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Big Brother (UK series 7)
Encyclopedia
Big Brother 7 in 2006 was the seventh series of the United Kingdom reality television
series Big Brother
. It aired on Channel 4
in the United Kingdom, from 18 May 2006 to 18 August 2006, a total of 93 days; fifteen days longer than the previous series.
The show format was unchanged from previous years. A number of contestants (known as "housemates") lived in a purpose-built house at Elstree Studios
, and were isolated from the rest of the world. Each week, housemates nominated two of their peers for eviction, and the housemates who received the most nominations would face a public vote. Of these, one would eventually leave, having been "evicted" from the House. However, there were exceptions to this process as dictated by Big Brother, known as "twists". In the final week, there were six housemates remaining, and the public voted for who they wanted to win. Pete Bennett
received the most votes, and won the prize money of £100,000.
This series proved to be popular, having a series average of 4.7 million viewers. In 2010, Big Brother 7 was voted the public's favourite series of Big Brother, as revealed during Big Brother's Big Awards Show.
Housemate Nikki Grahame
returned in the later Ultimate Big Brother. She entered on the first night and finished as runner-up to Brian Dowling
. Housemates Glyn, Grace and Pete also returned during tasks.
. Live action was available online through the official Channel 4 website; NTL
BroadbandPlus; and by pressing the red button
on E4
via Sky Digital
(UK, not ROI
subscribers) and cable
. At the start of the series live action was also available by pressing the red button
on E4 via Freeview, but the service was removed a few days prior to the launch of Film4
on Freeview.
The title sequence contained phrases such as "This is the title sequence for Big Brother", "Not for transmission", and a copyright year of 1903 (written MCMIII), the birth year of George Orwell
. Other words flashed on screen included "You are being observed", and, in sequence the text "cam 01", "cam 09", "cam 08" and "cam 04" was shown at the top of the screen, making 1984, another reference to Nineteen Eighty-Four
.
On the launch night, the programme obtained a peak audience of 7.7 million viewers, one million greater than the previous year's show
but then dropped to an average of 4.7 million. The series' final broadcast obtained a peak audience of 8.2 million viewers, five hundred thousand greater than the launch show.
This series saw the largest number of housemates to leave without being evicted, with three exiting the House. This beat series 3
, where there were a total of fourteen housemates and two people walked; and series 5
, in which there were a total of thirteen housemates and two were ejected. Housemate numbers also topped series 6
, in which even after the "Secret Garden" twist, there were only a total of sixteen contestants. At one point there were more additional housemates than original housemates in this series: during Week 9, following Nikki's eviction there was a total of six additional housemates and five original housemates, having entered the House on launch night.
The programme attracted criticism on May 31 for putting several vulnerable people in the Big Brother House. Pete suffered from Tourette syndrome
, Shahbaz was revealed to be mentally and emotionally unstable and threatened to commit suicide
on live television; Lea suffers from body dysmorphic disorder
; Sam has admitted to being shunned by family members because of homosexuality and gender identity choices; 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.
Further criticism arose when contestant Glyn Wise was reprimanded for communicating in his first language, Welsh
, with 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, the regulator Ofcom
and S4C
. Clearly, it was no longer a problem after this as Glyn and Imogen continued to converse in Welsh. Such discussions were broadcast with English subtitles.
to distribute 100 "golden tickets" randomly throughout Kit Kat
chocolate bars, in a style reminiscent of the story Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
. Members of the public finding these tickets were permitted to use them to give themselves a chance to become a Big Brother housemate and bypass the standard auditions process.
Golden ticket holders were invited to a television show where one of them, Susie Verrico, was chosen to enter the House by housemate Aisleyne picking a ball out of a machine at random.
This contest caused some controversy, with the Advertising Standards Authority
saying that the terms and conditions of the draw should have been made clearer in related advertisements, and that an independent adjudicator should have been present before and during the draw.
The House Next Door was a group of rooms connected to the original house via the Diary Room. On June 30, five new housemates entered this house. The public, instead of voting for a housemate to be evicted, voted to transfer one of the current housemates to also live in the new house.
Aisleyne was voted to be moved into the House Next Door along with 5 new housemates; Jonathan, Spiral, Jennie, Michael and Jayne. Aisleyne was then required to evict another housemate, and chose Jonathan.
The House Next Door was also used later on in the series. In Week 10 it featured in the "Prison Task" and in Week 12 it housed four previous evictees who had been voted by the public to re-enter the House.
In week two the housemates had to answer various questions in order to win a luxury food budget, in the game show-style "Meal or No Meal", which had a similar name to Channel 4's show "Deal or No Deal
". On Day 13 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. On Day 14 George left voluntarily. Richard, Lea and Sezer faced the public vote, and on Day 16 Sezer was evicted with 91.6% of the public vote.
During week three, on Day 18, the housemates had a "Shouting" task to win a luxury reward for the person who could shout the loudest. The weekly shopping task was Big Brother's Temp Agency, where housemates were given different jobs, such as lifeguard, chef, toilet attendant, and PA. Sam and Nikki were put to the public vote and on Day 23 Sam was evicted with 53.7% of the public vote. Following Sam's eviction, Susie, being the winner of a "Golden Ticket", was randomly selected to enter the House.
During week four Big Brother imposed "The State of Susie". The House was adorned with images and statues of Susie, making Susie the leader of a "dictatorship" and the other housemates her followers. The weekly task was failed four hours after it began. Thirty-three fails were recorded, thirty more than were allowed. Susie, the only housemate allowed to nominate, chose Grace and Nikki for the public vote. On Day 30 Grace was evicted with 87.9% of the public vote.
In week five the housemates had to perform a baton routine, dressed as majorettes. Glyn was appointed leader and led the housemates to pass the task. Though the housemates later lost the task after Glyn claimed he didn't think the housemates deserved the food.
Imogen, Mikey, Nikki and Lisa were put up for eviction. Lisa was evicted on Day 37 with 60.3% of the public vote.
In week six the housemates had to rub another housemate with soap until all of the soap was gone. Imogen, Glyn and Susie won, and had the prize of the use of a luxury spa. The housemates also had to stop milk from emptying out of a tank. Imogen was secretly told the real task, to empty more than half of the milk, without the other housemates' knowledge, and she succeeded. Aisleyne and Susie were put to the public vote, but not to evict. The vote was to decide who moved into a secret "House Next Door", Aisleyne was moved to the House Next Door on Day 45. She was joined by five new housemates: Jayne, Jennie, Jonathan, Michael and Spiral.
In week seven Aisleyne had to decide which housemates to evict from the "House Next Door", unaware she was sending them to the real House. On Days 47 and 49, Aisleyne sent Jayne, Michael and Jennie to the main House, believing that she was evicting them. On Day 50, Aisleyne was told to evict either Jonathan or Spiral. She evicted Jonathan. Richard and Lea were put up for eviction. Lea was evicted on Day 51 with 53.8% of the public vote.
During week eight on Day 54, the housemates participated in the “Big Brother Tennis Championship,” where the housemates played a game of tennis against Big Brother. The housemates won seven games and were rewarded with a party. On Day 56, each housemate got one minute to perform as many burps as they could. If the house collectively performed 200 burps than they would receive a children's party. They performed 252 burps collectively and won the reward. Following Jayne relaying her impressions of the other housemates from before she had entered the House, all of the housemates except her were to face the public vote. On Day 58 Nikki was evicted with 37.2% of the public vote.
In week nine, on Day 61, the housemates were given a walking task. Each housemate was given a pedometer
and was asked to walk around the house for two hours. It was revealed that Glyn walked the most steps and received a luxury meal of his choice, though this was given in the form of a smoothie which he was forced to taste. Housemates then had to complete an assault course. The housemates passed the task and were rewarded with an eighties-theme party, along with a luxury shopping budget for the following week.
Richard and Jayne were put up for eviction, Jayne was evicted on Day 65 with 67.1% of the public vote.
In week ten Big Brother devised the "Best Friends" task. Housemates were paired up for the week. Each pair chose a single fellow housemate for eviction and Big Brother later announced that the nominated housemates, along with their "Best Friends", would be up for eviction. The pair with the lowest share of the public vote would be evicted. Throughout the week, housemates completed the "Prison" task where the "House Next Door" became a prison. The housemates passed the task and were rewarded with letters from home, along with the luxury food budget. The pairs of Imogen and Susie, Michael and Spiral and Pete and Richard were put up for eviction. Michael and Spiral were evicted together on Day 72 with the lowest share of the vote to stay in, 9.7%.
In week eleven, on Day 75, Big Brother went on holiday, leaving housemates with an automated service as a temporary replacement. Housemates were told to make postcards for Big Brother and were rewarded with a sleepover and pyjama party. Housemates also had to learn five different things, similar to a university course. The group passed, and were given a luxury shopping budget for Week 12. The graduation was celebrated with a party. Imogen, Jennie, Mikey and Susie faced the public vote. Mikey was evicted first on Day 79 with 48.5% of the four-way vote, Susie was evicted after him with 59.4% of the three-way vote.
In week twelve Jennie won the "Big Brother Board Game" task, she was rewarded with a place in the final, and a bottle of champagne. Housemates were also given the task "Big Brother FM" where they had to pretend to be DJs. They were awarded a luxury shopping budget, after the show proved popular with the public. On Day 84, previously evicted housemates Nikki, Grace, Lea, and Mikey entered the "House Next Door" following a public vote between 10 previous housemates. On hearing the news that four ex-housemates were living Next Door, Glyn attempted to get into the House Next Door by climbing on the roof and therefore breaking the rules. Richard and Imogen were put up for eviction, and Imogen was evicted on Day 86 with 62% of the public vote. After Imogen's exit Nikki was chosen by housemates to re-enter the House on Day 87. Lea, Grace, and Mikey left the Big Brother compound on Day 86.
During the final week the housemates had to compete in a slow bicycle race. Pete won the race and was rewarded with a disco for one in the Diary Room with free alcohol. Housemates were given a task in which they had to form a dance troupe. They passed the task and were rewarded with two bottles of wine. Housemates were given a task called "Before They Were Housemates". On Day 91, housemates were given another mini task by Big Brother in which they had to write a "future autobiography". Housemates were set the task of becoming "political campaigners". Each housemate was required to convince the audience that another housemate should win Big Brother. On Day 93, Jennie finished in 6th, Nikki in 5th and Richard in 4th Place. Aisleyne left the house in third place. Glyn left the House as runner-up and Pete left as winner of Big Brother 7.
Channel 4 official site voting history
There were no nominations. Instead, all housemates except Bonnie, Dawn and Glyn formed the Big Brotherhood and were immune to eviction, while the housemates excluded from the Brotherhood faced the public vote. Because Dawn was ejected from the house, it was only Bonnie and Glyn that faced the public vote. Sezer and Imogen were banned from nominating for discussing nominations earlier on that day. New housemates Aisleyne and Sam could not nominate or be nominated. Imogen was banned from nominations on Day 15 because the night before, she had disclosed to fellow housemates the fact that was unable to nominate the previous week. Lisa was also banned on Day 18 after telling Imogen who she voted for in the previous week. Only Susie nominated this week, being the Golden Housemate. The two people she nominated were Grace and Nikki, so they faced the public vote. Lisa, who won a task set by Big Brother, was immune from nomination. During the previous week, Glyn, Imogen, Lea, Lisa and Nikki had discussed nominations. As punishment, the five of them had to each nominate one of their fellow rule-breakers in front of fellow housemates. The one or more housemate(s) with the most nominations was up for eviction; Nikki was chosen. The other five housemates, Aisleyne, Mikey, Pete, Richard and Susie, nominated secretly as normal, selecting from everyone except Nikki. This week's public vote was not to evict a housemate, but to vote them into the House Next Door. The housemates nominated as usual, but were unaware of the fake eviction or of the House Next Door. Aisleyne was not evicted, but instead moved next door. Aisleyne was told that she had to evict four of the five new housemates, who were living in the House Next Door. Shown in the table against Aisleyne are the housemates she chose to evict from the House Next Door. However, she was not told that the first three housemates she chose would join the others in the main house. Her fourth nomination, for Jonathan, was for real, and he was evicted.
This decision to allow previous evictees to become eligible to win the show was criticised. Channel 4
received 500 complaints from viewers about this matter and Media watchdog Ofcom
confirmed that it had received over 1,000 complaints, and referred viewers to ICSTIS. Soon after the four ex-housemates entered the House Next Door, ICSTIS released a statement confirming that it was dealing with over 2,500 complaints and launched an official investigation. On October 5, 2006, they ruled that Channel 4 had breached its code and imposed £50,000 'administrative charges'.
On the day prior to the voting results being announced however, Channel 4 stated that it still considered the vote to be a success as they had already received 400,000 votes, making it the most successful of the series. 36p from each call and 26p from each text also went to charity, raising over £250,000 for charity on the vote alone. The money was split among three charities: Shelter, The Teenage Cancer Trust and the winning housemate's chosen charity, which Pete chose as the Tourette's Association.
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
series Big Brother
Big Brother (UK)
Big Brother UK is the British version of the Dutch Big Brother television format, which takes its name from the character in George Orwell's 1948 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four...
. It aired on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in the United Kingdom, from 18 May 2006 to 18 August 2006, a total of 93 days; fifteen days longer than the previous series.
The show format was unchanged from previous years. A number of contestants (known as "housemates") lived in a purpose-built house at Elstree Studios
Elstree Studios
"Elstree Studios" refers to any of several film studios that were based in the towns of Borehamwood and Elstree in Hertfordshire, England, since film production begun in 1927.-Name:...
, and were isolated from the rest of the world. Each week, housemates nominated two of their peers for eviction, and the housemates who received the most nominations would face a public vote. Of these, one would eventually leave, having been "evicted" from the House. However, there were exceptions to this process as dictated by Big Brother, known as "twists". In the final week, there were six housemates remaining, and the public voted for who they wanted to win. Pete Bennett
Pete Bennett
Peter "Pete" Alexander Bennett is an English singer, author and media personality, who won the reality television series Big Brother 7 in 2006. He has Tourette's syndrome...
received the most votes, and won the prize money of £100,000.
This series proved to be popular, having a series average of 4.7 million viewers. In 2010, Big Brother 7 was voted the public's favourite series of Big Brother, as revealed during Big Brother's Big Awards Show.
Housemate Nikki Grahame
Nikki Grahame
Nicola Rachele-Beth Grahame is an English model, columnist and television personality, who rose to fame in the UK when she was chosen to be a housemate on Big Brother 7 in 2006...
returned in the later Ultimate Big Brother. She entered on the first night and finished as runner-up to Brian Dowling
Brian Dowling
Brian Patrick Robert Dowling is an Irish television presenter who rose to fame after being crowned the winner of the second series of UK reality television show Big Brother in 2001. He also won Ultimate Big Brother in 2010, making him the ultimate Big Brother housemate...
. Housemates Glyn, Grace and Pete also returned during tasks.
Broadcasts
Companion shows Big Brother's Big Mouth and Big Brother's Little Brother were broadcast alongside the main show, with the addition of new show Big Brother's Big Brain (a psychology show), hosted by Dermot O'LearyDermot O'Leary
Dermot O'Leary is an English television and radio presenter. He established himself as a presenter of Big Brother's Little Brother on Channel 4 before moving on to The X Factor on ITV. O'Leary has also presented on the BBC and has his own radio show on BBC Radio 2...
. Live action was available online through the official Channel 4 website; NTL
NTL Ireland
NTL Communications Limited was a cable television and Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service company in the Republic of Ireland. As of 2005 it was owned by Liberty Global Europe , having been divested by NTL...
BroadbandPlus; and by pressing the red button
Interactive television
Interactive television describes a number of techniques that allow viewers to interact with television content as they view it.- Definitions :...
on E4
E4 (TV)
E4 is a channel on British digital television, launched as a pay-TV companion to Channel 4 on 18 January 2001. The "E" stands for entertainment, and the channel is mainly aimed at the lucrative 15–35 age group...
via Sky Digital
Sky Digital (UK & Ireland)
Sky is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television and radio service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2° east and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E. The service was originally launched as Sky Digital, distinguishing it from the original...
(UK, not ROI
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
subscribers) and cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
. At the start of the series live action was also available by pressing the red button
Interactive television
Interactive television describes a number of techniques that allow viewers to interact with television content as they view it.- Definitions :...
on E4 via Freeview, but the service was removed a few days prior to the launch of Film4
Film4
Film4 is a free digital television channel available in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned and operated by Channel 4, that screens films.-Programming:...
on Freeview.
The title sequence contained phrases such as "This is the title sequence for Big Brother", "Not for transmission", and a copyright year of 1903 (written MCMIII), the birth year of George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
. Other words flashed on screen included "You are being observed", and, in sequence the text "cam 01", "cam 09", "cam 08" and "cam 04" was shown at the top of the screen, making 1984, another reference to Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
.
On the launch night, the programme obtained a peak audience of 7.7 million viewers, one million greater than the previous year's show
Big Brother (UK series 6)
Big Brother 2005 was the sixth series of Big Brother in the UK, a reality television show on Channel 4, in which a number of contestants live an isolated existence in a purpose-built house who try to avoid being evicted by public vote, with the aim of winning a large cash prize at the end of the run...
but then dropped to an average of 4.7 million. The series' final broadcast obtained a peak audience of 8.2 million viewers, five hundred thousand greater than the launch show.
Housemates
Fourteen housemates entered the House on launch night, and eight other housemates entered the House later during the series, making a total of twenty-two housemates competing in Big Brother 7. Two of these eight housemates were replacement housemates Sam and Aisleyne, arriving on Day 12, who were introduced to the housemates as part of the Meal or No Meal task after the departure of Shahbaz and Dawn. George decided to leave the House of his own will, a rule all housemates are allowed to take advantage of at any time, on Day 13 as he "did not want to be famous". On Day 23, Susie entered the House as Big Brother's lucky Golden Ticket winner, she declared on entry that she was a nymphomaniac and would probably have sex with someone during her stay. Five more housemates entered on Day 44 (Jonathan, Spiral, Jennie, Michael and Jayne) to the House Next Door, totalling 22 housemates.This series saw the largest number of housemates to leave without being evicted, with three exiting the House. This beat series 3
Big Brother (UK series 3)
Big Brother 3 was the third series of Big Brother UK. The series started on 24 May 2002, ending on 26 July 2002 and the final of this series drew 10.0 million viewers. Votes in the final week totalled 8.6 million...
, where there were a total of fourteen housemates and two people walked; and series 5
Big Brother (UK series 5)
Big Brother 5 in 2004 was the fifth series of Big Brother in the UK, a reality television show shown on Channel 4 in which a number of contestants live in an isolated house trying to avoid being evicted by the public with the aim of winning a large cash prize at the end of the run.Due to the poor...
, in which there were a total of thirteen housemates and two were ejected. Housemate numbers also topped series 6
Big Brother (UK series 6)
Big Brother 2005 was the sixth series of Big Brother in the UK, a reality television show on Channel 4, in which a number of contestants live an isolated existence in a purpose-built house who try to avoid being evicted by public vote, with the aim of winning a large cash prize at the end of the run...
, in which even after the "Secret Garden" twist, there were only a total of sixteen contestants. At one point there were more additional housemates than original housemates in this series: during Week 9, following Nikki's eviction there was a total of six additional housemates and five original housemates, having entered the House on launch night.
The programme attracted criticism on May 31 for putting several vulnerable people in the Big Brother House. Pete suffered from Tourette syndrome
Tourette syndrome
Tourette syndrome is an inherited neuropsychiatric disorder with onset in childhood, characterized by multiple physical tics and at least one vocal tic; these tics characteristically wax and wane...
, Shahbaz was revealed to be mentally and emotionally unstable and threatened to commit suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
on live television; Lea suffers from body dysmorphic disorder
Body dysmorphic disorder
Body Dysmorphic Disorder is a type of mental illness, a somatoform disorder, wherein the affected person is exclusively concerned with body image, manifested as excessive concern about and preoccupation with a perceived defect of his or her physical features...
; Sam has admitted to being shunned by family members because of homosexuality and gender identity choices; and Nikki has suffered from anorexia
Anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a healthy body weight and an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Although commonly called "anorexia", that term on its own denotes any symptomatic loss of appetite and is not strictly accurate...
and been sectioned in the past due to the condition. A spokeswoman for mental health charity SANE
SANE (charity)
SANE is a mental illness charity in the UK. It provides telephone and email support services and has established a research centre. The opinion of SANE's founder and chief executive, Marjorie Wallace, is often quoted in media reports on mental health issues....
claimed that producers are "playing fast and loose with people's lives." A spokesperson for Rethink
Rethink
Rethink Mental Illness is a charity in England. Its mission statement is "Working together to help everyone affected by severe mental illness recover a better quality of life." The organisation was founded in 1972 by relatives of people diagnosed with schizophrenia, following an article by a...
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.
Further criticism arose when contestant Glyn Wise was reprimanded for communicating in his first language, Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
, with 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
Welsh Language Society
Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, , often abbreviated to Cymdeithas or Cymdeithas yr Iaith is a pressure group in Wales campaigning for the future of the Welsh language...
complained to Channel 4, the regulator Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
and S4C
S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
. Clearly, it was no longer a problem after this as Glyn and Imogen continued to converse in Welsh. Such discussions were broadcast with English subtitles.
Golden tickets
During the first three weeks of the series, Channel 4 conducted a promotion in conjunction with NestleNestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
to distribute 100 "golden tickets" randomly throughout Kit Kat
Kit Kat
Kit Kat is a chocolate-coated wafer confection that was created by Rowntree's of York, England, and is now produced worldwide by Nestlé, which acquired Rowntree in 1988, except in the United States where it is made under licence by The Hershey Company. Each bar consists of fingers composed of three...
chocolate bars, in a style reminiscent of the story Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 1964 children's book by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of the eccentric chocolatier, Willy Wonka....
. Members of the public finding these tickets were permitted to use them to give themselves a chance to become a Big Brother housemate and bypass the standard auditions process.
Golden ticket holders were invited to a television show where one of them, Susie Verrico, was chosen to enter the House by housemate Aisleyne picking a ball out of a machine at random.
This contest caused some controversy, with the Advertising Standards Authority
Advertising Standards Authority (United Kingdom)
The Advertising Standards Authority is the self-regulatory organisation of the advertising industry in the United Kingdom. The ASA is a non-statutory organisation and so cannot interpret or enforce legislation. However, its code of advertising practice broadly reflects legislation in many instances...
saying that the terms and conditions of the draw should have been made clearer in related advertisements, and that an independent adjudicator should have been present before and during the draw.
The House Next Door
Aisleyne was voted to be moved into the House Next Door along with 5 new housemates; Jonathan, Spiral, Jennie, Michael and Jayne. Aisleyne was then required to evict another housemate, and chose Jonathan.
The House Next Door was also used later on in the series. In Week 10 it featured in the "Prison Task" and in Week 12 it housed four previous evictees who had been voted by the public to re-enter the House.
Weekly summary
In the first week a group of housemates, known as "The Big Brotherhood" were elected by group leaders Lisa and Shahbaz. These housemates received their suitcases and eviction immunity for the week. Mikey replaced Shahbaz as leader, after Shahbaz voluntarily left on Day 7 Bonnie, Dawn and Glyn were not chosen to join "The Big Brotherhood" and so were placed up for eviction. Dawn was asked to leave on Day 8 after using a code to receive information from the outside world. Bonnie and Glyn were put to the public vote and on Day 9 Bonnie was evicted with 78% of the vote.In week two the housemates had to answer various questions in order to win a luxury food budget, in the game show-style "Meal or No Meal", which had a similar name to Channel 4's show "Deal or No Deal
Deal or No Deal (UK game show)
Deal or No Deal is the United Kingdom version of the Endemol game show format Deal or No Deal, hosted by Noel Edmonds. 1,758 shows have been aired...
". On Day 13 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. On Day 14 George left voluntarily. Richard, Lea and Sezer faced the public vote, and on Day 16 Sezer was evicted with 91.6% of the public vote.
During week three, on Day 18, the housemates had a "Shouting" task to win a luxury reward for the person who could shout the loudest. The weekly shopping task was Big Brother's Temp Agency, where housemates were given different jobs, such as lifeguard, chef, toilet attendant, and PA. Sam and Nikki were put to the public vote and on Day 23 Sam was evicted with 53.7% of the public vote. Following Sam's eviction, Susie, being the winner of a "Golden Ticket", was randomly selected to enter the House.
During week four Big Brother imposed "The State of Susie". The House was adorned with images and statues of Susie, making Susie the leader of a "dictatorship" and the other housemates her followers. The weekly task was failed four hours after it began. Thirty-three fails were recorded, thirty more than were allowed. Susie, the only housemate allowed to nominate, chose Grace and Nikki for the public vote. On Day 30 Grace was evicted with 87.9% of the public vote.
In week five the housemates had to perform a baton routine, dressed as majorettes. Glyn was appointed leader and led the housemates to pass the task. Though the housemates later lost the task after Glyn claimed he didn't think the housemates deserved the food.
Imogen, Mikey, Nikki and Lisa were put up for eviction. Lisa was evicted on Day 37 with 60.3% of the public vote.
In week six the housemates had to rub another housemate with soap until all of the soap was gone. Imogen, Glyn and Susie won, and had the prize of the use of a luxury spa. The housemates also had to stop milk from emptying out of a tank. Imogen was secretly told the real task, to empty more than half of the milk, without the other housemates' knowledge, and she succeeded. Aisleyne and Susie were put to the public vote, but not to evict. The vote was to decide who moved into a secret "House Next Door", Aisleyne was moved to the House Next Door on Day 45. She was joined by five new housemates: Jayne, Jennie, Jonathan, Michael and Spiral.
In week seven Aisleyne had to decide which housemates to evict from the "House Next Door", unaware she was sending them to the real House. On Days 47 and 49, Aisleyne sent Jayne, Michael and Jennie to the main House, believing that she was evicting them. On Day 50, Aisleyne was told to evict either Jonathan or Spiral. She evicted Jonathan. Richard and Lea were put up for eviction. Lea was evicted on Day 51 with 53.8% of the public vote.
During week eight on Day 54, the housemates participated in the “Big Brother Tennis Championship,” where the housemates played a game of tennis against Big Brother. The housemates won seven games and were rewarded with a party. On Day 56, each housemate got one minute to perform as many burps as they could. If the house collectively performed 200 burps than they would receive a children's party. They performed 252 burps collectively and won the reward. Following Jayne relaying her impressions of the other housemates from before she had entered the House, all of the housemates except her were to face the public vote. On Day 58 Nikki was evicted with 37.2% of the public vote.
In week nine, on Day 61, the housemates were given a walking task. Each housemate was given a pedometer
Pedometer
A pedometer is a device, usually portable and electronic or electromechanical, that counts each step a person takes by detecting the motion of the person's hips...
and was asked to walk around the house for two hours. It was revealed that Glyn walked the most steps and received a luxury meal of his choice, though this was given in the form of a smoothie which he was forced to taste. Housemates then had to complete an assault course. The housemates passed the task and were rewarded with an eighties-theme party, along with a luxury shopping budget for the following week.
Richard and Jayne were put up for eviction, Jayne was evicted on Day 65 with 67.1% of the public vote.
In week ten Big Brother devised the "Best Friends" task. Housemates were paired up for the week. Each pair chose a single fellow housemate for eviction and Big Brother later announced that the nominated housemates, along with their "Best Friends", would be up for eviction. The pair with the lowest share of the public vote would be evicted. Throughout the week, housemates completed the "Prison" task where the "House Next Door" became a prison. The housemates passed the task and were rewarded with letters from home, along with the luxury food budget. The pairs of Imogen and Susie, Michael and Spiral and Pete and Richard were put up for eviction. Michael and Spiral were evicted together on Day 72 with the lowest share of the vote to stay in, 9.7%.
In week eleven, on Day 75, Big Brother went on holiday, leaving housemates with an automated service as a temporary replacement. Housemates were told to make postcards for Big Brother and were rewarded with a sleepover and pyjama party. Housemates also had to learn five different things, similar to a university course. The group passed, and were given a luxury shopping budget for Week 12. The graduation was celebrated with a party. Imogen, Jennie, Mikey and Susie faced the public vote. Mikey was evicted first on Day 79 with 48.5% of the four-way vote, Susie was evicted after him with 59.4% of the three-way vote.
In week twelve Jennie won the "Big Brother Board Game" task, she was rewarded with a place in the final, and a bottle of champagne. Housemates were also given the task "Big Brother FM" where they had to pretend to be DJs. They were awarded a luxury shopping budget, after the show proved popular with the public. On Day 84, previously evicted housemates Nikki, Grace, Lea, and Mikey entered the "House Next Door" following a public vote between 10 previous housemates. On hearing the news that four ex-housemates were living Next Door, Glyn attempted to get into the House Next Door by climbing on the roof and therefore breaking the rules. Richard and Imogen were put up for eviction, and Imogen was evicted on Day 86 with 62% of the public vote. After Imogen's exit Nikki was chosen by housemates to re-enter the House on Day 87. Lea, Grace, and Mikey left the Big Brother compound on Day 86.
During the final week the housemates had to compete in a slow bicycle race. Pete won the race and was rewarded with a disco for one in the Diary Room with free alcohol. Housemates were given a task in which they had to form a dance troupe. They passed the task and were rewarded with two bottles of wine. Housemates were given a task called "Before They Were Housemates". On Day 91, housemates were given another mini task by Big Brother in which they had to write a "future autobiography". Housemates were set the task of becoming "political campaigners". Each housemate was required to convince the audience that another housemate should win Big Brother. On Day 93, Jennie finished in 6th, Nikki in 5th and Richard in 4th Place. Aisleyne left the house in third place. Glyn left the House as runner-up and Pete left as winner of Big Brother 7.
Nominations table
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Final Week 13 |
Nominations received | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pete | In Big Brotherhood |
Imogen, Sezer |
Lisa, Nikki |
Not eligible |
Imogen, Lisa |
Susie, Aisleyne |
Banned | No nominations |
Spiral, Michael |
Michael | Imogen, Aisleyne |
Imogen, Glyn |
Winner (Day 93) |
3 | ||
| Glyn | Not in Big Brotherhood |
Grace, Richard |
Sam, Nikki |
Not eligible |
Nikki | Richard, Aisleyne |
Pete, Lea |
No nominations |
Susie, Jayne |
Susie | Susie, Richard |
Richard, Pete |
Runner-Up (Day 93) |
6 | ||
| Aisleyne | Not in house |
Exempt | Nikki, Sam |
Not eligible |
Lisa, Mikey |
Lea, Nikki |
Jayne, Michael, Jennie, Spiral |
No nominations |
Jayne, Richard |
Spiral | Mikey, Glyn |
Richard, Glyn |
Third Place (Day 93) |
12 | ||
| Richard | In Big Brotherhood |
Imogen, Sezer |
Lisa, Grace |
Not eligible |
Imogen, Glyn |
Imogen, Aisleyne |
Imogen, Glyn |
No nominations |
Aisleyne, Spiral |
Michael | Mikey, Imogen |
Aisleyne, Imogen |
Fourth Place (Day 93) |
26 | ||
| Nikki | In Big Brotherhood |
Lea, Grace |
Richard, Sam |
Not eligible |
Lisa | Aisleyne, Susie |
Richard, Lea |
No nominations |
Evicted (Day 58) |
Next Door Day 83-86 |
Fifth Place (Day 93) |
10 | ||||
| Jennie | Not in house |
Next Door |
No nominations |
Michael, Jayne |
Spiral | Susie, Imogen |
Aisleyne, Imogen |
Sixth Place (Day 93) |
5 | |||||||
| Imogen | In Big Brotherhood |
Banned | Banned | Not eligible |
Lea | Richard, Susie |
Richard, Lea |
No nominations |
Richard, Jayne |
Michael | Richard, Jennie |
Richard, Pete |
Evicted (Day 86) |
14 | ||
| Susie | Not in house |
Nikki, Grace |
Lisa, Mikey |
Nikki, Imogen |
Lea, Glyn |
No nominations |
Michael, Spiral |
Michael | Mikey, Jennie |
Evicted (Day 79) |
13 | |||||
| Mikey | In Big Brotherhood |
Richard, Lisa |
Sam, Aisleyne |
Not eligible |
Lea, Susie |
Richard, Susie |
Richard, Nikki |
No nominations |
Richard, Susie |
Susie | Susie, Jennie |
Evicted (Day 79) |
Next Door (Day 83-86) |
Re-evicted (Day 86) |
5 | |
| Spiral | Not in house |
Next Door |
No nominations |
Jennie, Richard |
Richard | Evicted (Day 72) |
4 | |||||||||
| Michael | Not in house |
Next Door |
No nominations |
Jennie, Richard |
Richard | Evicted (Day 72) |
7 | |||||||||
| Jayne | Not in house |
Exempt | No nominations |
Aisleyne, Imogen |
Evicted (Day 65) |
4 | ||||||||||
| Lea | In Big Brotherhood |
Sezer, Lisa |
Nikki, Richard |
Not eligible |
Imogen | Aisleyne, Susie |
Susie, Richard |
Evicted (Day 51) |
Next Door (Day 83-86) |
Re-evicted (Day 86) |
10 | |||||
| Jonathan | Not in house |
Next Door |
Evicted (Day 49) |
0 | ||||||||||||
| Lisa | In Big Brotherhood |
Lea, Richard |
Banned | Exempt | Nikki | Evicted (Day 37) |
8 | |||||||||
| Grace | In Big Brotherhood |
Lea, Richard |
Aisleyne, Sam |
Not eligible |
Evicted (Day 30) |
Next Door (Day 83-86) |
Re-evicted (Day 86) |
4 | ||||||||
| Sam | Not in house |
Exempt | Lea, Richard |
Evicted (Day 23) |
5 | |||||||||||
| Sezer | In Big Brotherhood |
Banned | Evicted (Day 16) |
3 | ||||||||||||
| George | In Big Brotherhood |
Walked (Day 13) |
N/A | |||||||||||||
| Bonnie | Not in Big Brotherhood |
Evicted (Day 9) |
N/A | |||||||||||||
| Dawn | Not in Big Brotherhood |
Ejected (Day 8) |
N/A | |||||||||||||
| Shahbaz | In Big Brotherhood |
Walked (Day 6) |
N/A | |||||||||||||
| Nomination note |
None | |||||||||||||||
| Against public vote |
Bonnie, Glyn |
Lea, Richard, Sezer |
Nikki, Sam |
Grace, Nikki |
Imogen, Lisa, Mikey, Nikki |
Aisleyne, Susie |
Lea, Richard |
Aisleyne, Glyn, Imogen, Jennie, Michael, Mikey, Nikki, Pete, Richard, Spiral, Susie |
Jayne, Richard |
Imogen & Susie, Michael & Spiral, Pete & Richard |
Imogen, Jennie, Mikey, Susie |
Sam, Grace, Lisa, Lea, Nikki, Jayne, Michael, Spiral, Mikey, Susie |
Imogen, Richard |
Aisleyne, Glyn, Jennie, Nikki, Pete, Richard |
||
| Walked | Shahbaz | George | none | |||||||||||||
| Ejected | Dawn | none | ||||||||||||||
| Evicted | Bonnie 78% to evict |
Sezer 91.6% to evict |
Sam 53.7% to evict |
Grace 87.9% to evict |
Lisa 60.3% to evict |
Aisleyne 67.3% to move |
Jonathan Aisleyne's choice to evict |
Nikki 37.2% to evict |
Jayne 67.1% to evict |
Michael & Spiral 9.7% to save |
Mikey 48.5% (out of 4) to evict |
Lea 7.3% to return |
Imogen 62% to evict |
Jennie 0.9% (out of 6) |
Richard 9.2% (out of 4) |
|
| Mikey 7.3% to return |
Nikki 6.5% (out of 5) |
|||||||||||||||
| Grace 8.4% to return |
Grace Lea Mikey (Not chosen by fellow Housemates to return) |
Aisleyne 22% (out of 3) |
Glyn 38.8% (out of 2) |
|||||||||||||
| Lea 53.8% to evict |
Susie 59.4% (out of 3) to evict |
|||||||||||||||
| Nikki 63% to return |
Pete 61.2% to win |
|||||||||||||||
Channel 4 official site voting history
There were no nominations. Instead, all housemates except Bonnie, Dawn and Glyn formed the Big Brotherhood and were immune to eviction, while the housemates excluded from the Brotherhood faced the public vote. Because Dawn was ejected from the house, it was only Bonnie and Glyn that faced the public vote. Sezer and Imogen were banned from nominating for discussing nominations earlier on that day. New housemates Aisleyne and Sam could not nominate or be nominated. Imogen was banned from nominations on Day 15 because the night before, she had disclosed to fellow housemates the fact that was unable to nominate the previous week. Lisa was also banned on Day 18 after telling Imogen who she voted for in the previous week. Only Susie nominated this week, being the Golden Housemate. The two people she nominated were Grace and Nikki, so they faced the public vote. Lisa, who won a task set by Big Brother, was immune from nomination. During the previous week, Glyn, Imogen, Lea, Lisa and Nikki had discussed nominations. As punishment, the five of them had to each nominate one of their fellow rule-breakers in front of fellow housemates. The one or more housemate(s) with the most nominations was up for eviction; Nikki was chosen. The other five housemates, Aisleyne, Mikey, Pete, Richard and Susie, nominated secretly as normal, selecting from everyone except Nikki. This week's public vote was not to evict a housemate, but to vote them into the House Next Door. The housemates nominated as usual, but were unaware of the fake eviction or of the House Next Door. Aisleyne was not evicted, but instead moved next door. Aisleyne was told that she had to evict four of the five new housemates, who were living in the House Next Door. Shown in the table against Aisleyne are the housemates she chose to evict from the House Next Door. However, she was not told that the first three housemates she chose would join the others in the main house. Her fourth nomination, for Jonathan, was for real, and he was evicted.
- Aisleyne, Jennie, Jonathan, Michael and Spiral were in the House Next Door during the main nominations for Week 7, and therefore did not take part. Jayne was new to the house during Week 7 nominations and was therefore exempt. Pete was banned from nominating for telling Aisleyne he had nominated her the previous week. Big Brother punished Jayne for discussing the outside world by cancelling nominations and putting all housemates up for eviction except her. Therefore, the housemates up for eviction were Aisleyne, Glyn, Imogen, Jennie, Michael, Mikey, Nikki, Pete, Richard, Spiral and Susie. Housemates were put into pairs of "Best Friends": these were Aisleyne & Jennie; Glyn & Mikey; Imogen & Susie; Pete & Richard and Michael & Spiral. Each pair nominated one housemate. The housemates with the most nominations faced eviction with their "Best Friend" and the pair with the least votes were evicted, with their "Best Friend". As part of an ongoing task, housemates had to nominate using an 'Automated Big Brother' phone system. Whilst announcing nominations, 'Automated Big Brother' "broke down", having only announced Imogen's name. The eviction was a double one, but the housemates were unaware of this. Following Susie's eviction on Day 79 the public voted for which 4 ex-housemates they would like to move into the House Next Door. On Day 83, Grace, Lea, Mikey and Nikki moved in. George Shabaz Dawn and Jonothan were not eligible to re enter as they had not left the House via a Public vote. Bonnie and Sezer were not eligible due to legal reasons Jennie won a task set by Big Brother and was given immunity from the week's nominations and a guaranteed place in the final.
On Day 83, Grace, Lea, Mikey and Nikki were voted by the public into the House Next Door. On Day 86, the housemates in the main house chose Nikki to re-enter the Big Brother house, where she became eligible to win the prize money. Grace, Lea and Mikey were therefore re-evicted. There were no nominations in the final week and the public were voting for housemates to win, rather than be evicted.
Controversy surrounding evicted Housemates re-entering House
On Day 83, four previous evictees entered the 'House Next Door' following a public vote between ten previous Housemates. Nikki received 63% of the vote, whilst Grace got 8.4%, and Lea and Mikey 7.3% each. Their presence was revealed to the other housemates and Imogen and Richard, who were up for eviction that week, joined them. Nikki was chosen by the remaining housemates to return to the Big Brother House and become eligible to win the £100,000 prize money and Grace, Mikey and Lea left the House Next Door.This decision to allow previous evictees to become eligible to win the show was criticised. Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
received 500 complaints from viewers about this matter and Media watchdog Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
confirmed that it had received over 1,000 complaints, and referred viewers to ICSTIS. Soon after the four ex-housemates entered the House Next Door, ICSTIS released a statement confirming that it was dealing with over 2,500 complaints and launched an official investigation. On October 5, 2006, they ruled that Channel 4 had breached its code and imposed £50,000 'administrative charges'.
On the day prior to the voting results being announced however, Channel 4 stated that it still considered the vote to be a success as they had already received 400,000 votes, making it the most successful of the series. 36p from each call and 26p from each text also went to charity, raising over £250,000 for charity on the vote alone. The money was split among three charities: Shelter, The Teenage Cancer Trust and the winning housemate's chosen charity, which Pete chose as the Tourette's Association.
External links
- Big Brother - Series 7 at Channel4.com