BIG Brother fans have demanded the show go ‘back to basics’ ahead of the next series.
On last night’s Celebrity Big Brother finale, hosts AJ Odudu and Will Best confirmed the next series will be coming later this year – with applications now open for housemates.
But while both the civilian and celebrity series have proven successful as they relaunched on ITV, some fans are demanding tweaks to the old format – fearing the show is ‘too glossy’ and ‘more like Love Island’.
Critiquing everything from how the show wakes up housemates through to the presenting style of the hosts, one fan has created a master thread on X (formerly Twitter) of what they want back on the show – and thousands of fans have agreed.
The unnamed poster – whose username is inspired by ITV drama Bad Girls character Sylvia ‘BodyBag’ Hollamby – wrote: “As this series of CBB comes to a close tonight, here is a thread of what needs to be changed next year for civilian in order for ITV to regain BB as a smash hit”
Among the suggested changes, they stated the show needed to ditch the glamorous and brightly house, stating: “These two series have been too luxurious to be a Big Brother House. I need dirt and filth to work housemates to the bone. It’s back to basics not Love Island Villa, I want them to go mad, not treated like royalty.”
They also praised the art of the ‘CBB villain’, calling back to former stars including Charley Uchea and Grace Adams-Short, noting they ‘need an argumentative b***h to root for’.
Cutting down on twists throughout the series run to make them more special, bringing back interviews in the main live shows, and giving the shopping tasks bigger stakes and consequences – returning to the £5 per head basic ration – was also on the demands.
They also wanted blaring morning alarms, punishments for sleeping during the day to come back, and the return of the smoking area to build up tension between the housemates.
“It needs to return. It’s where all the b***hing and gossiping happens and we need to see the non-smokers vs smokers when it comes to the shopping list,” they said. “While they’re at it bring back the chalkboard for the shopping list. Sick of the cruel Ocado tablet.”
“All in all ITV has done an ‘ok’ job of the reboot and with these tweaks, the series can be catapulted to compete with reality TV gem- The Traitors, otherwise this could go t**s up and BB would be unable to come back again. Don’t f**k up ITV,” they noted.
Fellow viewers and fans were quick to praise the thread, saying they agreed with “Sylvia’s” critiques.
“[ITV] please take note of this thread,” one wrote: “Don’t be scared to let Big Brother run naturally, trust the format and trust the viewers to like it.”
“I loved the return Civilian series but with these changes oh my it would become a proper proper show, would love if they did the interviews on the stage with the main crowd there,” added another.
However, others feared the reason behind most of these features disappearing was down to duty of care for contestants that wasn’t present back during the show’s original ‘hey day’ – with the added pressure of social media proving a daunting threat in the aftermath.
“yes i agree with everything but i also don’t know what u want from itv in regards to controversy,” one noted. “itv and most channels need to look after their contestants.
“controversial tv isn’t what it used to be because of social media and how heavily these people get bullied online. people are too scared to be a villain bc viewers will take it sooo seriously and terrorise them online. it’s the same with love island.”
“do we care about the well-being of contestants or do we want completely unfiltered behaviour?” they continued. “you can’t have both anymore. BB can’t protect ex housemates from the internet. no amount of therapy can fix that. that’s why many ex reality and tv personalities commit suicide.”
Celebrity Big Brother is available to watch on ITVX.
