Controversy and criticism of Big Brother (UK)

Since its beginning in 2000, the concept and implementation of UK edition of the reality game show Big Brother has regularly been the subject of controversy and criticism among the British public and news 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 Bateman was asked to leave the show after thirty six days after being exposed trying to manipulate fellow housemates' votes in the weekly eviction process.^[1] 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 Blake received a message in the house from her family, via Big Brother, informing her that her sister was 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.^[2]

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 3

Academic and writer Germaine Greer decided to leave this series; one of her primary stated reasons was that she felt that the Big Brother environment was fostering an atmosphere in which bullying behaviour towards racing commentator John McCririck was deemed acceptable and exacerbated.

Big Brother 6

In Week 2 of the sixth series, Lesley Sanderson began bullying Sam Heuston, often making remarks about Sam's body, and threatening Sam with violence. Big Brother gave Lesley a warning and the pair made up. However, Sam was verbally attacked by fellow housemate Derek Laud. Despite Derek and Sam initially getting the most nomination votes, the entire house was put up for the public vote as punishment for fellow housemate Vanessa McIntosh discussing that she would nominate Sam. Because of this punishment, Lesley became the second evictee, and left the house to a harsh reception.

Later in the series, Orlaith McAllister quit the show after claiming she was being bullied by Derek Laud.

At various points, in this series the housemates seemed to form two separate groups, and it was commentated both by the housemates themselves and in the press that this separation was along race lines (though there was never any explicit suggestion that this was anything more than coincidence).

Celebrity Big Brother 5

Main article: Celebrity Big Brother racism controversy

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 former 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

Racist language

Nine days into the new series, Channel 4 was criticised for deciding to air the word "nigger" on their daily highlights show.^[3] 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 Parr used the word in conversation with Charley Uchea. On the other hand, Charley and Nicky Maxwell subsequently used the same contentious word several times, in reference to Emily's use. No action was seen to be taken against them.^[4] After Emily's disqualification from the competition was announced, 922 viewers complained to Ofcom, the British television regulator, believing that it was unfair.^[5] Another 270 people expressed dissatisfaction with Channel 4's decision to air the word "nigger" uncensored.^[5]

Furthermore, on Day 40, Channel 4 confirmed that Charley had been called to the Diary Room and reprimanded after using the word "nigger" twice on one night. This was not broadcast on the nightly highlights programme or the live feed, further inflaming 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."^[6][7]

Slander

Charley was given a third and final warning by Big Brother on Day 55 when she implied that housemate Gerry Stergiopoulos was a paedophile. Over 300 people complained to Ofcom when Charley said that Gerry liked to "sleep with 15-year-olds".^[8][9]

Accusations of homophobia

There were also complaints to Ofcom regarding Laura Williams’s use of the word “poof”, and why it was not treated as seriously as the use of the word “nigger”.^[10] However, Laura was given a warning for the use of the word, which was broadcast as part of a highlights episode.

Big Brother 9

Alexandra De Gale

Within the first week of the series, media watchdog Ofcom and Channel 4 had collectively received over 433^[11] complaints about alleged bullying from housemate Alexandra, after an argument broke out between her and the other housemates regarding oven chips.^[12] 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.^[13] The broadcaster also noted that Alexandra had been warned that her behaviour could be deemed threatening.^[13] 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".^[11][14]

Bullying of Sara Folino

During week 12, Darnell Swallow and Rex Newmark both received warnings of unacceptable behaviour from Big Brother after they appeared to be bullying Sara Folino. This was after more than 1500 people complained to Ofcom about their alleged sexist behaviour.^[15]

Big Brother 10

Marcus Akin

Sree Desari accused Marcus Akin of racially mocking his voice, Akin was reprimanded by Big Brother but fought his innocence, telling Big Brother that they have become too politically correct, and pointing out that they would not tell him off if he imitated Charlie Drummond's geordie accent. Three weeks later Akin was reprimanded for threatening to punch Tom Oliver, however Tom was not present during this threat.

Kenneth Tong controversy

Kenneth Tong threatened to kill Bea Hammill after she refused to take part in a secret mission set for the new housemates, claiming that he 'sat across from some of the world's most dangerous men' he then made a gesture to imply that he could have her killed, however Hammill was not present at the time of this threat. Charlie Drummond, who was present at the time told Bea and she complained to Big Brother in the Diary Room and Tong was later given a warning. Viewers complained that he was only told off after housemates complained and that Big Brother should have punished him straight away, he quit the show after less than a week.

Bullying of Freddie Fisher

Housemate Freddie Fisher (formerly named Halfwit) was continuously victimised and often scapegoated by his fellow housemates, with housemates Karly Ashworth, Kris Donnelly and Lisa Wallace, being labeled as 'bullies' by the public.^[16] Furthermore, Fisher was nominated for five consecutive evictions in the first five weeks of the show. The housemates eventually grew to accept him by the fifth week, and Donnelly and Ashworth were evicted in Week 5 and Week 6 respectively.

Freddie then grew close to new housemate Bea Hammill who arrived on the night of Day 44, however Hammill later started to isolate and bully Freddie, allegedly giving him a panic attack in the bedroom, she continuously victimised him throughout Week 10 until he was evicted. Hamill herself was evicted a week later to a hostile reception.^[17] On the final night they announced that they had made up.

Big Brother 11

John James Parton

In the early stages of the show's eleventh series contestant John James declared that he "hates" his fellow housemate Rachael White, adding that he hates "girls that are arrogant purely because [of] what they look like." and that Rachael "looks down on people.”^[18] John James confronted Rachael about their differences, claiming to have an issue with her facial expressions, which he interpreted as being arrogant.^[19] White claimed that the conflict hurt her feelings^[20] and was concerned that John James left the room whenever she entered.^[21] In a conversation during dinner, White, along with a number of other female contestants made comments about wishing to appear in Nuts magazine.^[22] Following the conversation John James commented that they're "not rock stars" and began what the Mirror called a "foul-mouthed tirade" in protest to the discussion. White commented that she felt the protest was a "personal attack" on herself and was reduced to tears.^[23] In a later disagreement, John James said that the reason he took an instant dislike to her was because of a video tape of White which was aired on the opening night. He was described as "shouting across the bedroom" and again reduced White to tears.^[24]

Celebrity Big Brother 2010

Disablism

During the January 29 broadcast of Big Brother's Big Mouth, Vinnie Jones accused Davina McCall of 'walking like a retard', McCall responded by laughing and Jones then mimed what he meant. Despite immediate protests by disability charities, individual disabled people and a Facebook campaign, Channel 4 initially responded "It is important that within the context and structure of the programme that participants have the right to express themselves without censure". It was not until 12 February that Channel 4 removed the incident from its on-demand service 4oD and issued an apology, blaming the failure on the 'tiredness' of production staff. Jones and McCall issued apologies via their respective publicists at around the same time. The tardiness of the response drew unfavourable comment from disability groups, particularly following Channel 4's action in the 2007 Celebrity Big Brother racism incident, where contestants were warned over their conduct.

Ultimate Big Brother

Coolio

During the show's run Coolio and Nadia Almada had a number of disputes apparently due to Coolio hiding Almada's belongings and imitating her.^[25] It was announced on Day 4 that Coolio had left the Big Brother House by "mutual consent" with Big Brother.^[26] Following Almada's eviction from the show, the remaining housemates were heard to discuss transphobic remarks made by Coolio against Almada. Fellow contestant Brian Dowling was heard to say "[Coolio] said to her, 'We have to talk', about Nadia's history. He wanted to know if Nadia still had a penis. He asked the girls to put their hands up her skirt [to find out]. He referred to her as 'they'."^[27] Following Almada's eviction from the show she declined to appear on Big Brother spin off shows Big Brother's Big Mouth and Big Brother's Little Brother claiming that viewers were misled as to what happened. Almada stated that "Coolio targeted me on the first night and he wouldn’t leave me alone. He kept asking about my gender status and he humiliated me over it. If it had been a racial slur they would have shown it but because it was against a transsexual they edited it out."^[28]

Big Brother's Big Mouth

Further controversy regarding the treatment of Nadia Almada was created on the Big Brother's Big Mouth episode which aired on the same night as Almada's eviction from the Ultimate Big Brother House. At the beginning of the episode, presenter Davina McCall introduced comedian Jarred Christmas with the link "He has the charm of Coolio and the warmth of Ulrika Jonsson. And he has the boyish good looks of Nadia". This led to viewer complaints and prompted an apology from McCall, who said "Nadia has always been one of my favourite housemates of all time. But if I upset her or indeed anyone by the comment I made then I am horrified and offer my genuine apologies".^[29] The line "And he has the boyish good looks of Nadia" was cut from the show when it was posted for viewing on 4oD.

Violence in the House

Big Brother 5

Fight Night

On Day 20, commonly referred to as 'Fight Night', volatile ex-Housemates Emma Greenwood and Michelle Bass 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 aggressive brawl began, prompting on-set security guards being called into the house to calm the situation for the first - and only - time in the show's history.^[30]

Viewers of the show's live internet stream 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".^[31]

Big Brother 9

Fight Night 2

Early in the morning on Day 23 - often referred to as 'Fight Night 2' or 'Spitgate' - a major argument began when Rex Newmark smudged a piece of pizza on Jennifer Clark's winning drawing of Stuart Pilkington from a task earlier in the week.^[32] 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 McHugh appeared to spit in Mohamed Mohamed's face. Dennis later claimed however that no spit had actually left his mouth and hit Mohamed.^[33] For the second time in the show's history, the live feed was cut, and Big Brother ordered housemates to separate themselves.^[33][32] On Day 23, Dennis was ejected from the house due to his actions, which were deemed as unacceptable behaviour by Big Brother.

Sex 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 sex on the show in its history. According to The Independent, this was the first real-life sexual 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 sex education.^[34]

Big Brother 5

Ofcom received four complaints regarding a scene where housemates Michelle Bass and Stuart Wilson appeared to have sex under a dining table. These complaints were not upheld, as "no nudity or actual sexual activity was broadcast".^[35]

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.

Big Brother 12

The first Channel 5 main series of Big Brother contained frequent nudity and sexual discussions from very early in the series. Discussions of a sexual nature featured frequently, and there was a higher level of nudity - in particular from male housemates when showering on camera and during pranks - than was commonly seen in previous years. An example was a 'naked Conga' dance led by Mark and Tom who were shown fully naked in the edited highlights show during Week 1.^[36]

Inclusion of certain housemates

Celebrity Big Brother 3

Another of Germaine Greer's stated reasons for leaving this series, was that the introduction of Jackie Stallone to the house was unnecessarily cruel towards fellow housemate Brigitte Nielsen; Nielsen had famously had a difficult relationship with the mother of her ex-husband (Sylvester Stallone), and Greer felt that it was unacceptable to make them live together in the name of entertainment. Nielson however stated in her eviction interview that she felt the experience had been a positive one.

Celebrity Big Brother 4

MP George Galloway was criticised for entering the house, being accused of "arrogance and self-interest".^[37] The family of Stuart Lubbock criticised the inclusion of entertainer Michael Barrymore, after Lubbock's body was found in Barrymore's swimming pool.^[38] However, Barrymore received a warm reception from the crowd.^[39]

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,^{[40][41][42][43]} Shahbaz was revealed to be mentally and emotionally unstable and threatened to commit suicide on live television; Lea suffers from Body dysmorphic disorder; Sam has admitted to being shunned by family members because of his homosexuality, and possible gender identity disorder; and Nikki has suffered from anorexia and been sectioned^[44][45] 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.^[46]

Big Brother 10

In the early stages of the tenth series it was reported by tabloid newspaper The Sun that housemate Sree was in the United Kingdom illegally. The newspaper said that a spokesperson for the show had confirmed that Sree had meetings with immigration lawyers whilst inside the house.^[47]

Upon entering the Big Brother House, contestant Saffia Corden was condemned by children’s charity Kidscape for leaving her seven year-old daughter and her 13 month-old son in the care of her mother in order to participate in the programme.^[48] Concerned viewers established groups on social networking website Facebook in protest of the situation, with over 980 joining one group alone within the programme’s first five days.^[49] However, Corden was seen crying over pictures of her children in the House and relatives and friends defended her in the press.^[49][50]

Voting and unfairness

Big Brother 7

Golden ticket competition

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.^[51]

Return of evicted housemates

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.^[52] 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^[53] and launched an official investigation.^[54] On October 5, 2006, they ruled that Channel 4 had breached its code and imposed £50,000 'administrative charges'.^[55]

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 PETA spokeswoman Jodie Marsh.

Big Brother 6

Aggression

On Day 14, Roberto Conte threw food over Maxwell Ward's head during an argument.

On Day 35, Ward was reprimanded for throwing a glass of water over Kemal Shahin whilst he was in bed, this was after the two had an argument involving Saskia Howard Clarke.

Science was often seen as intimidating by his housemates.

Davina McCall

Following the final of Big Brother 6 media watchdog OFCOM received over 450 complaints from viewers about host Davina McCall. During the interview the live crowd chanted the words "off, off, off" and "liar, liar, liar" at contestant Makosi. Viewers complained that McCall did nothing to stop the crowd, and some complained that she encouraged it. OFCOM confirmed that they launched an investigation into the events.^[56]

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.^[57]

Big Brother 10

Prior to the launch of this series, it was announced that the live feed, which used to air footage from the House throughout the day on E4, would be reduced to seven hours of programming per day.^[58] Channel 4 was criticised for this, receiving 99 complaints; Big Brother became the programme with the most complaints in the month of May 2009 before having even broadcast its first episode.^[59] The decision attracted comment, via Twitter, from programme presenter Davina McCall, who encouraged campaigners to protest by signing online petitions.^[60] A poll conducted by Heat magazine showed a majority in favour of reinstating the live feed.^[61] Channel 4 told members of the Digital Spy forums that it stuck by its decision and justified the reduction, noting that similar reality TV programmes such as ITV's I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! had also reduced live feeds.^[59][62] The intensity of the situation increased after an e-mail was received by Channel 4, threatening the life of Chief Executive Andy Duncan's daughter if the live feed was not reinstated.^[63] In a statement, Channel 4 confirmed that it was taking the situation seriously and had alerted the police.^[64]

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