Big Brother (British TV series) series 12

Template:Big Brother housemates Big Brother 2011 is the twelfth regular and current series of the British reality television series of Big Brother to be broadcast in the United Kingdom, and the first regular series to be broadcast on Channel 5. It launched on the night of Friday 9 September 2011 with an hour and a half long special launch show, the day after the final of Celebrity Big Brother 2011 was broadcast. The new series is due to last for 63 days and includes 14 housemates, all 18-30, 7 boys and 7 girls. Viewers had glimpsed possible housemates auditioning to enter the house during trailers on Celebrity Big Brother 2011 and Big Brother's Bit on the Side on 5*. On 8 September, the evening before launch night, presenter Brian Dowling confirmed a "surprise guest" launch night twist. The twist was that Canadian-born model and Baywatch star Pamela Anderson went into the house on launch night promising to "leave a skidmark on every housemate". Anderson was a houseguest for the first four days of the series leaving on day 4.

Production

History and build-up

After Richard Desmond bought Channel 5, he said he was keen to acquire Big Brother. Meanwhile, Endemol had been granted permission to keep the Big Brother house at the Elstree Studios where it currently is until 30 September 2013. On 2 April 2011, the Daily Star, a newspaper owned by Desmond, reported that Big Brother was returning on Channel 5 in August 2011 with a Celebrity edition. On 6 April 2011, Channel 5 formally confirmed it had signed a £200 million 2-year contract with Endemol to screen Big Brother UK from 18 August 2011.

Auditions

On 3 May 2011, Endemol and Channel 5 officially opened the process for people to apply to be on the show. Open auditions for the Channel 5 series were held at Old Trafford in Manchester on 10 and 11 June 2011. Auditions were also held in London on 18 and 19 June 2011 at the Emirates Stadium. All applicants had to attend the open auditions with identification to be considered for the series and had to be a legal resident of the UK or Ireland aged 18 or over by 31 July to audition for the show. Big Brother 11 winner Josie Gibson took part in filming at the London auditions meeting potential housemates. The spin-off show Big Brother's Bit on the Side will be presented by Emma Willis. Channel 5 announced that the 24 hour live feed will not be returning, instead higher integration of social networking sites like Facebook.

Trailers

From 23 July 2011, trailers announcing the imminent return of the celebrity version of the series were aired using Marcus Bentley's voice. Former housemates that featured in one of the trailers included Josie Gibson, Brian Dowling and Alex Reid. This coincided with the launch of the new eye logo for 2011. In the run-up to Celebrity Big Brother, the channel featured a promotional campaign under the slogan "When Bruv takes over" based on the David Guetta and Kelly Rowland song "When Love Takes Over". It featured a large cast of past housemates dancing and miming in the streets, finally meeting up in a park with CGI effects adding a fly-past with coloured smoke overhead. Break-bumpers announcing the series arrived in the week running up to the launch along with a countdown to the launch day voiced by Bentley. Idents based on the Big Brother eye Brian Dowling popping out the iris of a Big Brother Eye have also appeared as the Celebrity version's return looms. Channel 5 also took out commercials on other channels, including ITV1 promoting the launch of the new series. The launch was also trailed heavily in the printed media, including an advertising blitz in the Desmond-owned newspapers and magazines and posters in town centres. In the second week of the first celebrity series on Channel 5, trailers heralding the return of the main seris on 9 September 2011 began to be aired.

The House

The main elements of the house design were inherited from that used for previous celebrity series. Viewers first previewed the new Big Brother house during Celebrity Big Brother 2011 in preparation for the intake of regular housemates on the night of 9 September 2011. Differences include the walls being changed from a fish theme to a forest theme, the bedroom being made over with fresh textiles and gold mirrored furniture for the regular housemates. In the bathroom, the installation of transparent shower cabinet a frosted central band offers minimal privacy as there is a clear view of its unclothed occupant from the house and garden. There is a large central free-standing "egg-shaped" bath and with small pink and blue hand towels. The bathroom is mainly blue and pink with a sofa and clear view of the goings on from the living room and garden. Some of the house space was converted to create a luxury apartment for houseguest Pamela Anderson during her stay in the house. After she left, the "Pammy Annexe" was opened for a sleepover by the golden housemates. The wall of faces in the living room were also changed, with the new housemates' faces added to adorning it on day 3. These turn blue to indicate the nominated housemates and red to indicate an evicted housemate.

The garden retains the oblong pool with wave facility used for Celebrity Big Brother with a bridge going across it. For the main series, an artifical beach area was installed ready for the arrival of Pamela Anderson. This has featured in tasks. There are areas of astroturf and decking, an outdooor shower and an outdoor lounge area next to the beach which was first used to host the VIP party on launch night. There are doors leading to the sauna cabin, toilet and main house.

Cameras and surveillance system

The housemates are to be watched by a network 47 cameras 24/7, the largest number of cameras to date. The show is to be broadcast in high-definition for the first time in its history. In preparation for HDTV broadcast standard, the house has been illuminated with a super-bright overhead lighting rig.

The Diary Room

On 15 August 2011, viewers were rewarded with their first glimpse of the Big Brother 2011 diary chair. It is in the style of a luxury club chair in deep red with gold trim. The new Diary room has already featured in Celebrity Big Brother 2011 with a small task room adjacent.

Web presence and social media

Channel 5 has confirmed that 24 hour live free-to-air feed of life in the house will not feature. The channel is concentrating on the daily highlights shows, the eviction shows and is instead placing clips from action in the house on social media. At present, updates are being placed on the official Twitter site and Facebook. Daily updates drawn from the media will be placed on this site as they are available.

Housemates

Main article: List of Big Brother 2011 housemates (UK)

There are 14 housemates, all 18-30 years of age with an even split between males and females. Viewers were given a teaser of their profiles on Big Brother's Bit on the Side on 7 September.

Name	Age	Hometown	Source
Aaron Allard	30	Weston-super-Mare
Aden Theobald	19	Enfield
Alex Lee	18	South Shields
Anton Murphy	23	London
Faye Palmer	19	Tamworth
Harry Blake	23	Cheshire
Heaven Afrika	30	London
Jay McKray	27	Newcastle
Louise Cliffe	25	Manchester
Maisy James	19	Kent
Mark Henderson	28	Berkshire
Rebeckah Vaughan	28	Liverpool
Tashie Jackson	21	Oxford
Tom O'Connell	20	Solihull

House guests

Pamela Anderson

Pamela Anderson joined the housemates as a guest on launch night, as confirmed on the final night of Celebrity Big Brother 2011. She remained in the house for the duration of the first weekend setting three tasks. On day 1, she hosted a VIP party for five hand-selected housemates. In this task, one housemate had the most impress Pamela to win a "Golden Swimsuit" secretly granting them immmunity from eviction. On day 2, she announced that she would be interviewing housemates during a speed-dating task in the sauna in which the most impressive date would earn a golden swimsuit. Aden won this task. On day 3, Pamela set the house a Slow Motion lifeguard task which was won by Maisy. On day 4, Aden lost his golden status to Rebeckah after Pamela chose her as winner of a task. Pamela left the house on day 4 and the golden housemates were given access to the Pammy Annexe.

Sister shows

Big Brother's Bit on the Side

This is the main spin-off show for Big Brother UK which made its debut during Celebrity Big Brother 2011. The host is Emma Willis. Other reporters include Alice Levine and Jamie East. It mixes the styles of the previous spin-offs Little Brother and Big Mouth. Viewers have already encountered the show's "mascot", a canine security guard who ejaculates in excitement when the younger female guests' names are mentioned. The show features extra clips of the previous day's action plus previews of the current day's events in the house. On Sundays, the show features a quiz on the week's events in the house.

OK! TV: When 'Bruv Takes Over

This is a special edition of the main OK! TV magazine show broadcast from the Big Brother compound at Elstree Studios. The hosts are Jeff Brazier and Jenny Frost. The first edition aired on Wednesday 17 August where viewers were given a preview of the new Big Brother house on the eve of the launch of Celebrity Big Brother 2011. It mixes celebrity and showbiz news and interviews with news and events from the Big Brother house and interviews with ex-housemates.

Summary

Week 1

Day 1 was Big Brother 2011 Launch night and went live on Friday 9 September at 9pm when the 14 new housemates moved in to the house. On the final night of Celebrity Big Brother 2011, it had been confirmed that Pamela Anderson was going into the house with the unknowns. Pamela looked on at the action from a secret luxury bedroom, her "Pammy Annexe". Once the final housemate entered the house, the house blinds went up revealing Pamela posing on the new artificial beach in the garden. The housemates introduced themselvs to the Baywatch star and she then mingled with the newbies at the icebreaker, aided with liberal alcohol. Pamela had a secret task up her sleeve. Big Brother had given her the power to award the Golden Swimsuit which will grant the wearer immunity from eviction. After the icebreaker, Pamela announced that she would select 5 VIP housemates to attend an exclusive beachside garden party leaving the remainder to sip warm lager. She rejected Jay, Harry, Mark, Aaron, Aden, Anton, Faye, Rebeckah and Maisy. Heaven, Tom, Tashie, Louise and Maisy presented their VIP passes and partied with Pamela, sipping cocktails and dancing, watched by a bouncer. The five VIPs competed to be selected as Pamela's most entertaining VIP guest. Heaven did her best to impress Pamela with a Samba. In the house, the rejects drowned their sorrows, bitching about Pamela. Pamela selected Heaven as the most entertaining VIP for her Samba. The pair were called to the diary room where Heaven was instructed to put on a Golden Swimsuit and cape with magic powers. Heaven was told not to take off the swimsuit or it would lose its powers. She was not yet aware that she had won immunity from eviction as long as she kept it on. During further mingling, when quizzed by Harry, Jay said he had a tattoo of an ex-girlfriend's first intial on his penis. In the toilet, Aaron revealed to Rebeckah that he could not urinate without putting the tap on first. To his shock, she confided that she had played watersports with an ex-boyfriend.

After more drinks, Big Brother invited the housemates to enter the bedroom where one pair of housemates would have to share. The girls refused to share a bed, so two of the boys had to share. Anton and Aden eyed up the girls and boasted about their prowess, Aden had busy hands. Aden and Jay compared regional street slang. Aden was keen to boast he had been "an ex- player" with the opposite sex and had "a lot of fun". The older housemates, Harry, Aaron, Rebeckah and Alex sat on the beds talking about their careers. Rebeckah revealed she worked as men's club hostess but aspired to better things. She told them that she was a qualified dance teacher and did voluntary work for the underprivileged children. Heaven told Aaron about her philosophy for saving the world. Outside, in the early hours of the next morning, Tom, Jay and Mark chilled out in the pool with Alex looking on as the lads' conversation turned to the topic of male genital self-pleasure. Tom asked Mark and Jay if they had masturbated before coming into the house. Mark and Jay rose to the occasion, loudly sharing some bawdy lads' chat about their penises and their masturbation habits. They debated how often they had "self-pleasured" their penises to climax semen before entering the house. Jay boasted that he had given himself genital pleasure to orgasm "about "seventy thousand times" in the week before entering the house. He admitted that this level of masturbation had affected his semen quality, making it "like wallpaper paste". They discussed how their favourite activity altered their moods. Mark told Jay that he was "a different person before and after" masturbation. Mark confided that when he abstained from masturbation he had "loads of mojo" but when he masturbated to climax semen it made him "cry after". Fitness enthusiast Jay explained that men lose 50 per cent of their bodies' zinc levels from their testes every time they pass semen. Mark told Jay he had totally abstained from "touching himself inappropriately" for nearly a fortnight before joining the house. Alex laughed at the boys' locker-room talk. In the bedroom, aspiring alpha male Aden told the housemate they were all "blessed to him". He boasted about his prowess with the opposite sex and flaunted his street cred with Faye and Tashie. Harry, Aaron and Rebeckah gossiped about the younger housemates. Mark and Rebeckah shared a dry bath, Rebeckah said she saw herself as a "Robin Hood" figure. Aden dried Tashie's feet with the hairdryer, telling Tashie and Louise he was a "complete ladies' man" and he was in for the "long haul" with girls. Heaven and Jay discussed fitness regimes in the beach area. In the diary room, Alex analysed her fellow housemates' personalities. Pamela retired to the Pammmy Annexe.

Day 2 The first full day in the house dawned and the housemates rolled out of bed facing their first morning visit to the open-plan bathroom under Big Brother's all-seeing cameras. Aaron, Mark and Jay made a confident start by getting naked in the bathroom straight away. They all took the plunge in the nude for the cameras in the new see-through double shower cabinet. First Mark and Jay got up close and personal for some rough and tumble with some wrestling in their nightwear on the sofas. The grappling session got out of hand when they nearly choked on their mics after the muscle-bound Jay got carried away with the horseplay. Aaron was the first male housemate to be seen naked in the shower with his penis visible behind the semi-frosted shower screen. As they came in from the garden, Maisy and Faye giggled as they copped an eyeful of a naked Aaron in the shower as they got used to the idea of seeing the boys nude in the bathroom every day. A shy Maisy told Faye she wanted her toothbrush and went in the bathroom with Aaron still naked in the shower with Anton and Harry at the basins. When Maisy went in the bathroom, Aaron put his hand over his penis. Aaron then relaxed and continued with his shower while Maisy used the excuse of cleaning her teeth to get a closer look. Maisy asked him if he was "having fun in there" and he smiled and said yes, it was "very nice, actually" as he dried himself with a small towel. Aaron showed his butt to the camera while dressing. After some deliberation, a group of the girls plucked up the courage to take a shower together. Most of the girls opted to wear bikini bottoms in the shower and held up towels to protect their modesty, some showered topless. Most of the lads were relaxed at being fully naked around in the bathroom under the full gaze of the cameras and were confident showing their bare butts and genitals. After their wrestle, exercise buddies Jay and Mark undressed and were next in the bathroom where they took a shower together in the nude. While they were in the shower, Mark asked Jay to scrub his back with a long-handled sponge "to feel what it was like with a hard man doing it". A butt-naked Jay left the cubicle to dry off, leaving Mark still under the shower. With a pink towel in hand, Jay showed off his pumped-up bodybuilder's physique keeping a small blue towel held over his penis. Jay walked around the bathroom in his tanned birthday suit revealing powerful upper and lower body muscles, tightly developed abs and an all-over set of tattoos on his back, legs and shoulders. As Jay dried himself, the cameras caught a detailed all-round view of his Maori-style body art. The cameras also got their first view of his ample butt cheeks and recorded the body art on his well-developed glutes. The camera showed that Jay has a "Playboy" tattoo on his right buttock and an inscription on the outer edge of his left buttock. Still naked, Jay chatted to Mark who was still letting it all hang out as he continued to enjoy the prolonged luxury of his first morning shower in the house. On the Big Brother TV highlights show, Mark's name label hid his penis. The camera also revealed that compared to Jay, Mark has a much slimmer physique and small, tight buttocks. Jay asked Mark where he "got that massive towel from" and wondered if he'd brought his own towel, he said no, he'd got it from the drawer in the bedroom. As he washed his hair, a tattoo-free Mark jumped up and down several times looking down at his penis as he showed his butt to the camera.

A "bromance" blossomed between Harry and Mark who discussed the bed-sharing arrangements. In the bedroom, as did her make-up at the dressing table, Tashie told Aaron she had been bullied and she'd had a nose job. Pamela emerged from her private suite to greet the housemates. She asked if they'd had showers on camera, Aden said he hadn't yet. The housemates' suitcases arrived and they unpacked their belongings. Pamela was given a crib sheet by Big Brother and read out the "Hot Dates" task. Housemates were instructed to change immediately into swimwear for a speed-dating task in the house sauna. For each date, each housemate was given a chance to impress Pamela in the sauna cabin with their speed-dating pashing skills until she gave Big Brother the secret cue, "it's getting hot in here" to end the date. Pamela told Mark that he was too young for her. She told Aaron she was "too old too date" at 44. Jay tried to impress Pamela by giving her a gold necklace. Bare-chested in their swimshorts, Aaron, Anton and Jay bonded in the garden and held an impromptu rap contest, showing some fine lyrical skills. The girls watched the rap boys' high testosterone performance. In the pool, a topless Jay flaunted his supersize chest and flexed his pumped-up tanned and tattooed shoulder muscles as he made some eye-catching rap moves.

The housemates gathered to hear the results of the "Hot Dates" task. Big Brother invited her to pick her favourite date, she chose Aden. Pamela and Aden were called to the diary room where he had to put on a pair of golden trunks and a golden cape as the second winner of the Golden Swimsuit. Unknown to Aden this outfit gave him immunity from eviction, joining Heaven on the safe list. In the evening, the boys had a conversation about Heaven and what she had told Aaron the night before. Anton was in the pool with Maisy with Harry and Aden looking on. Anton suggested it would be a good idea for the boys to "get it on" with the girls to break the ice. Maisy and the boys disagreed. Pamela was given a quiz on the housemates' performances during the hot dates to win the housemates beer. Pamela passed the quiz and won the housemates a full party spread with their beer. In her bikini, Rebeckah joined Aden, Jay and the other boys in the sauna. Harry, Pamela and Aaron cleared up the kitchen after the party. Harry and Aaron quizzed Pamela about her Baywatch days. In the diary room, Aaron confided to Big Brother that he thought Jay was OK but he said that there were "a couple of bitches" amongst the girls in the house.

Day 3 dawned with a rude Sunday morning awakening from Big Brother. Overnight, Big Brother had installed artwork with the housemates' portraits on a panel in the living room. Mark did some dance moves with Heaven in the house. Louise and Harry discussed the other housemates in the bathroom. In the garden, Jay coached Mark through some exercises. Mark performed some dips on the bridge and press-ups on the astroturf. Mark crouched on Jay's back to add weight while the latter did some hard-core press-ups. Afterwards, Mark and Jay stripped naked and cooled off during their second shared post-workout "showermance". Their butts were once again on show for the cameras again as they lathered up, mucked around and sang loudly in the cubicle. Mark's penis made a brief appearance on the highlights show as he danced and thrust his hips back and forth in the shower. Maisy, Alex and the girls discussed their boobs and their hormones in the bedroom. Heaven and Louise discussed their ideal man while waiting for Pamela to emerge from her boudoir. Pamela set the housemates a new task, "How slow can you go?" a lifeguarding themed task. Pamela revealed the task when she opened a golden envelope from Big Brother which contained a lifeguard's whistle on a gold ribbon. Pamela informed the housemates that they must go to the beach area and adopt classic Baywatch style slow motion lifeguard poses on the spot when she blew her whistle. The winner would be the housemate to maintain the pose as long as possible without leaving their positions. Other than golden housemates Aden and Heaven, the girls were given skimpy one-piece lifeguard's swimsuits to wear and the boys stripped down to red lifeguard's beach shorts to compete bare-chested for the task. They gathered on the beach area and had to keep up the slow motion posing and stay on the spot or face disqualification. Anton and Maisy were the finalists after the others dropped out. After 17 minutes, 30 seconds, Anton dropped out and Maisy was declared the task winner. She was rewarded with the third Golden Swimsuit granting her immunity from eviction. The housemates admired her bottom as she approached the diary room door with Anton and Mark looking on intently. At the dining table, the girls quizzed Jay about his lovelife. Aaron and Mark sprawled topless in the garden in their lifeguards shorts soaking up some autumn sun. They bonded by sharing some surreal nature notes. Aden, Aaron and Jay offered Mark some chat-up tips to win Pamela over. Jay taught Mark a rhyme about tinned tomatoes which did the trick. In the diary room, Anton fantasised about having sex with Pamela. Louise told Big Brother that she she'd changed her mind about Aaron and now liked him. In the bedroom, Rebeckah told Aaron that he was rude and arrogant and that he was the double of an ex-boyfriend of hers. In the evening, Big Brother put on a beach party in the garden for the housemates. Pamela arrived late in a flattering pink designer dress. A steel bland played while the housemates partied and did some limbo dancing.

Flamboyant couple Tom and Alex brewed up a "Fauxmance" to fool the housemates. Heaven talked about giants. Tom and Mark did a psychic experiment with tinfoil. A new gang formed in the house, "The Wolfpack" led by Anton and Aden in his golden cape. They explained the new gang's rules to their new recruit Rebeckah. In the bedroom, a showmance brewed between Aden and Rebeckah after he'd massaged her feet. The pair shared a bed after lights out.

On Day 4 Jay flirted with Louise. Tom debated whom he fancied. Mark did a silly dance to join the Wolfpack crew. Pamela set one last task. The non-golden housemates had to impress her to win a golden swimsuit. Each housemate had to dress to impress and tell Pamela why they deserved the status. They paraded on the bridge and stood on a star to speak. Pamela chose Rebeckah, partly because she felt sorry as she had thrush. There was final dilemma to face. Rebeckah had to select one of the golden housemates which she would replace and they would lose immmunity. The housemates gathered outside while Rebeckah made up her mind. They overheard that the loser was Aden and he had to go to the bedroom and remove his golden cape and trunks to take to the diary room. Aden looked crestfallen at losing his golden status. The final golden housemates were Heaven, Maisy and Rebeckah. After a final party, Big Brother announced it was time for Pamela to leave the house. The golden housemates were allowed to take over her luxury boudoir for the night after she left the house. The showmance between Aden and older temptress Rebeckah continued as she said she didn't want to go into the Pammy Annexe. Mark tried to impress Rebeckah and Aden with a comical "I can scissor on the floor" routine.

Heaven woke up to find she'd lost her voice on Day 5. Jay had a five course breakfast with some left-over pineapple. Pamela left the housemates a farewell message with an individual appraisal of each housemate's best qualities. Aden, Mark and Louise tried to recreate the look on their official portraits. Mark and Jay shared the bathroom again. Some of the housemates had a pedicure. Nominations began and continued through the day as the housemate took turns to visit the diary room. Mark, Jay and Tom discovered their metrosexual side when new man Aaron gave them a facial with a mud pack. Mark got cross when Tom blew on him when his face went red after the treatment. Tom smiled and enjoyed relaxing with his top off as handsome Aaron massaged his face with a clay face mask. The housemates shared tales about their love lives as they waited to hear from Big Brother.

Nominations table

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9		Nominations received
Aaron											0
Aden											0
Alex											0
Anton											0
Faye											0
Harry											0
Heaven											0
Jay											0
Louise											0
Maisy											0
Mark											0
Rebeckah											0
Tashie											0
Tom											0
Nomination note	1
Against public vote
Evicted

Notes

• ^Note 1 :   Pamela Anderson was able to give immunity to four chosen housemates during her stay by giving them a golden swimsuit. Heaven, Aden and Maisy received the first three golden swimsuits, however Pamela chose the final golden housemate as Rebeckah. She had to choose one of the other three and remove their privilege,she chose Aden, hence he is no longer immune from eviction.

Ratings

The launch night of the first edition of Big Brother 2011 on Chanel 5 on 9 September 2011 underperformed with a relatively modest 2.6 million compared with the debut its Celebrity 2011 counterpart on the same channel and Big Brother 2010 on Channel 4. The first highlights show logged a disappointing 1.26 million viewers, a series low for the Channel 5 format. Figures for the second highlights show were slightly up, logging 1.48 million. Ratings held up for the first weekday highlights show on Monday 12 September at a respectable 1.43 million.

External links

• Official website
• Official Twitter feed
• Big Brother (British TV series) series 12 on Facebook
• Big Brother at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com