Controversy and criticism of Big Brother (UK)

Since its beginning in 2000, the UK EDition of the reality game show Big Brother has regularly been the subject of controversy and criticism among the British public and media. There have been various investigations by numerous organisations, including TV watchdogs and the police.

Accusations of cheating

Big Brother 1

In this first series, "Nasty" Nick was asked to leave the show after thirty six days after being exposed trying to manipulate fellow housemates' votes in the weekly eviction process. Ironically he was the most popular housemate at the time. Such was the media interest in this first series of the show, the news that Nick had been thrown out featured on the front page of every national newspaper in the UK, apart from the Financial Times which found the story on page 3.

Big Brother 7

Seven days into the show, Housemate Dawn received a message in the house from her family, via Big Brother, saying "your sister is ill". It was later revealed that this was a code, which she had set up with her family to give her, had there been any negative publicity regarding her appearance. Having decided that she had broken the rule regarding contact with the outside world, Big Brother removed her from the house.

Subsequently, Dawn complained to Ofcom, saying that she was unfairly represented on the programme (and some editions of Big Brother's Little Brother and Big Brother's Big Mouth) regarding accusations of cheating, her body odour and being kept in the house against her will. Her complaints were not upheld.

Bullying and prejudice from housemates

Throughout several series of the show, several housemates have been accused of bullying and prejudice towards other housemates, including racism and homophobia.

Celebrity Big Brother 5

In perhaps the most controversial series of the show, the fifth celebrity series sparked a worldwide debate, created by Jade Goody, singer Jo O'Meara and model Danielle Lloyd. The row was sparked when alleged racist comments were made AbOUT Bollywood actress and fellow housemate Shilpa Shetty. A record number of over 45,000 complaints were recorded for the unfair behaviour, bullying and racism in the Big Brother House, with protests across India. The then Chancellor of the Exchequer (now Prime Minister) Gordon Brown, visiting India at the time, found himself answering questions on Big Brother throughout his trip, and a wider debate on racism in the UK was raised by the media. The three housemates involved were evicted by the usual public vote. Their normally lighthearted eviction interview was serious in tone, and began by showing clips of international news bulletins and newspaper front pages. Shilpa emerged as the winner of the series. Following the incident, Channel 4 was heavily criticised by Ofcom for not acting quickly enough, and was forced to apologise on air three times during the following series.

Big Brother 8

Nine days into the new series, Channel 4 was criticised for deciding to air the word "[...]" on their daily highlights show. After the criticism they received for not handling the Celebrity Big Brother racism allegations properly back in January, they were quick to intervene after Emily used the word in conversation with Charley. On the other hand, Charley and Nicky subsequently used the same contentious word several times, in reference to Emily's use. No action was seen to be taken against them. After Emily's disqualification from the competition was announced, 922 viewers complained to Ofcom, the British television regulator, believing that it was unfair. Another 270 people expressed dissatisfaction with Channel 4's decision to air the word "[...]" uncensored.

Furthermore, on Day 40, Channel 4 confirmed that Charley had been called to the Diary Room and reprimanded after using the word "[...]" twice on one night. This was not broadcast on the nightly highlights programme or the live feed, further enflaming rumours about favouritism towards Charley. A Big Brother spokesperson claimed "Charley used the N-word as a black woman to refer to another black person. We judged her use of the term different from Emily's. But Big Brother called her to the Diary Room to remind her that this word could cause offence."

Charley was given a third and final warning by Big Brother on Day 55 when she implied that housemate Gerry was a paedophile. Over 300 people complained to Ofcom when Charley said that Gerry liked to "sleep with 15-year-olds".

There were also complaints to Ofcom regarding Laura’s use of the word “poof”, and why it was not treated as seriously as the use of the word “[...]”.

Big Brother 9

Within the first week of the series, media watchdog Ofcom and Channel 14 had collectively received over 433 complaints about alleged bullying from housemate Alexandra, after an argument broke out between her and the other housemates regarding oven chips. Channel 4 defended its housemate selection, claiming that the production team were closely watching the housemates as they normally do to ensure the safety of the housemates. The broadcaster also noted that Alexandra had been warned that her behaviour could be deemed threatening. On Day 14 she was ejected from the house after apparently threatening to have housemates who nominated her for eviction dealt with by her "gangster friends".

During week 12, Darnell and Rex both received warnings of unacceptable behaviour from Big Brother after they appeared to be bullying Sara. This was after more than 1500 people complained to Ofcom about their alleged sexist behaviour.

Violence in the House

Big Brother 5

On Day 20, commonly referred to as 'Fight Night', volatile ex-Housemates Emma and Michelle returned to the Big Brother house after a fake eviction. Some of the other Housemates were extremely displeased, and after a series of arguments, an agressive brawl began, prompting on-set security guards being called into the house to calm the situation.

Viewers of Live Streaming called the police to inform them of the violent activity, shortly before the live transmission was taken off the air, until the situation was rectified. Ofcom upheld 55 complaints from viewers, saying that the footage was "distressing to watch" and "exceeded the viewers' expectations".

Big Brother 9

Early in the morning on Day 23, a major argument began when Rex smudged a piece of pizza on Jennifer's winning drawing of Stuart from a task earlier in the week. Although she accepted Rex's apology Jennifer became increasingly agitated and upset, attracting a number of housemates to the luxury bedroom. Tension increased among the housemates, and as the arguments continued, Dennis appeared to spit in Mohammed's face. Dennis later claimed however that no spit had actually left his mouth and hit Mohamed. For the second time in the show's history, the live feed was cut, and Big Brother ordered housemates to separate themselves. On Day 23, Dennis was ejected from the house due to his actions, which were deemed as unacceptable behaviour by Big Brother.

[...] and nudity

Teen Big Brother: The Experiment

On Day Six/Seven, Jade Dyer and Tommy Wright became the first Big Brother UK contestants to have [...] on the show in its history. According to The Independent, this was the first real-life [...] act shown on British television (although nothing explicit was seen; the two were under bedcovers). This sparked controversy in the British media and comment on teenage safe [...] education.

Big Brother 5

Ofcom received four complaints regarding a scene where housemates Michelle and Stuart appeared to have [...] under a dining table. These complaints were not upheld, as "no nudity or actual [...] activity was broadcast".

Big Brother 6

This series was heavily criticised for the amount of nudity shown on the show; after a midnight "romp" in the pool Housemate Makosi claimed to have conceived Anthony's child and asked for a pregnancy test. In addition, Housemate Kinga gained infamy after masturbating with a wine bottle in the garden.

Inclusion of certain housemates

Celebrity Big Brother 4

MP George Galloway was criticised for entering the house, being accused of "arrogance and self-interest". The family of Stuart Lubbock criticised the inclusion of entertainer Michael Barrymore, after Lubbock's body was found in Barrymore's swimming pool.

Big Brother 7

This series came under immediate criticism when critics claimed that Big Brother had deliberately put unstable people into the House. Pete Bennett suffered from Tourette syndrome, Shahbaz was revealed to be mentally and emotionally unstable and threatened to commit [...] on live television; Lea suffers from Body dysmorphic disorder; Sam has admitted to being shunned by family members because of homosexuality, and possible gender identity disorder; and Nikki has suffered from anorexia and been sectioned in the past due to the condition. A spokeswoman for mental health charity SANE claimed that producers are "playing fast and loose with people's lives." A spokesperson for Rethink commented "The programme should not profit from people having a breakdown." A spokesman defended the show saying that a psychologist is always available for housemates.

Voting and unfairness

Big Brother 7

A contest allowing holders of golden tickets - found in Kit-Kat chocolate bars - to be invited to a television show where one of them, Susie Verrico, was chosen to enter the House by Aisleyne picking a ball out of a machine at random caused some controversy, with the Advertising Standards Authority saying that the terms and conditions of the draw should have been made clearer in related advertisements, and that an independent adjudicator should have been present before and during the draw.

The decision to allow previous evictees to become eligible to win the show was also criticised. Channel 4 received 500 complaints from viewers about this matter and Media watchdog Ofcom confirmed that it had received over 1,000 complaints, and referred viewers to ICSTIS. Soon after the four ex-housemates entered the House Next Door, ICSTIS released a statement confirming that it was dealing with over 2,500 complaints and launched an official investigation. On October 5 2006, they ruled that Channel 4 had breached its code and imposed £50,000 'administrative charges'.

Other controversies

Celebrity Big Brother 4

Housemate Pete Burns claimed that his coat was made from gorilla skin; after viewers called in to Ofcom, police removed the coat for testing. Ownership of products made from gorilla is illegal in the UK without a licence. Tests found the coat was in fact made of Colobus monkeys, another endangered species. As a result the case was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service who determined that the pelts used to make the coat were imported before 1975 (the year it became illegal to import Colobus fur) and as such did not press charges. This greatly upset animal rights campaigners, including fellow Housemate and then PETR spokeswoman Jodie Marsh.

Big Brother 7

Further criticism arose when contestant Glyn was reprimanded for communicating in his first language, Welsh, to housemate Imogen. Big Brother deemed this a form of 'code' and issued a warning to Glyn, who retorted "But Welsh is British". Following the incident, the Welsh Language Society complained to Channel 4, Ofcom and S4C. Clearly, it was no longer a problem after this as Glyn and Imogen continued to converse in Welsh. Such discussions were broadcast with English subtitles.