The UK’s Big Brother is just one of the many versions of the show globally - in fact, Big Brother has been on air continuously in at least one country since Tuesday 13th January 2004. Here, we take a look at some of the international editions.
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Netherlands
- The first ever series of BB began in the Netherlands on 16th September 1999. By the time it ended on New Year’s Eve, it was the most watched Dutch TV show that year, and its participants were overnight celebrities.
- Six years later, the fifth run saw Big Brother’s first birth. Tanja Slangenberg, then 27, entered the house seven months pregnant. On Day 56, she gave birth to a girl in a specially designed area of the house, who she named Joscelyn. They left voluntarily nine days later.
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Arab States
- The Arabian edition of BB was very controversial. Six men and six women took part in the show, which was modified to fit Arab customs. They stayed in gender-specific sleeping areas, with the women’s parts filmed only by female camera operators, and there were prayer rooms, which were used five times a day when Big Brother announced the times for prayer.
However, despite these changes, there was many complaints, and it was cancelled after only eleven days.
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Australia
- Two UK Big Brother housemates have entered the Australian BB house as guests. BB4’s Anouska visited for a week in 2003, while BB5 winner Nadia dropped by for three days in 2005.
- The show’s house and studios were located in a theme park on the Gold Coast, and fans were able to tour the house once each series had ended.
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Belgium
- Belgian Big Brother is one of the cruellest in the world. Contestants on the show have been caged, electrocuted and even hung!
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Germany
- Germany can’t get enough of BB – their fifth series lasted an entire year. On the same day it ended, the sixth series ‘Big Brother: Das Dorf’ (Big Brother: The Village) began, with no end date originally planned. However, it was cancelled after a year due to declining viewing figures.
- The ninth German run initially attracted low ratings. This prompted producers to give it a revamp one-month in. It later relaunched as “Big Brother: Reloaded”, with an altered house design and three former housemates returning as ‘all-stars’, and the viewing figures then rose.
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Greece
- Big Brother became Big Mother for the fourth Greek edition, as all the housemates were forced to live with their mums inside the house. When a housemate was evicted, their mother left with them. However, the twist flopped and producers reverted back to the original format half way through.
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Spain
- The contestants of the second Spanish series entered the house to find a nasty surprise - all the furniture was dismantled, and it was up to them to build it.
- The sixth edition featured one of the most unusual punishments ever inflicted. Between them, seven housemates had just five days to memorise the contents of the proposed European Constitution, before relaying the 325 page document to a non-Spanish speaking Polish woman.
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United States Of America
- Having aired one season in 2000, American BB producers completely overhauled the show for its second run, changing to a more strategy and gameplay-oriented format. A brand new nominations process was brought in, allowing the houseguests to discuss nominations openly, but public voting was discontinued.
- One of the most iconic BBUSA twists came in the fifth season. Dubbed ‘Project DNA’, it saw one houseguest living with a half-sister that he had no idea existed until they were in the house.
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To find out more about the many global versions of Big Brother, check out World of Big Brother. |
