Main house flattened and extension almost gone as work at famous Elstree site continues

Demolition work on the Big Brother UK house at Elstree Studios has been revealed in brand new pictures, showing how diggers have torn through the home of some of the most iconic scenes in reality TV history.

In November it emerged that Britain’s most famous residence was to be dismantled after 16 years, even though production company Endemol Shine had secured permission to keep it until 2021.

As devastated fans questioned the news, work began to ‘derig’ the site, with crew taking down the live show set – and last month photos emerged on social media showing that the eviction studio and part of the house had been bulldozed.

Now, bbspy and Big Blagger have exclusively obtained the first aerial pictures of the Big Brother compound since actual demolition work began, showing the full extent of the destruction for the first time.

The images – which were taken this weekend, as snow fell over Borehamwood – reveal that almost half of the front end of the main house has been reduced to rubble.

The extension, completed just three years ago, has been flattened almost entirely, while only the foundations remain of the separate studio building, where host Emma Willis interviewed housemates after their evictions.

A closer look at the main house gives a cutaway view of its two levels: the ground floor, where the contestants mostly resided, and the upper floor, which functioned as a production loft, and occasionally smaller rooms, such as the Diary Room or spare bedroom.

The sloping roof meant it was never possible for producers to add a full second floor.

Meanwhile, another overhead view shows the outline of the small task room, located just off the Diary Room, which is now exposed to the outside.

Amid the wreckage, certain fixtures and fittings remain in place. The hot tub from the last series can be seen in the garden, while the boilers that powered the hot water supply are still standing.

The Portakabins surrounding the house, which served as production offices, were removed in December.

The images will be hard to swallow for Big Brother fans and reality TV enthusiasts. The Elstree house was built in 2002 for the third ‘civilian’ series of the show, after moving from its original site in Bow, East London.

Approximate floorplan showing where the rooms in the Big Brother 2018 house were located

Throughout its sixteen-year existence, the abode hosted over 40 series of Big Brother, which featured 594 housemates – 324 ‘civilian’ and 270 Celebrity.

It set the scenes for some of the most iconic moments in television history, ranging from Nikki Grahame’s ‘Who is she?’ rant to Tiffany Pollard’s ‘David’s dead’ mishap.

Despite the hammer blow of losing its house, there is still hope for Big Brother’s future in the UK.

This aerial shot of the Celebrity Big Brother 21 house shows the area that has been demolished so far in red

bbspy understands that talks to find a new broadcaster for the show are still ongoing. In November, a report revealed that streaming service Netflix had entered negotiations with Endemol about acquiring the rights.

While future series will have to find new filming premises, it is now thought that custom-built environments are no longer a requirement for Big Brother, meaning it can utilise existing houses or properties.

For instance, the current series of Pinoy Big Brother, the Philippines’ version, saw bosses reconstruct its house without camera runs for the first time in its history.