Category — Big Brother

Big Brother Brazil producers are in all sorts of bother with allegations that a girl was raped and no one stepped in.

The SMH states:

Police are investigating a cast member of Brazil’s most popular reality TV show, Big Brother Brazil, for allegedly raping a fellow contestant.

Early Sunday, after a party that was scripted as part of the show, contestant Daniel Echaniz, 31, is alleged to have had sex with Monique Amin, 23, as cameras rolled. Both have denied that to police, they said Tuesday.

“Both of them did confirm they had consumed alcoholic drinks and that they were aware of their surroundings, and they confirmed touching each other under a comforter,” said policeman Antonio Nunes.

Police took the contestants’ underwear and sheets from the show set, and the host voted Echaniz off for “inappropriate behaviour.”

The party was televised on Brazil’s Globo TV, and showed Echaniz, a model, and Amin, a student, kissing and caressing each other, and another image shows Echaniz under the sheets presumably having sex with Amin who appears not to move.

Amin has said she did not recall a sexual act taking place, local media reported.

Network officials told local media that authorities were investigating, because Amin apparently was asleep.

The show’s producers have also come under attack for not intervening. The footage has since been pulled from the Globo TV website and women’s rights group Change.org has started a petition to have the production company “take responsibility” for the incident:

“It is inadmissible that Globo Network did not send anyone to check out on the unconscious woman and to see what the man was doing to her,” the petition reads.

“It is inadmissible that Globo Network did not send anyone to break them apart as soon as they realised (because no one here is naive enough to believe the fact went by unnoticed) that the woman could not consent nor participate in the act.”

Big Brother Australia had the turkey slap incident where the two protagonists were removed from the house but not at the time that the event occurred.

I presume the producers will give all the contestants in the new Big Brother series in Australia a lecture what is acceptable behaviour.

Auditions are yet to be called on the show, but it will be screened later this year on Channel NINE.

Johnnie Cass was one of the more memorable cast members from Season One of Big Brother, he ended up being eliminated the first time he was nominated by the housemates.

However he was well liked by them as it was a few weeks before he was put up for nomination from his peers.

He tells TV WEEK in their Reality TV Ruined My Life article that after he was evicted he did not have a great time of it.

The article said:

Johnnie Cass walked out of the Big Brother house in 2001 to find he’d been dubbed “Johnnie Rotten” and edited to look like the bad guy of the series. He was given a hard time by people on the streets, and went through a period of feeling “deflated” – but he says it inspired him to change his life in a positive way.

Johnnie explains that he “absolutely loved” being on Big Brother, although he was disappointed with the way he was portrayed.

“It’s not really who I am. It was just about ratings, I get that, but it certainly didn’t help,”  he says. “The worst thing about it was the fact I was gay, and it didn’t really have a good stigma for gay guys as well.”

A personal trainer, Johnnie had gone on the show hoping to end up with a career in television – “a talk show would’ve been great” – but it didn’t eventuate.

“Once the media machine pulls away, the challenge with everybody from reality TV is like, ‘Well what’s left?’” he explains . “You’ve been pumped up in the media spotlight and then that’s taken away from you and it can be quite difficult.

“You can’t go back to doing what you were doing before, because everybody knows who you are. You’re kind if left in no-man’s land….I wouldn’t say I was depressed, but I would definitely say I was deflated.

I think that is what is known as having your 15 minutes of fame.

After a quick cyber search it was revealed he is a life coach from the looks of it. He has his own company called Unlimited Success and he does Wealth and Lifestyle seminars.

He was cast as the villain in season one, however what I remember was he was very nice to his fellow contestants but behind their back he was passive aggressive. Or was he just too sickly sweet as that is the vibe I took from his Facebook pages. 

Those wanting to audition for Big Brother will have to wait until next year according to today’s Sunday Telegraph (Scroll down).

Richard Clune’s  reports that he was told by producers that they will have to wait until April for the chance to audtion.

The source added, that the audition process would involve “several layers”.

The new format based on the on the French version where each housemate had a secret will be interesting, however as the Sunday Telegraph suggests with the 7pm timeslot the secrets can’t be too salacious. However anything you might see in a Home and Away plot line should be fine.

Big Brother is tipped to air after the London Olympics in July.

Also if you know you will make a great Big Brother contestant but can’t quite razzle the words out, contact me as I can assist with the application.

Rumours had it the Big Brother house was locked in for Movie World at the Gold Coast, however the Daily Telegraph are reporting that Fox Studios at Moore Park in Sydney could also be in the running for the all important compound.

The article states:

A TUG of war between NSW and Queensland has erupted over the location of Channel 9′s reboot of Big Brother, with the location of the all-important inmates’ house yet to be settled.

While the always-rambunctious dwelling was situated at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast for all of Channel 10′s eight seasons, it is understood two other offers are now being considered.

Fox Studios at Moore Park – where The Great Gatsby is currently filming – has expressed interest, as has Dreamworld’s major competitor Movie World.

“(Nine) were looking to base it in Sydney to separate their Big Brother from Channel 10′s,” an insider said. “But the reality is the Queensland theme parks are the perfect place, in terms of people being able to get up close to (the house).”

Confidential hears Movie World is leading the negotiations, but it said it was not in a position to comment yesterday. Channel 9 said a location was yet to be decided.

The new Big Brother – to be hosted by Nine’s latest Seven poaching Sonia Kruger – will be a downsized version of Ten’s popular noughties format.

Channel Nine who have been beaten in the ratings by SEVEN this year, are using reality TV to bring them back to being number one in 2012.

This strategy might just work for them with what looks to be a very solid lineup of exciting new reality shows to capture the viewers attention. Expect most of them to be in the 7.00pm timeslot which has been a strategy that has worked so well for them this year.

The shows are:

The Voice: The ratings smash hit in the US with more than 10 million viewers a week. The hook for this show is the judges have to pick their contestants on their voices only which will make for some interesting contestants.

The judges and coaches will be Good Charlotte rocker Joel Madden, international country music star Keith Urban, Grammy Award winning soul singer Seal and Aussie pop singer Delta Goodrem. Expect it to rate big.

Excess Baggage: Eight celebrities, eight ordinary Australians  who have physical and emotional baggage is holding them back.  The show will be hosted by Kate Ceberano with celebrities: Kevin Federline, Christine Anu, Kate DeAraugo, Gaby Millgate, Darryn Lyons, Brant Webb, Ajay Rochester and Robert “Dipper” DiPierdomenico.

Facebook: facebook.com/ExcessBaggageAU Twitter: @ExcessBaggage9

Big Brother: The ‘mother’ of all reality shows returns to Australian television on Nine in 2012. The show that changed the face of Australian television will be reborn on Nine with a bold new attitude and a brand new host, Sonia Kruger.

Expect social media interaction by viewers to be huge.

Facebook: facebook.com/BigBrotherAU

Twitter: @BBAU9

Shows returning will be The Celebrity Apprentice Australia with a whole new cast  and  The Farmer Wants A Wife, hosted by Natalie Gruzlewski. Farmer Wants A Wife needs a format change or some casting twists arrest the rating slide it had this year. A gay farmer would be a good start.

 The Block 2012

The Block in the 7.00pm time slot was the hit of 2011, reaching  3.7million viewers. In 2012, Channel Nine are saying there will be a new elimination round and new challenges. It will again be shot in Melbourne.

GO Channel will also have Survivor and The Bachelor.

Which of these shows will you be watching in 2012.

The Sunday Telegraph got the confirmation that Sonia Kruger will be moving to NINE to host Big Brother next year.

The paper said:

Kruger officially signed with Nine on Friday morning.

“Sonia will host Big Brother but her main focus will be the morning show between 9 and 11am,” the source said.

Sonia Kruger will be taking over the host duties of a morning show with the rumours of Kerrie-Ann Kennerley being moved on as correct.

A cracker quote from Kerrie-Ann  she said:

“I have heard nothing (about being replaced), but that’s to be expected. It’s a beautiful day outside and I’m off to play golf,”

A headache for the Seven executives is who will replace her on Dancing With The Stars. At the moment Natalie Bassingthwaite and Fifi Box are the two names in the mix.

It is always interesting in TV land how the chairs are just shuffled around in the A-list job spots. What could be novel if they decide to make the female the host, and have a male in the green room with the “stars”.

Also if Kerrie-Anne is still signed to NINE they should put her on series two of Celebrity Apprentice, I reckon she would be fabulous.

Marc Davis who I follow on Twitter sent me a link to his blog which outlines how he nearly made it onto Big Brother UK 2011. The application process is full on and intrusive but then that is the nature of these things.

So folks if you are going to apply for the show, be prepared they will want to know everything.

Read his blog post here.

TV Tonight has got a major scoop if he is correct with rumours Sonia Kruger may be the host of Big Brother which is returning to NINE next year.

The rumour is she will defect from Seven to Nine for the opportunity to host her own show. If the chatter about the show is anything thing to go by it is going to be huge.

The article states that she is well known for being able to work off script which is something the host of this show must be able to do. Also even though she has done eleven seasons of Dancing With The Stars, she is contracted on a series by series basis.

Sonia Kruger ticks the boxes in a lot of ways she has a high profile, a quick wit, and is engaging.

Also she will have learnt how not to deal with vulnerable contestants after her clanger with Brynne Edelsten this year. This was one of the great skills of Gretel Killeen in showing warmth and empathy to the evicted housemates as well as being sassy and smart.

What do you think of Sonia Kruger being the host of Big Brother?

Even though Big Brother has not been officially confirmed by Channel Nine, rumours continue to swirl.

The latest one is that Hamish and Andy are going to be hosts of the series. Hamish and Andy are contracted to Channel Nine, and ratings of their show Hamish and Andy –  Gap Year have not been fabulous. However I cannot comment on the show as I have not seen it.

In a Media Weekweek Podcast I did with Andrew Mercado, James Manning and Brendan Wood, Andrew has proven why he is one of Australia’s TV commentators by speculating that Hamish and Andy may be the hosts. The suggestion was met unenthusiastically for two reason. Firstly we all agreed the host should be a woman. They need to have empathy when the latest evictee hits the stage, as well as having a quick wit.

Also Mercado pointed out that Hamish and Andy have a niche with the Gen Y generation with their brand of humour. But maybe that is the audience they are aiming for.

What do you think do you think about them being hosts?

Channel Nine have  a history of stuffing up reality shows, and I am now getting a bit worried about Celebrity Apprentice Australia with news that it will be on weeknights at 7.00pm. If it is 30 minute episodes does this mean the challenge and the boardroom will be on different episodes. The issue is will they be able to maintain the tension?

Shelly Horton a journalist with the Sun Herald who is going to be a judge in one of the challenges, wrote in her column yesterday that the show was going to premiere on Monday 24 October.

Good news for Big Brother fans the show will be back on our screens in 2012.

The Herald Sun is reporting that Channel Nine has brought the rights to the show, but it will be a “reborn” series.

The article says:
CONTROVERSIAL reality series Big Brother is set for a relaunch.

A 2012 version of the one-time ratings smash hit is destined for Channel Nine.

Rival Channel Ten sought to bid on the reborn series, titled Big Brother: Secrets, but it is understood Nine signed the deal today.

“I understand we are doing it,” a Nine source confirmed.

Nine is certain to produce the show on a smaller scale than in the past.

t is believed that Nine is also determined to let viewers know it won’t be the same old Big Brother, which slipped into ratings decline in its eighth and final season on Ten.

The new show will be marketed as Big Brother: Secrets … every housemate has a secret.”

There is no word yet on the host of the re-booted Big Brother. Gretel Killeen hosted the first seven series of the show on Ten. Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O hosted Ten’s final series before it was cancelled in 2008.

The secret thing is intriguing, but personally I always thought Big Brother was at its best when they just threw the contestants in there with a few bottles of tequila.

TV Tonight in an article written earlier this year which outlines how the “secrets” work in the French version of the show. He also points out there is social networking now which will make a difference to the show.

Basically Big Brother combined with Facebook and Twitter equals awesome.

Channel Nine are really laying down the reality TV gauntlet to the other channels in 2012. They have The Voice, Celebrity Apprentice and now Big Brother – Secrets.

Also who will be host? It will be hard to fill the shoes of Gretel Killeen, however there are a few girls and guys who could do it.

My suggestions would be Natalie Garonzi, James Kerley, Julie Zemarro or ever Ant and Beck’s from 106.5 FM. Who do you think should be host?