Goodbye Big Brother!

On Monday Night, Big Brother will turn the lights off in the BB House for the very last time - After 8 seasons, around 728 days of isolation for 163 HMs and Intruders in total, including 1 Celebrity BB.

Read some of what happened over the 8 years of Big Brother and you can talk about it all in our Forums and our Live Chat Room.




Over the weekend the decision was made to Axe Big Brother at the end of BB8. So where did it all begin in Australia?

It all started on April 23, 2001 when 14 strangers went into the Big Brother 1 house. The HMs had no idea at the time of what was going on, what was going to happen, or whether or not the outside world even existed still. They definitely had no idea that Big Brother would last 8 years.

Since BB started there have been in total: around 728 days of Isolation for HMs (not including Lockdowns), around 163 HMs and Intruders including the Celebrity BB in 2002, several Special Guests and Celebrities, 1 Dog and various other animals, several HMs were kicked out due to various breaches of rules, and a HM that left voluntarily.

There have been 9 BB Houses over the 8 seasons due to Big Brother 2003 starting out with 2 separate houses which were eventually joined.

Millions of dollars in prizes have been handed out to the HMs in the form of Cars, Phones, Game Consoles, Holidays, Cash and various other prizes. There has also been many fun games and trophy's in Friday Night Live.

The main faces of Big Brother over the years have been Gretel Killeen who hosted the show for the first 7 years, introducing the HMs each year and interviewing them as they were evicted and during nomination nights. Even going into the house a few times to host Special Events and to Interview HMs. Mike Goldman has also been there from the very beginning, as the Voice-Over during every Daily Show as well as being the Crowd Warmer at Evictions and also hosting Big Brother Uplate and Friday Night Live and Friday Night Games (a spin off from FNL). Bree Amer and Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald (BB4 HMs) have been hosts of Friday Night Live since it started. Mike, Bree and Ryan also host 'Friday Night Download' a show where they look at some of the funniest Video Clips on the Internet. Then there is Jackie O and Kyle Sandilands who have hosted BB8, the final year.

The main Producer for Big Brother who started it all was Peter Abbott who produced BB1, BB2 and BB3. Peter Abbott was also the voice of Big Brother during those seasons. Producers changed after BB3 to Kris Noble and a new Producer for BB8.

Big Brother has supplied many laughs, tears, controversy and has formed many friendships both between HMs and Fans alike. The show has seen protests and has had Politicians calling for it to be axed thanks to the stupidity of some HMs.

Most of all BB has been something which millions of normal Aussies could tune into each night and watch how total strangers interact with each other while being isolated from the outside world, watching them have fun, throw tantrums, argue, make friends, come out of the closet, have their patience tested and be put through some pretty gruelling tasks. But now it's all come to an end as from Monday 21st July 2008.

So is anyone or anything to blame for the axeing of BB? If so, who or what? Is it just because times are changing and people want something new? or is it the various controversial incidents during the past few seasons which have caused BB to end? Some say it's due to the change of Producers after BB3, some say that this BB8 series and it's new Format have ruined it and then there is the Hosts of BB8 which some don't like. Maybe it is a mixture of each or just that people have come to lose interest due to the same old thing being seen every night. Could bringing Peter Abbott back for BB8 have saved it? We'll never know I guess.

I have watched every season of Big Brother and it has supplied me with many laughs and I have really enjoyed watching it each year, though I believe it started going slowly downhill since BB3 and BB4. Peter Timbs from Big Brother 1, summed it up pretty good when interviewed about the Axeing of BB lastnight, "For the past few years it's been like watching a close friend or family member die slowly" when asked what he thought of Big Brother over the past few years.

I believe that BB shouldn't be axed, it should have a total revamp of the format, go back to the styles of BB1 to BB3, bring back Peter Abbott and go back to the original concept and don't make it so commercial and predictable. I'm sure I am not alone in thinking that but it's all too late, but who knows, maybe it will be back in a few years or even next year on a different Network. If it does come back on a different Network it will be interesting as to how it turns out.

Thanks for the laughs and entertainment over the years Big Brother and I'm sure Aussie BB fans look forward to the day when BB will return.

Good Bye Big Brother!

You can read more information about each Series of Big Brother HERE.

Fans Of Big Brother will be staying Open after BB ends so Fans can read about the show, and chat in the forums and in our chatroom. So don't let the BB withdrawals get to you, join our Forums and Chatroom and have some fun

UPDATE - July 21

At the end of Big Brother tonight, when BB spoke for the last time, he said ... "That is all .... For Now!". Has a deal already been made with another network, or has it been decided that 10 will bring it back after a year or so? Or could it just be leaving it open to possibility that BB is returning? I for one hope to see it back and no doubt all BB Fans are hoping for the same.