A storm is brewing as Celebrity Big Brother prepares to launch – but will the latest series bring much-needed change? Here bbspy has the lowdown from the show’s new bosses on their plans for both the celeb and ‘civilian’ versions…

After years of empty promises, you can’t blame Big Brother viewers for being disillusioned. The bold claim in 2016 that “the game is changing” turned out to be false; last year, ratings fell to rock bottom as casual viewers turned to the newer, cooler kid on the block. The remaining Big Brother die-hards seemed resigned to its fate, certain that Channel 5’s status quo would remain even though it was no longer doing the business.

But in January, two things happened that gave fans the tiniest glimmer of hope. For its first two weeks at least, the ‘Year of the Woman’ Celebrity edition felt like old-school Big Brother in a way it hadn’t for over a decade; then came the news that production bigwig Paul Osborne would be returning to the show.

Paul was there when it began in 2000, working on tasks; he climbed the ladder and became executive producer of the fan-favourite seventh series, once voted the best ever. Since leaving in 2008, he has spent a decade in the United States.

For those of us who follow production changes, it was a huge deal for Endemol Shine not only to lure someone from across the pond, but someone who had previously been involved in the glory years.

Now, seven months on – and following a lengthy delay prompted by the eye-watering success of ITV2’s Love Island – we’re finally about to find out whether he can pull off the impossible: a return to form.

Ahead of Celebrity Big Brother’s launch next week, we were invited to Elstree Studios today to meet Paul, Big Brother’s old-but-new creative director, and Tamsin Dodgson, who joined as executive editor in January and helped shape the new direction it took for Year of the Woman.

This was already highly unusual: we’ve never been at Big Brother HQ so far in advance of a new series, we’ve never had the opportunity to grill the executives at length, and we’ve never been in the same room as the legend that gave the world Nikki Grahame (a true fanboy moment, right there).

So, if Paul and Tamsin were taking a new approach with the fansites, maybe they would be taking a new approach with the show?

With the help of the always-delightful folks at BB On Blast, Big Blagger, Big Brother 24/7 and Big Brother Radio, we spent an hour trying to find out, discussing the CBB storm and some of the fans’ biggest issues. Here is what we discovered…

There won’t be any increase in live feed

Let’s get the big one out the way first. Anyone hoping that a more back-to-basics Big Brother would result in more live feed will be disappointed to hear that we can only expect streaming after eviction nights, as usual. The explanation was the same: the supposedly low ratings for live feed don’t justify the cost of the legalities involved. Paul noted that there are more broadcasting regulations to adhere to in the UK than the US, where CBS still offers a four-camera live feed setup for its adaptation of Big Brother.

The ‘Eye of the Storm’ theme mainly concerns the housemates

While we know Celebrity Big Brother’s ‘Eye of the Storm’ theme means it will feature housemates who have experienced some sort of public scandal, the announcement prompted some to speculate that the producers would try to concoct their own storm. That isn’t the case. Paul and Tamsin assured us that the theme mainly relates to the housemates, and while there will be twists and a few mentions of the word ‘storm’, it doesn’t mean they’ll be going out their way to force controversy. Instead, they’re hoping to build on Year of the Woman’s more stripped-back approach.

The Storm won’t be Unleashed during a live show

Last week, Channel 5 announced a mysterious special episode of Celebrity Big Brother, named ‘A Storm Unleashed’, will air on Friday 17th August, the night after it launches. Paul confirmed this won’t be a proper live show, but it will feature ‘something to stick around for’. If past series are anything to go by, it could be a highlights episode that cuts live to the house at the end.

As for launch night itself, Paul said there is also something special planned for that, but hesitated to use the word ‘twist’ to describe it. Whatever it is, it does not involve a hidden earpiece!

There’s another side to the eye

During Paul’s spell as executive producer of Big Brother 7, a rumour circulated that the swirling spirals of its eye logo contained a hidden message. Of course, that was blatantly false, but it seems there might be something we haven’t noticed about the new neon lightning Celebrity Big Brother logo; Paul teased that there’s another side to it that will be revealed in the all-new title sequence.

The titles are apparently amazing (and the house isn’t too neon)

By the way, Paul was bigging up that new title sequence – it continues the neon theme, but does not look like the impressive main trailer, which premiered last week. As for the house, which is still under wraps, he didn’t give too much away, but while there’s some neon lightning inside (as you’d expect), it isn’t excessive. If you were dreading a full-on Las Vegas theme then you can breathe a sigh of relief.

Normal Big Brother will have its own identity



Some fans were aghast when it was revealed that Celebrity Big Brother would be airing before regular Big Brother this summer, a change resulting from the aforementioned delay. If you were one of them, here’s some reassuring news: the upcoming ‘civilian’ run will have its own clear, distinct branding, rather than continue the storm theme.

As for when it will begin, there will be a gap of a few days between the two versions, as usual. Therefore, with C5 currently billing CBB as having 28 episodes, mid-September is looking pretty certain (although scheduling is always subject to change).

They’re actively trying to find unknown housemates

Anyone who’s watched the ‘civilian’ Big Brother in recent years is aware that it has featured far too many housemates who have already been in the public eye – last year’s series had three former Ex On The Beach cast members alone – but it looks like the rampant reality show-swapping may finally be coming to an end. Paul claimed they’re consciously trying their best to find complete unknowns for the new series; that isn’t to say there won’t be any familiar faces, but hopefully this time it’ll be a few rather than a lot.

Tamsin, meanwhile, noted that they’re trying to deblur the lines between the two versions of Big Brother. For instance, last year, Ibiza Weekender star Ellie Young was a ‘civilian’ housemate before her castmate Jordan Davies popped on the subsequent Celebrity edition; apparently they’re now trying to avoid such casting mishaps.

There should finally be solid nominations criteria



After years of twist after twist after twist, will this finally be the series that the nominations process gets a much-needed simplification? We’re not entirely sure. Paul and Tamsin did say they prefer normal nominations, as they give you insight in to housemates that face-to-face nominations do not, but they did not give any assurances that there will be less twists this year – especially for the Celebrity version, noting that it’s harder when there’s two evictions per week.

However, there is another nominations bugbear they do intend on sorting. For years we’ve never quite known Channel 5’s formula for deciding who faces eviction; usually it’s any housemate that receives two or more nominations, but that isn’t always the case. This time, Paul says we’ll know the criteria right from the beginning.

Something that specifically annoyed everyone during January’s CBB was the awkward eviction format; housemate exits the front door, stops while Emma introduces their best bits, and then afterwards they’re suddenly down the stairs – it made for rather flat television. Although she did not give specifics, Tamsin did say that the live show format is constantly under review.

The producers don’t like doing back door evictions

Back door evictions have become a regular feature of Big Brother recently, and they’re not terribly popular with fans; they take place during pre-recorded highlights episodes, meaning the unlucky victims are booted out the Diary Room with no live show, booing crowd or Emma Willis to look forward to.

The good news is, the execs aren’t terribly fond of back door evictions either – Paul and Tamsin say they’d always rather give housemates the full experience if they can. The bad news is that sometimes they have no choice but to do them, when there’s too many housemates and not enough time left to get them all out the usual way. At the very least, they’re always trying to come up with creative new ways of kicking victims out (Jamie O’Hara’s courtroom sentencing with a particularly popular one among the group).

There won’t be free voting



Phones are so five years ago; nowadays, all the big reality shows seem to offer free voting options. Strictly Come Dancing viewers get three free votes on the BBC website, and ITV’s big brands offer users of their mobile apps five free votes per window.

Free voting is one thing we were really, really hoping Big Brother would have this year; it would undoubtedly drive engagement and keep younger viewers hooked at a time when ratings are teetering. Sadly, however, it’s not happening.

The shopping tasks are back

The last few series of Big Brother have featured a casual approach to tasks. There have been plenty of them, but they haven’t always had much significance; specifically, shopping tasks seems to have been lost among whirlwind drama.

So we’re thrilled to report that not only are shopping tasks are back this year, a Big Brother task team veteran, Jackson Townroe, is returning to oversee them. Jackson worked on tasks between BB9 and Power Trip; some of you may remember him from the occasional task previews on Bit On The Side.

The future is still up in the air

With Big Brother’s future still in peril as negotiations between Channel 5 and Endemol continue, Paul and Tamsin sadly didn’t have any update on whether the show will still be on air next year – they’ve signed up to work on the 2018 run and are concentrating on that at the moment. For any over-excited fans that jumped the gun about Endemol’s recent application for a three-year renewal on the house lease, Paul also stressed that it is still in the application stage; a final decision has yet to be granted.

Paul and Tamsin do genuinely love Big Brother

Throughout the whole chat, one thing was clear: Paul and Tamsin are huge fans of Big Brother, and they want it to be the best it can possibly be. When bbspy asked Paul why he returned from the States to work on Big Brother UK at a time when it’s facing the axe, his answer was simple: “I love Big Brother.”

He then fondly recalled memories of BB1, when he took a signal detector in to the camera runs to decipher whether nominations cheat Nasty Nick had somehow smuggled a phone in to the house.

He also told how an entire 13-week roadmap was created for Big Brother 7, only for it to be used up halfway through, proving there’s only so much planning a Big Brother producer can do.

The problem for Paul and Tamsin is that, over the next twelve weeks, they face the extremely thankless task of keeping Endemol, Channel 5, and the fans happy.

For Endemol, they’ve got to make sure the Big Brother brand is in the best possible condition so, if the worst happens, it might have a life elsewhere.

For Channel 5, they’ve got to do whatever it takes to get the ratings up after last year’s severe drops – no matter what that involves.

At the same time, they will be doing their utmost not to let down the fans, who have everything crossed that they’re the two people who will finally restore Big Brother’s original values.

Over the next few months, we will find out whether those three things can be compatible with each other. Certainly, however, we’re more excited about the new series that we once thought possible; it feels like if Paul and Tamsin can’t find that magic balance, no-one can.