Big Brother returns with 2.5 million viewers, but the ITV launch program is divisive.
The reality competition show returned to British television for the first time in five years, and more than 2.5 million viewers watched as 16 participants entered the Big Brother house.
The housemates immediately participated in a “housewarming party” with games that had surprising results once the series shifted to ITV.
Jenkin, 25, lost hot water for a day after his bag blew up.
The Times claimed the launch felt “like a Noughties fossil,” while the Telegraph dubbed it “fun.”
The new hosts, AJ Odudu and Will Best, have drawn criticism from some viewers for being unfairly compared to Davina McCall and Emma Willis in the past.
On Sunday’s first episode, Davina wrote on X, “How’s it going? I am extremely afraid of missing out.
Big Brother revolutionized British television when it debuted on Channel 4 in 2000, then moved to Channel 5, and finally was cancelled in 2018.
The inaugural broadcast received 2 million viewers on ITV1 and another 527,000 viewers on ITV2, which will serve as the program’s primary home in the coming weeks.
“Seeking authenticity”
Do we really need Big Brother back? asked James Hall of the Telegraph in a review that received four stars. Obviously not. Raw and genuine? Of course not.
“But this was fun and is at least striving for a degree of authenticity while also knowing it has to entertain.”
Adam Miller, a Metro critic, lavished praise on the occasion, awarding it four stars and said that its effect far above his expectations. He praised it for making a comeback and said, “Big Brother thrives on deception, strategic gameplay, and pure absurdity—the launch night alone had an abundance of all three.”
He called the lineup “the most interesting cast Big Brother has seen in years, if not ever,” but he also noted it was “strange” that the premiere was pre-recorded “knowing how electric those live launches could be.”
Social media was a source of enthusiasm for the fans.
Katie Rosseinsky, a reporter for The Independent, concurred that having a premiere program that wasn’t live “feels like a misfire.”
“Big Brother has always been a franchise that has thrived on chaos, and this opener doesn’t give us that,” she stated.
Can we stay interested in these new roommates every night for six days? They have their work cut out for them in this age of attention deficit disorder, so it won’t be simple!
Emma Bullimore highlighted the variety of characters in the house in the Radio Times. “Crucially, it’s not just a set of 16 TikTokers,” she said.
Instead, it seems as though a genuine effort was made to assemble interesting people for an outstanding experience. From a bingo caller to Miss Universe to a “ecstatic dancer” on the Isle of Man, who shimmies to the moonlight.
She stated that it’s still unclear whether the program can rival more recent reality TV successes like Love is Blind and The Traitors.
“ITV’s makeover appears to be improving the brand a little, but it’s unclear if it will be effective enough to draw in viewers the way the show once did.
It feels worn out.
The format, according to Carol Midgley of The Times, is “showing its age” and “feels pretty vanilla, pretty basic stuff” in comparison to more contemporary formats.
Since this is one of the few programs that young people still watch every night in the traditional manner, I can see that ITV wants to duplicate the success it has had with Love Island. However, I feel exhausted,” she wrote.
We’re just starting out, so things could improve, but based on tonight’s episode, it seems like Big Brother doesn’t have any fresh stories to share with us.
When Jenkin, a contestant from Bridgend in south Wales, unintentionally selected 23-year-old Olivia to be up for the first eviction on Friday, there was some drama on the first night of the show.
She was later given the opportunity to avoid being voted the least entertaining housemate in order to avoid being eliminated.
Before the performance debuted, Odudu and Best made a sincere appeal to online trolls imploring them to exercise caution. On the Big Brother Instagram account, they posted a video highlighting how the “housemates are genuine individuals leading real lives.”
The housemates, as well as their relatives and friends, have been requested not to post anything about the show on their own social media accounts while they are in the house, similar to recent seasons of ITV’s Love Island.
It comes at a time when broadcasters’ duty of care guidelines have come under criticism as a result of various issues affecting on-screen talent.