Big Brother has made its return to British TV after five long years. The reality show has moved to ITV and was watched by over 2.5 million viewers as they watched 16 new contestants enter the house. The launch party was a “housewarming party” and involved several games with unexpected consequences. This included one housemate having his suitcase blown up and lost access to hot water for a full day.
Big Brother initially started on Channel 4 in 2000 and eventually moved to Channel 5 until it was ultimately cancelled in 2018. However, the show was brought back with AJ Odudu and Will Best as the new hosts on ITV. While the Telegraph described the launch as “fun,” The Times called it “a Noughties fossil.” The new hosts were unfavorably compared to the show’s previous hosts, Davina McCall and Emma Willis.
The opening episode on ITV1 was watched by 2 million viewers, with a further 527,000 on ITV2. However, not everyone was impressed with the show. The Times’ Carol Midgley said that the format “feels pretty vanilla, pretty basic stuff” when compared with modern formats. Nonetheless, Metro’s critic Adam Miller welcomed the show back, also awarding four stars. There were also mixed reactions on social media during and after the show.
Ahead of the launch, the hosts requested that fans be kind online and remember that the “housemates are real people with their real lives.” Similarly, housemates and their families and friends have been asked to not post content about the show on their individual social media accounts while they are in the house. This was done to protect the show’s duty of care policies, which have been under scrutiny following a number of controversies involving on-screen talent
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