Celebrity Big Brother (British TV series)

For the civilian edition of the series, see Big Brother (British TV series). For other versions of this series, see Celebrity Big Brother. For the most recent series, see Celebrity Big Brother (British TV series) series 23.

Celebrity Big Brother
The Celebrity Big Brother 23 eye
GenreReality competition
Based onBig Brother
by John de Mol Jr.
Presented by
Narrated byMarcus Bentley
Theme music composerElementfour
Opening theme"Big Brother UK TV Theme"
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series23
No. of episodes616
Production
Production companiesBazal (Series 1)
Endemol UK Productions (Series 2–3)
Brighter Pictures (Series 4–6, Celebrity Hijack)
Remarkable Television (Series 7)
Initial (Series 8–present)
Original release
NetworkChannel 4
Release9 March 2001 (2001-03-09) –
27 January 2010 (2010-01-27)
NetworkChannel 5
Release18 August 2011 (2011-08-18) –
10 September 2018 (2018-09-10)
NetworkITV
Release4 March 2024 (2024-03-04) –
present
Related
Big Brother
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Celebrity Big Brother is a British television reality game show based on the Dutch show Big Brother, created by producer John de Mol Jr. in 1997,[1] which aired from 2001 to 2018, and again since 2024. The show follows a number of celebrity contestants, known as housemates, who were isolated from the outside world for an extended period of time in a custom built house. Each week, one of the housemates is evicted by a public vote, with the last housemate named the winner. The series takes its name from the character in George Orwell's 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Celebrity Big Brother began as a one-time spin-off series to the original Big Brother UK, and premiered on Channel 4 on 9 March 2001. Following the successful first series, the show returned the following year for a second series. Though the show did not air for the next two years, it returned in 2005 and 2006. Following the highly controversial fifth series in 2007, the show did not return in 2008. It did air in 2009, but it was officially axed after the seventh series in 2010 when Channel 4 chose to cancel the programme as well as the main series.[2][3] Despite this, it was picked up by Channel 5, and Celebrity Big Brother returned in 2011.[4] Between 2012 and 2018, two editions of Celebrity Big Brother aired each year, with one airing in January and one airing following the conclusion of the civilian series in August. The show was initially hosted by Davina McCall from its inception to its cancellation by Channel 4. Despite being offered the position of host following the show's move to Channel 5, McCall chose not to return. Brian Dowling, who had won on Big Brother 2 and Ultimate Big Brother, replaced McCall as the host of the series.[5] Dowling hosted the eighth to eleventh series, before being replaced by Emma Willis from the twelfth series until the show's cancellation on Channel 5 following the twenty-second series.[6] Following the show's relaunch on ITV in March 2024, AJ Odudu and Will Best will host the show from the twenty-third series onwards. Marcus Bentley has narrated the series since its inception in 2001.

Much like its predecessor, Celebrity Big Brother was met with commercial success and has also received extensive media coverage and publicity since it premiered. It has been covered in spin-off series such as Big Brother's Big Mouth and Big Brother's Bit on the Side, which also covered the main series.[7][8] Similar to the parent series, Celebrity Big Brother has been the source of much controversy and criticism, most notably during the 2007 series. Following this, a spin-off series known as Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack aired in 2008 in the place of Celebrity Big Brother. It has been noted that numerous celebrities who have appeared on the series have become more prominent figures in the media than before.[9][10][11][12]

On 14 September 2018, Channel 5 announced that Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother would not be returning to the channel after the end of the nineteenth regular series.[13] The twenty-second series of Celebrity Big Brother ended on 10 September 2018 and was the final series to air on Channel 5.

In August 2022, ITV plc announced that they were reviving Big Brother. The series relaunched in October 2023, which subsequently led to media speculation as to whether they would revive the celebrity version. In November 2023, ITV announced the relaunch of Celebrity Big Brother, beginning with the twenty-third series airing in March 2024 on ITV (ITV1 and STV).

  1. ^ Carman, John (5 July 2000). "'Big Brother' Watches Their Every Movement". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 19 April 2008.
  2. ^ "Former air steward Brian Dowling wins last Big Brother". BBC News. 10 September 2010.
  3. ^ Sweney, Mark; Holmwood, Leigh (26 August 2009). "Big Brother axed by Channel 4".
  4. ^ "Big Brother 2011: launch date revealed". The Guardian. 3 August 2011.
  5. ^ Halliday, Josh (22 July 2011). "Big Brother: Brian Dowling to host Channel 5 series". The Guardian.
  6. ^ "EMMA WILLIS IS THE NEW PRESENTER OF BIG BROTHER ON CHANNEL 5". Channel 5. 2 April 2013. Archived from the original on 6 April 2013.
  7. ^ "Brand quits Big Brother spin-off". BBC News. 4 April 2007.
  8. ^ "O'Leary leaves Big Brother show". BBC News. 28 November 2007.
  9. ^ "Gillian Taylforth hopes Celebrity Big Brother will revive career". TellyMix. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  10. ^ "Katie Price To Relaunch TV Career With Celebrity Big Brother". In2town.co.uk. 14 October 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  11. ^ "Shilpa Shetty gains from fame, money and direction after Celebrity Big Brother win : Society & The Arts". India Today. 5 February 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  12. ^ Chadha, Monica (28 January 2007). "South Asia – Will Big Brother boost Shilpa?". BBC News. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  13. ^ "Big Brother is officially ending". BBC News. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.