceremony of his choice. He returned to the house two years later for the second All-Stars season.

Which Big Brother 20 welder had to play part of her first week as a robot as a punishment?

Sam Bledsoe turned robot whenever an announcement declared the robot online, and human again when it went offline. The Virginian lasted until Day 91 and finished fifth.

Which Big Brother 20 twist gave the week's top trending HouseGuest a power and the least trending a punishment?

BB App Store ran for the first three weeks, with viewers' answers to a set of questions deciding who was trending. Nobody could receive a second app, good or bad.

Which Big Brother 20 contest let its anonymous winner swap out a nominee and cancel one eviction vote?

The Hacker Competition, styled H@cker on the show, kept its winner secret by having every HouseGuest play at once in separate rooms. It arrived on Day 44 to suit the season's technology theme.

Which evicted Big Brother 20 HouseGuest proposed to fellow player Bayleigh Dayton during the live finale?

Swaggy C, a day trader whose real name is Christopher Williams, had been evicted on Day 23. The couple later appeared together on The Challenge and on Say Yes to the Dress.

To return to Big Brother 20, evicted life coach Kaitlyn Herman had 150 seconds to rebuild what?

A puzzle of herself, built life-sized, had to be taken apart and reassembled on the other side of a mock house. She failed to finish it correctly, so her eviction stood.

As a Big Brother 20 punishment, Haleigh Broucher had to dress up and read which Shakespeare play on command?

Hamlet was her penalty for being voted the week's least trending HouseGuest. She had to report to a set room in costume and read until told to stop, and the punishment ran until she had finished the play.

Off the Block with Ross and Marissa, the exit-interview show for Big Brother 20, streamed on which social network?

Facebook carried the show on its Watch video service each Friday after the live eviction. It replaced the Live Chat interviews that former HouseGuest Jeff Schroeder had hosted since 2012.

Which Big Brother 20 juror beat three other evictees to re-enter the game, only to be evicted again a week later?

Scottie Salton, a shipping manager from Chicago, won the Jury Battleback, a contest among the first four jurors. He left on Day 65, came back on Day 72 and was out for good by Day 79.

Which 2012 ABC reality show did CBS take to court over its strong similarities to Big Brother?

The Glass House was being made by at least nineteen former Big Brother producers and staff, a point CBS pressed in its complaint. The show still premiered that June and was cancelled after one season.

Which kind of challenge opens the three-round final Head of Household competition in a US Big Brother season?

Endurance comes first, and its winner goes straight to the last round. The other two finalists meet in a skill round, and a quiz then decides who casts the season's final eviction vote.