Big Brother to return to TV screens in 2023 after 5 year long hiatus

ITV have announced that it is set to revive the iconic reality series Big Brother, following a five year hiatus after it was axed back in 2018. The news was confirmed by a promotional video that aired during the Love Island series finale on ITV2 on Monday (1 August) evening. This is everything you need to know about Big Brother’s return. What is Big Brother? Big Brother is one of the biggest and most infamous reality TV franchises in the world, with over 500 series airing around the world in over 64 countries and regions since its inception in the Netherlands in 1999. The show see’s a group of contestants, called the housemates, living together in a special house that is completely isolated from the outside world. Throughout the show, the housemates take part in challenges, weekly tasks and nominate their fellow contestants to be eliminated from the house. Some housemates are also given secret tasks to undertake either individually or as a small group, and failure to complete it can result in punishment for the house, or a nomination to be evicted. The winner of the show is determined via a public vote, and bags the prize money, the amount of which has varied throughout the years, ranging from £50,000 to £150,000. The show is generally seen as something of a social experiment, with housemates interacting with others from a wide variety of backgrounds, beliefs and ideals. It premiered in the UK on 18 July 2000 on Channel 4, and featured a 24-hour live feed, allowing fans to tune into the house at any given time. It ran on Channel 4 from 2000 to 2010 before it then moved over to Channel 5 from 2011 to 2018. On the day of the launch of season 19, it was announced that Big Brother would not be returning. Over the course of its run, Big Brother spawned a number of spinoffs, including Celebrity Big Brother, Teen Big Brother: The Experiment, Ultimate Big Brother, Big Brother’s Big Mouth, Big Brother’s Little Brother and Big Brother’s Bit on the Side. When is it coming back? After a five year hiatus in the UK, it has been confirmed by ITV that Big Brother will be returning in 2023 on ITV2 and ITVX. In a statement, ITV said: “A new cast of carefully selected housemates, from all walks of life, will take up residence in the world’s most famous reality TV home for up to six weeks, with cameras capturing their every move, and the nation following every twist and turn. “The action will all play out under the roof of the iconic Big Brother house, which will be given its own contemporary new look ready for this reimagining of the show. “Clever tasks, nail-biting nominations and live evictions will be back, with the public once again playing a crucial role, voting throughout the series and ultimately determining the winner, who will walk away with a life changing cash prize.” Paul Mortimer, Director of Reality Commissioning & Acquisitions and Controller, ITV2, ITVBe and CITV said that the revival would feature a “refreshed” and “contemporary” look for Big Brother, with “some additional twists that speak to today’s audience”. What is ITVX? According to the website, ITVX will be the “new streaming home of all of ITV and so much more”, with “exclusive new series launching every week” and an “ever-changing library of blockbuster movies and the nation’s biggest live events”. It will also feature “curated themed channels, thousands of box sets and the ability to access BritBox all in one place.” ITVX is set to launch in 2022, however a specific date has not yet been announced. Can I apply to be on the new season of Big Brother? As it stands, there has been no announcement regarding when, or if, applications will be opened to the public. Should applications be made available to the general public, it’s likely that it will be done via the “Be on ITV” section of the ITV website. It’s here that ITV lists programmes that are accepting applications for its TV shows, such as Love Island, Dinner Date, The Voice UK, Britain’s Got Talent and Tipping Point.