Nine Networks’ relaunch of hit reality television series, Big Brother, is only a few hours away and if you’re not excited now, I reckon its time for me to pull my weight and GET you excited!
Over the seven years and eight seasons Big Brother aired on Network TEN, Big Brother found stars far and wide. But it didn’t just produce stars- it found us much loved personalities. We followed ex-contestants not because of their new found celebrity, but because we loved them!
From Blair McDonough to Sara-Marie Fedele to Chrissie Swan to David Graham, every season found someone we can remember even now, four years since the show left our screens. But as it begins to crawl back into our lives, a new batch of loveable or hateable personalities are gearing up and readying up to show Australia what they’ve got!
In this list, we will be going through some of the housemates who defined Big Brother; some of the housemates who found success with Big Brother; and some contestants who just found a headline or two.
Bare in mind, this list has been collaborated using my own personal research. Information may still be out of date. Contestants whose information is scarce or clearly out of date with no further follow up have been left out.
BIG BROTHER AUSTRALIA 2001
Big BrotherAustraliafirst graced our scenes in 2001. When we all heard of a show about strangers living together in a house cut off from the outside world, we were both intrigued and somewhat quizzed.
But as soon as it started, snap! The controversy, the buzz and most importantly, the ratings, began flooding in. Australian television would never be the same again. NO other show would ever produce the same type or amount of excitement and hype as Big Brother did.
Debuting on24 April 2001, the first season ran for 85 days, ending on16 July 2001. During that time, a dominatrix cried over some pain, a showmance formed, Ben Williams won the show over now-actor Blair McDonough and some previously unknown Australians became known.
But what happened to some of the stars that the first season produced? Well, they probably went on to the greatest success. With the novelty well and truly formed and firing, if you were a Big Brother 2001 housemate and you didn’t go on to success, there was nothing worth following!
From 2001:
Ben Williams
Status: Winner
Duration in House: 85 Days
The inaugural winner of Big BrotherAustralia, Ben Williams is possibly one of the lesser famous of the winners- possibly brought on by himself.
On the show, Ben was known for his humour, boy-next-door attitude and for being an all round good bloke. He didn’t do anything controversial and he didn’t snuff anyone to get where he got. He was a formidable contestant and an even more deserved winner.
Using the $250,000, Williams set up a sports marketing agency and married his long-term girlfriend, then-Sunrise producer Jade Robran in 2008. While it isn’t known whether the two are still together, Ben did make a bit of moolah off the event by offering a tell-all account of the Bali-based wedding to a woman’s magazine.
Later that year, Big Brother came to an end, and to celebrate, producers asked all former winners to return for a ‘Where Are They Now’ segment that aired during the final show of season eight.
All winners ended up returning, except Williams. The inaugural winner ‘politely declined’ the offer to return citing ‘other commitments’ as the reason for his absence. But it wasn’t really a surprise to anyone who followed the show over the seven years. After his win, Ben reportedly wanted to distance himself from the show that made him famous over fears it would ‘damage his professional reputation’.
Blair McDonough
Status: Runner-Up
Duration in House: 85 Days
Blair McDonough has possibly gone on to the biggest claim-to-fame of any housemate from any season. He is better known now for his portrayal of Stuart Parker on then-Network TEN soapie, Neighbours.
Blair was born inMelbourne, but grew up inSingapore. After he moved back to Australia, he joined a band named Fifth Avenue (known as Snubrocket when he joined) which featured in a montage of bands during the video clip of TISM song, ‘Thunderbirds are Coming Out’ in 1998.
He was also a semi-professional footballer before joining Big Brother as a housemate in 2001.
Inside the house, Blair played the part as the ‘kid’. The oldies wanted to care for him; the youngin’s wanted to wreak havoc with him.
His blokey attitude, like Williams, scored him brownie points with the voting public, and he finished second in the season.
Only a few months passed after his mild triumph on the show before he was cast as Stuart Parker on Neighbours.
The character became a hit, and the Parker legacy lasted almost nine years before the family were written out of the show. During his own stint, his character became a police officer, lost his eyesight for a bit, joined a cult and married psychopath Sindi Watts. Off screen, he also had a small relationship with singer and Neighbours actress, Delta Goodrem.
He stayed on Neighbours for four years, quitting in 2005 and moving toLondonto continue his acting career. There, he landed a pretty successful role in theWest Endplay, The Vegemite Tales from 2006-2007.
McDonough also got a one-episode stint on the audio series Sapphire and Steel as an Australian-incarnation of the character, Steel. He also made a brief appearance on Heartbeat.
But after only scoring smaller roles on D-grade British reality television programs, he moved back toAustralia.
His first major role upon returning toAustraliawas that of the part of Matt Robsenn onChannelNinedramaSeaPatrol in season three.
He then competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2010 in a stint that threw him right back into the scene, despite only lasting two rounds before being eliminated.
But something very few Big Brother housemates have been able to do is continue to seek relevance this far out of the show’s cancellation. Blair is one of these lucky ones. Currently, he can be seen as the high profile character, Matt O’Connor on the equally as high profile Channel Seven drama, Winners and Losers.
Sara-Marie Fedele
Status: Third Place (2001), Fourth Place (Celebrity Big Brother)
Duration in House: 104 Days (84 Days in 2001, 20 Days in Celebrity Big Brother)
No doubt about it, Sara-Marie Fedele was the most well known contestant to come out of Big Brother 2001. I say ‘well known’ as opposed to famous, because despite her high profile, Fedele has managed to live quite a non-celebrity driven lifestyle.
Sara-Marie was known as the ‘loud-mouth, flamboyant’ housemate that you either loved, or you hated. Lucky for her,Australiamore-or-less learned to love her with open arms. Her popularity wasn’t crash hot to begin with. She was nominated in the first week. But during the show, her constant energy ignitedAustralia, and you guys kept her going.
Her most famous moment came when she invented the Bum Dance. It’s not really a craze now, but chances are, if you were to yell the words ‘Bum Dance’ in a busy crowd, less all the people who will look at you crazily, you will see a few smiles on people who still know that infamous movement’s origins. Someone may even give a little re-enactment.
During a 10-year reunion broadcasted by Channel Nine’s A Current Affair in 2011, Fedele told us all that the dance was simply to tell her family that she was OK. Funnily enough, it does render the Bum Dance a potential rule break of the show. But I’m sure we can look over that.
She left the house on Day 84 in third place. She was the last woman standing, and we loved her all the more for it.
Upon leaving the contest, Fedele went on to do a huge array of things. She sung a cover of The Siren’s hit I’m So Excited, wrote some best-selling children’s books and created a successful line of pyjamas.
But as soon as she left the Big Brother house, she found her way back in! The only housemate to compete twice in the game, Fedele was announced as part of the line-up of Celebrity Big BrotherAustralia, which was broadcast on Network Ten soon after the conclusion of the second Big Brother season in 2002.
She joined housemates including Gabby Millgate (Muriel’s Wedding and now Excess Baggage), Warwick Capper (Celebrity ApprenticeAustralia) and Kyle Sandilands (Big Brother 2008 host). She recreated her success in becoming last woman standing, but was evicted this time in fourth place on Day 20. She would be the only contestant to this date to compete in two Big Brothers.
Since then, she had a hosting stint on Totally Wild; she lost weight and competed on Seven’s Dancing With The Stars in 2005 where she was eliminated second.
Since this big stint, she slipped back into anonymity, only reappearing for smaller roles in the public eye. She made an appearance on John Safran Vs. God and appeared on Celebrity SurvivorAustraliaas a friend of contestant Imogen Bailey, whom she shared the Celebrity Big Brother house with.
In 2008, she returned to Big Brother for the final time as the 2001 Big Brother representative in a ‘Where Are They Now’ segment during the final show, filling in for winner, Ben Williams.
In a 2010 article with Women’s Day, Sara-Marie talked in-depth about her weight loss, life-changes and public perception. Here, she admitted that the hardest thing was ‘people expecting [her] to be that girl [that we saw on Big Brother]’.
And as mentioned above, she appeared along with a cast of former Big Brother housemates last year on A Current Affair for a Big Brother Reunion in which she was the only notable contestant to admit to wanting to go through that whole experience again.
Christina Davis
Status: Fourth Place
Duration In House: 77 Days
Christina Davis’ legacy on Big Brother was that of the young, lively, flirtatious girl. She made herself quite well known on the show, her most memorable moments being with fellow contestant Peter Timbs. She formed a relationship with him soon after the series began, and their antics led to rumours that they engaged in sexual activities in the bedroom. Ever heard of the term ‘Dancing Doonas’? That’s where that phrase comes from!
Her bubbly personality and experience in ballet led to her moniker, Christina Ballerina, somethingDavisenjoyed. Apart from being a dancer, she was also a seasoned stand-up comedian. She regularly gave advice about the latter career during her stay.
She left the house in fourth place, the week after fellow housemates Jenna and Johnnie openly discusses their plans to nominate her.
One of the founders of a long-held Big Brother tradition, shortly after leaving the house, she starred as a cover girl for Ralph Magazine. She then went on to take up smaller opportunities, like a stint on a Big Brother-themed Weakest Link, and on radio.
She has been best known since for her stand up comedy. Along with stints on television shows such as ABC’s Stand Up!, and Search forAustralia’s Funniest Man (Ten), she also worked as a supporting act in festivals such as the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe.
She also credits herself as a writer, a voice-over artist and an actress.
One of the more interesting notes of interest was that through her work with environmental organisation,PlanetArk, she had a plantation named after her. A 10,000 tree plantation in the Adelaide Murray basin was named the ‘Christina Ballerina’Forest.
She was seen on screen promoting the organisation’s Mobile Phone Recycling campaign.
Jemma Gawned
Status: Fifth Place
Duration in House: 70 Days
Branded as the ‘lip gloss’ queen of the Big Brother Household, Jemma entered the house with the dream of establishing her own cosmetics empire. On the show, she was most notable for breaking the rule of not discussing nominations with fellow contestant Johnnie by stipulating that contestant Christina Davis would be nominated. She was banned from nominating that week, and was subsequently evicted the week after with over sixty per cent of the vote. For a relatively popular housemate, this was a big turn of events.
Since leaving the competition, Jemma went on to moderate success. Her biggest show reel to date was a hosting stint on Network Ten’s Search For A Supermodel in 2002. In 2006, she also won the quiz show Australia’s Brainiest Housemate which aired on Network Ten.
But her biggest venture since leaving the house was her cosmetics empire. Branded ‘Jemma Cosmetics’, she grew her business into a huge cosmetics line, rebranding it JG Creative.
Throughout 2005 and 2006, she dated now-Dancing with the Stars host Daniel MacPherson and worked as a model.
In 2009, The Daily Telegraph reported that her cosmetics business went into administration in what she described as a ‘tough, heartbreaking challenge’. She was credited as trying, at the time, to set up two new business ventures, Naked Minerals and Naked Treaties.
Jemma Gawned featured on A Current Affair’s 2011 Big Brother 10 Year Reunion story.
Naked Treaties, her ‘raw vegan certified organic, gluten and dairy free’ products are apparently on the verge of breaking into major international markets. Keep an eye out?
Peter Timbs
Status: Eighth Place
Duration in House: 49 Days
Peter Timbs, better known as one half of Christina & Peter, he was known from the start as the confident but cheeky ladies-man. His ‘fondling’ with fellow contestant Christina Davis was a talking point throughout the season, and it possibly had a hand in helping him survive two eviction rounds. But in a tight round with fellow contestants Christine and Sara-Marie, Peter came off short, placing eighth with forty-two per cent of the vote.
His relationship with Christina didn’t last, and Peter is now married to his wife, Camille, who he has had two children with.
Peter is a sufferer of the inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s Disease, something he hid from his fellow housemates until week five, when he decided to tell them after the condition caused him to direct mood swings at Christina.
Another health scare, this time concerning his wife Camille, surfaced in 2009 when she had to undergo a double mastectomy.
But all that aside, Pete has gone from being a media personality being hounded by entertainment reporters, to now being one himself! Working with Foxtel, TV Week, on Ten’s The Circle, Seven’s Today Tonight, Nine’s A Current Affair, and almost any other show requiring an inside entertainment source, Peter’s days in Big Brother have been almost wiped from memory by this massive career he has spanned.
He also worked in radio on the Gold Coast at one stage.
For someone who was evicted relatively early on, his career as an entertainment reporter continues to this very day. Due to his affiliation with TV Week, he is most likely to be seen on a Channel 9 show.
Speaking of Channel 9, he was one of the contestants who returned for 9’s A Current Affair’s Big Brother 10 Year Reunion last year.
In 2012, he returned to the Big Brother house as an ‘unexpected guest’. The current batch of housemates were asked to ignore him as part of that week’s shopping task.
Rachel Corbett
Status: Tenth Place
Duration in House: 4 Days
Four days in the house, and Rachel’s career began! Yep, only four days, but if you haven’t heard of Rachel, chances are, you haven’t listened to radio for quite a while!
Entering the house as an intruder, the first season’s only major twist, she and fellow intruder Anita were automatically put up for eviction- to be decided by her fellow housemates. Out of the eight cast votes, she received five, and was consequently evicted. She served one of the shortest stints in the house out of all Big Brother Australia contestants (she ties with 2004’s Violeta Black and 2006’s Lauren Clayton as the second shortest stint-servers. The shortest stint-servers are 2008’s Michael Crafter and Barney at three days).
Since leaving Big Brother, Rachel just hasn’t been able to keep away from radio. She had smaller stints with summer programming and fill-ins for the Hot30 Countdown. Her biggest stint came with Sydney’s Triple M where she and Paul Murray hosted the Drive show. They did this for just over a year, from 2009 to December 2010. For the most part, the show was heard down the east-coast of Australia, however was later restricted to Sydney airwaves.
From January 2011, she became a newsreader for the Triple M Grill team however from 2012; she joined Merrick Watts and Julian Schiller for the new drive-time radio show, Highway Patrol.
She continues to team up with former radio co-host Paul Murray on his new Sky News show. She also writes for The Brag and The Punch.
For someone who has only spent such a short time in the house, Rachel is probably one of the more remarkable contestants who have carved a successful career with what she had to work with. Featuring on the first season, rather than the later seasons of the show, probably aided her success.
Other Notables:
Johnnie Cass (Sixth Place)
Johnnie Cass was an odd one. Despite being a warm and fuzzy character Australia seemed to love, he also had a strike of villainy in him. Classed as ‘Johnnie Rotten’, as a housemate, he was noted for hugging fellow contestants after nominating them, which many people saw as being two faced.
Since leaving the competition, he has been open about his distaste for being classed as the villain, however did not hate the Big Brother experience. He has appeared as a contestant on The Weakest Link and Sale of the Century and even had a role in SBS’s Pizza.
He currently works as a motivational speaker and owns his company, Unlimited Success.
Anita Bloomfield (Seventh Place)
Anita Bloomfield was noticeable on Big Brother for being the ‘successful’ intruder (the one who wasn’t evicted alongside Rachel Corbett).
She’s been out of the spotlight since, but I thought it’d be interesting to mention that in 2001, now-Biggest Loser health expert Norman Swan hosted an episode of Dimensions Health on the ABC about smoking and depression.
In the episode, Anita’s experience going cold turkey in the Big Brother house, especially in her lowest times, was documented in this show. I mention this because Anita crying in the house serves as one of my longest-lasting memories of the show.
Todd James (Twelfth Place)
Todd James didn’t last too long in the house. In fact, he is given the dishonour of being the first male ever to be evicted from the Big Brother house.
Since leaving the competition, he was lucky enough to return as a roving reporter on Big Brother Australia 2002, and hosted a breakfast show on PBS 106.7FM radio Melbourne.
BIG BROTHER AUSTRALIA 2002
After the smash hit that was Big Brother Australia, Network Ten would have been stupid not to have brought it back for a second run. It was confirmed on screen to viewers in a post-series special that the show would indeed return for a second season this year.
Like most reality television shows, Big Brother’s second season went on the incline, as Australia fell more in love with the colourful characters that entered the house. We saw Marty & Jess, Peter and Brodie- and we also saw a very unusual phenomena- this year’s first official evictee was a male (Damian). This would only occur once more with BB08’s Saxon.
From 2002:
Peter Corbett
Status: Winner
Duration in House: 86 Days
Branded at times the most ‘least deserving’ winner, Peter was known for keeping to himself when conflicts arose in the house. He was known as the all-round nice guy, as Ben was the year before. He was always well received by the Australian public while in the house, and after 86 days, he took out the second title of winner of Big Brother Australia. Before exiting the house, he was involved in ‘one final twist’ which saw his family greet him inside the compound.
Since leaving the Big Brother house, Peter was most involved with charities, becoming the ambassador for Daffodil Day and representing Barnardos Australia in their work. He also trained to become a pilot in Churchill at the local Top Gun academy.
His most frequented activity since leaving the house is competing in various soccer clubs along the East Coast, including Gippsland, Churchill and Villanueva.
Peter returned to Big Brother for the 2008 finale where he told hosts, Kyle & Jackie O, that he is regularly mistaken for Ben (BB01) on the streets to this day.
Jessica Hardy
Status: Fourth Place
Duration in House: 78 Days
In the same way that you think of Sara Marie for season one, Australia thought of Jess for this season. This iconic country chick made a name for herself in the Big Brother house for her bubbly attitude, Killing Heidi playing for her on her birthday, and, oh yes, Marty. The two forged a very interesting showmance in their long time in the house. Many thought they would make the distance before Jess was evicted in fourth place. Still, not a bad triumph.
What people may not have known is that prior to entering the house, Jess was a contestant on Seven’s The Mole in 2001, being eliminated in the very first episode.
Since leaving the house, Jess had a very high profile wedding to her beau, Marty, which was televised on Network Ten. The couple have since divorced, and live separate lives. Shame, but it was probably the most successful relationship post-BB.
On a tragic note, Jess’s brother was one of the victims of the 2002 Bali Bombings which took place soon after the ending of the season.
In recent years, Jess has worked at various community radio stations such as ZZZFM in Lismore, radio stations in Dubbo and Coffs Harbour, and was last documented as working at Radio 97 on the Gold Coast as an announcer.
Jess was one of the former contestants who returned to Channel 9’s A Current Affair Big Brother reunion.
She is set to appear on Fox8’s Dating In The Dark as a contestant.
Brodie Young
Status: Ninth Place
Duration in House: 20 Days
Brodie is probably best known as Australia’s favourite intruder. It was you, Australia, who voted him INTO the house over two other rivals. Yet, in an unfortunate twist of fate, he was eliminated the first chance the other housemates got.
Since Big Brother, Brodie was a host on Nine’s Quizmania, a show that rivalled Network Ten’s UpLate Game Show, which was ironically hosted by BB05 contestant, Simon Deering (‘GASP’, someone used his REAL name!!).
He lasted on the show from its beginning to its end, which counted for hundreds of appearances. He did not return to the show’s successor, The Mint, after the show’s cancellation.
And according to Wikipedia, he is a grounds announcer at Olympic Park. Fascinating.
Lastly, he now voices over Seven’s revamp of The Price Is Right.
Aaron Benton
Status: Thirteenth Place
Duration in House: 29 Days
Aaron didn’t last too long in the house, and chances are, you probably didn’t even realise he existed. Well, this gambler has done a few things around the circuit, so he is definitely worth a mention.
In 2009, he was runner up in the FTOPS XII Online Poker Series’ main event, which landed him over $260,000. Yep, that’s more than what the winners of half the seasons of Big Brother got. He went on to win another $600,000 at the APPT Sydney Main Event Poker Tournament and has since played in other tournaments with moderate success.
He is currently an ambassador for The Star Casino in Sydney, and is an announcer on Aussie Poker Radio.
Other Notables:
Sahra Kearney (Third Place)
Sahra was the final woman standing in this season of Big Brother. As an aspiring actress, she had small roles on shows such as Home & Away. She continues to find smaller roles, mostly revolving around commercial advertising roles.
Nathan Morris (Eighth Place)
Nathan Morris has enjoyed quite a bit of success since leaving the house. He is currently a host on Perth’s Nova 93.7FM and appeared on 2003’s Big Brother: The Insider and 2008’s Big Brother’s Big Mouth. Lucky 2012 Perth auditionees may have caught a glimpse of him at this year’s auditions.
Damian Hoo (Fifteenth Place)
Damian was famous for becoming the first male to be evicted first off of Big Brother. At the time, the feat had not occurred in the US, or on any of the previous regular UK editions of the show. Since leaving the house, Damian moved to Bangkok to play in the Southerners Sports Club Rugby team, and soon moved to London to launch a singing career. He has released one album to date- ‘The Spectrum’.
BIG BROTHER AUSTRALIA 2003
Big Brother 2003 became the most watched season of the Australian version of Big Brother ever, a title it has retained since. And with notable contestants such as Chrissie Swan and Ben Archibold, you would expect nothing less. Its winner, Reggie Sorensen, has regularly topped opinion polls as the series’ most favourite winner. Big Brother Australia 2003 was most well-known for its split house twist, where a round house and square house greeted the contestants. The season featured the show’s first ‘walker’ after it’s very first official ‘controversy’.
From 2003:
Regina Sorensen
Status: Winner
Duration in House: 86 Days
Regina ‘Reggie’ Bird won Big Brother in 2003 and became the first female to do so in the show’s history. For a while there, it looked like she’d be the only one! With 72% of the vote, the largest winning margin of any Big Brother winner even to this date, she was no doubt the show’s most famous and well known winner. But with all that limelight shining down on her, it wasn’t always an easy ride for Reggie.
After winning Big Brother, Reggie went on to quit her fish & chip shop and ultimately, leave her husband Adrian. She worked in her ‘dream job’, Virgin Blue, as a flight attendant for about six months before quitting; she lost $40,000 to a conman and in 2008 suffered health scares such as an ectopic pregnancy and was diagnosed as legally blind.
But it wasn’t all bad, and Reggie continues to smile in Australian media. After winning, she worked on a television pilot, which unfortunately never made it to air. She competed on Nine’s Skating on Thin Ice in 2005 and was featured in newspaper The Mercury’s ‘Tassie’s Top 200’ list in 2007.
She has since gone on to discuss her eye condition with the media, including Sixty Minutes, and has done a lot to bring it to the attention to Australians.
She married her now husband Dale Sorensen and gave birth to a child, Mia.
In 2011, she was one of the housemates to return for A Current Affair’s Big Brother reunion. She has also been interviewed by Nine about her time in the house for promotional material for the upcoming season.
In 2012, she returned to the Big Brother house as an ‘unexpected guest’. The current batch of housemates were asked to ignore her as part of that week’s shopping task.
Chrissie Swan
Status: Runner-Up
Duration in House: 86 Days
As Reggie was the most famous winner, Chrissie Swan has also become the most well-known runner up. Runners-Up usually do well, but Chrissie has done REALLY well. Soon after leaving Big Brother, Chrissie did the traditional radio-hopping gigs, working with the likes of Ian Dickson, Mark Holden and Dave O’Neil before landing it big as one of the co-hosts of Ten’s morning show, The Circle.
The job also allowed her to have a bigger present in the television media, also appearing on shows such as The Project. During her time on The Circle, Chrissie also gave birth to two children, Leo and Kit, with her partner Chris.
She was only on the show for a short while before she was nominated for Most Popular New Female Talent, Most Popular TV Presenter and the Gold Logie at the 2011 Logie Awards. She won the award for Most Popular New Female Talent.
In 2011, she quit The Circle to spend more time with her family and continue her work in radio. She currently presents Breakfast radio with Jane Hall on Mix 1011.
Joanna Ashton
Status: Ninth Place
Duration in House: 49 Days
Jo Ashton was most known for her high eviction vote after Australia booted her out with a record 86% of the public vote. Stirring up the male housemates did her no favours, but what she did afterwards with her fame was quite extraordinary.
Going from the most hated housemate in Australia, she became one of the first of a long line of Big Brother housemates to go on to pose in men mags. But compared to some of the shoots of latter contestants, Jo came across as more of a model than a ‘babe’, and continued to star in print media, even after her move to the Gold Coast.
In 2008, she had a moderately public wedding with long-time boyfriend Ross Hams. This was due to their extravagant wedding, which involved a stylish horse-drawn carriage! She sold the story to New Idea, and I assume the marriage is still going strong!
Ben Archbold
Status: Eleventh Place
Duration in House: 36 Days
Big Brother 2003 was a year for firsts- first female winner, first female runner up, first Big Brother ‘babe’, and now, first Big Brother villain! Ben was confronted by Chrissie quite infamously within the house due to his treatment of fellow housemates.
Since leaving Big Brother, he has become a solicitor and worked on a high profile 2011 case when he was called in to help fugitive Rebecca Michels. Not bad for a former senior constable!
Other Notables:
Belinda Thorpe (Walked)
Belinda Thorpe is best known as the only non-celebrity housemate to have walked from the game. It came shortly after she let loose some very private information surrounding her family and a serious crime. Thought it’d be good to mention her as she does form a big part of Big Brother history- but since leaving, all we know is that she returned to her former life as a hairdresser.
BIG BROTHER AUSTRALIA 2004
After the ratings success of Big Brother 2003, it would have been foolish for TEN not to have renewed the show for a fourth season- and little did they know what they were about to do! An incorrect eviction, an on-stage proposal, a silent campaign taking place during an eviction and a cool $1,000,000 made Big Brother 2004 a season to remember.
It all began with the twist- the winner would receive $750,000 more than any winner before them. We saw some big note housemates enter- Paul, Fitzy, Bree, Merlin and many more; all of whom are still very well-known based purely on their first name (and, of course, their nickname in some cases). So there was no shortage of entertainment.
Half way through the season, Wesley was evicted; only that Bree left the house! Yep, an eviction mess-up of cringeworthy proportions! Cringeworthy for the vote-counter- awesome entertainment for us and juicy gossip for the tabloids. The result was soon rectified. But it wasn’t the only eviction show to cause quite a stir- Merlin was evicted wearing tape around his mouth and a makeshift sign saying ‘Free The Refugees’ (though the ‘E’ in ‘THE’ was missing, but you get the drift!). It was cringeworthy viewing…for EVERYONE! But we loved it, and it is one of the most infamous moments of Big Brother history to this date.
Trevor Butler won, and upon doing so, proposed to his girlfriend Breea. Since the season concluded, many contestants have actually gone on to long lasting success.
Here are just a few of them.
From 2004:
Trevor Butler
Status: Winner
Duration in House: 86 Days
Trevor Butler must be one of the most deserving winners of them all. His proposal on stage to girlfriend Breea topped off an amazing season for the Broken Hill alum. He was fun, cheerful, and got along with everyone without having to fence sit.
Since leaving Big Brother, his massive $1m earnings, the ATO allegedly wanted to take half of his earnings away as ‘payment’ for his time in the house. This didn’t occur.
Trevor has remained married to Breea since tying the knot soon after the finale, and have a child, Maika. They currently live in Tweed Heads.
He appeared on Nine’s weight loss show, Celebrity Overhaul, where he lost 15kg.
He made a guest appearance on ABC’s 2007 hit, Summer Heights High.
Trevor made appearances at both the finale of Big Brother 2008 with former winners, and the ACA Big Brother ten year reunion in 2011. He also made an appearance in this year’s Housemate Hunt.
In 2012, he returned to the Big Brother house as an ‘unexpected guest’. The current batch of housemates were asked to ignore him as part of that week’s shopping task.
Bree Amer
Status: Runner-Up
Duration in House: 85 Days
Bree Amer is still one of the most well-known housemates to come out of Big Brother, and is one of only a select few housemates to have returned to co-host Big Brother segments in later seasons. Bree had a bumper season- incorrectly evicted, thrown back in again, and later becoming a runner up- it was hard not to know who Bree was.
After leaving Big Brother, Bree signed up to host Big Brother Friday Night Live for the 2005 season, with fellow housemate Ryan Fitzgerald and narrator Mike Goldman. She held that position until the show was cancelled, with the series, in 2008. With this trio, she did other television work. She appeared as host of 2006’s Friday Night Games, co-host of 2007-2008’s Friday Night Download, and even co-hosted Big Brother UpLate in 2007 on Sunday’s with Mike Goldman.
She also made appearances in Celebrity Joker Poker, and did a few photo shoots here and there. There was also a rumour she’d be hosting Australia’s So You Think You Can Dance. Obviously, that never occurred.
She co-hosted TEN’s New Year’s Eve 2006 coverage with Big Brother host Gretel Killeen, Daniel MacPherson and other personalities.
Bree also had a thyroid cancer scare after a doctor picked it up while watching Big Brother in 2006.
In 2005, she returned to Big Brother to compete in the final Friday Night Live as part of the All-Stars team with fellow contestants Paul Dyer, Ryan Fitzgerald and Wesley Dening.
Bree Amer is now contracted to Seven in a behind-the-scenes role.
Paul Dyer
Status: Third Place
Duration in House: 85 Days
When you think of the stereotypical Big Brother housemate, you may think of ‘Aussie Bogan/larrikin’, right? Well, that may be because of this guy. Paul was as bogan as you could get- and thank God! This made him watchable, and why we voted him in third! His biggest controversy was his bust up with Merlin, where he accused Merlin of being un-Australian because he wasn’t an Australian citizen. He had a point, but the key is conveyance!
Since leaving the house, he made appearances on Big Brother UpLate, The UpLate Game Show and Big Brother’s Big Mouth, all ranging from 2005-2008.
His biggest venture was his move to radio- he now co-hosts The B-Team on Geelong’s K-ROCK radio station.
A bit of a trivial fact, before Big Brother, he appeared on 2002’s reality show, The Club. His nickname is ‘chicken’, however I can never remember him being called that while in the house.
In 2005, he returned to Big Brother to compete in the All-Stars team for the final Friday Night Live.
In 2008, he returned to Big Brother again as a co-host of Big Brother’s Big Mouth. His role was reduced to ‘regular guest’ for unapparent reasons soon after.
Ryan Fitzgerald
Status: Fourth Place
Duration in House: 83 Days
Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald, also known as ‘Fryzy’, was another one of those stereotypical bogans Australia grew to love. One part of the Massive Loser Squad (MLS, the shirt he wore over it caused controversy over whether or not he did a deal with BB to promote his brand), Fitzy won the public over with his humorous spin on everyday topics.
We didn’t love him enough to vote him winner- but he’s definitely a winner in metaphorical terms.
He joined Bree Amer and Mike Goldman for Big Brother Friday Night Live, which, along with the other two, he hosted until the end. He too also hosted Friday Night Games and Download.
He’s most known for his work with the Nova Radio Network. He co-hosted a morning show on Adelaide’s Nova 91.9, before entering the national drive home show with Wippa.
He married his fiancée, BJ Irons in 2008 and they both have a son, Hewston, who was born in 2009.
He also had the nifty job of opening the Rundle Lantern in Adelaide, alongside then-SA premier, Mike Rann.
He had a fleeting run on Nine’s Between The Lines game show, has made regular appearances on The Project and The Circle; co-hosts Before The Game and regularly plays in the EJ Whitten legends game.
In 2005, he returned to Big Brother to compete in the All-Stars team for the final Friday Night Live.
In 2012, he returned to the Big Brother house as an ‘unexpected guest’. The current batch of housemates were asked to ignore him as part of that week’s shopping task.
Wesley Dening
Status: Eighth Place
Duration in House: 68 Days
Like many contestants from BB04, Wesley is one of the most well-known of the batch! He was infamously ‘the correct’ evictee during the show’s incorrect eviction, and has gone on to great things since.
His first venture was a stint on some of Brisbane’s radio stations- including Triple M and B105. He was an ambassador for Tourism Queensland and became a recipient of the Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship.
He co-hosted Totally Wild from 2004 until recently. He was nominated for the Graham Kennedy award for Best New Talent at the 2006 Logie Awards.
In 2007, he was a holiday sports presenter for Ten News Brisbane, hosted a national TEN program, Kick2Kick, and in 2008, was one of the presenters for TEN’s New Year’s Eve coverage.
He was a celebrity chef on Ready Steady Cook, a reporter for the AFL and ANZ Ladies Masters, and a guest on shows such as Rove Live, 9am with David & Kim, Toasted TV and Scope- which he also co-hosted at times.
He featured prominently in commercials, and also co-hosted two TEN documentaries- Spirit of the Outback and Ghosts of the Gulf.
In 2009, Wes began his venture in the US market. He has presented on US Network truTV. Hosted the StarQuest International Performing Arts Competition, hosted The Smoking Gun Presents: World’s Dumbest (Also on truTV), and returned to Australia to form WD Entertainment Group, responsible for the 2010 Fox8 series, The Stafford Brothers- which has gone on to produce 2 seasons.
He also hosts and public speaks at various events. In 2005, he returned to Big Brother to compete in the All-Stars team in the final Friday Night Live.
Other Notables
Catherine Tremolada (Fifth Place)
Didn’t go on to do a whole lot, but interesting to note, when Bree Amer had her cancer- the doctor who watched Big Brother in 2006 and then went on to diagnose it as such, was able to tell Bree through Catherine, who was one of his clients.
Merlin Luck (Twelfth Place)
Merlin was most famous for his protest onstage during his eviction, where he did not speak, taped his mouth up with gaffa tape, and held up a sign that said ‘Free The Refugees’. He went on to write about this incident, and other topics related to refugees in Australia, for people like ‘Crikey’.
Aphrodite Vuitton (Sixteenth Place)
Aphrodite may have only spent two weeks in the house, but she has tried to make her fame more worthwhile. She has had expensive cosmetic surgery, a story in which she sold to New Idea. She also appeared on Good Morning Australia and Rove Live. She also had a role as ‘Fiona’ in the 2005 film Australian Pie, alongside Ed Kavalee and Jo Ashton.
BIG BROTHER AUSTRALIA 2005
After such a formidable year in 2004, Big Brother was determined to continue their winning streak and get it right for its fifth season. While it may not have lived up to the ratings hype of its former years (and really, it still did pretty well), it was probably the one season that actually conquered the seemingly impossible task of ‘reinventing’ the brand…and in a good way.
Because this year, Big Brother WAS different. New logo, updated theme music and new feel aside, this season’s twists were considered some of the best in the show’s history; so much so they were used again in later editions. The fining system, where $5,000 was taken out of the contestant’s prize fund every time they broke the rules was genius, and is my personal favourite twist of all time.
Then there was the twin-swap task. A set of twins, the Logans, were brought in as ‘imposters’. One would enter the house one day, and then they would swap the next. It wasn’t long until they were figured out, but it didn’t stop them winning the grand prize.
There was also the addition of Friday Night Live, the rewards room and the three point twist, where a housemate could take three points off of a housemate up for eviction.
Lastly, there were the evictions of those contestants who said they were single, but were not. It was against the rules to be dating someone when entering this year, but in hindsight, it was a pretty lame excuse to evict two housemates! Anyway, they weren’t very good anyway.
As mentioned, the Logans won this season, but left a plethora of stars; such as Hotdogs and Tim, in their wake. Love it or hate it, chances are you know a contestant from BB05.
It was a year to ‘Assume Nothing and Expect Everything’. So what did the unsuspecting housemates do next?
From 2005:
Greg Mathew (& David Mathew as the ‘Logan twins’)
Status: Winner
Duration in House: 100 Days
When the twins first entered the house, little did they know they would be a part of one of the show’s biggest twists of all time. David & Greg were identical twins (well, they still are), and they were set with a very important task. Only one contestant was allowed in the house at a time. Every day, the contestants would swap, and they only had 30 seconds to give each other vital information because the brother that was not in the house, had no idea what was going on! Technically, they pulled it off quite well. Had it not been for one of them slicing their arm open on a broken window, the contestants would never have guessed.
The brothers were a hit, and they went on to win the season, becoming the first (and only) set of twins to do so. Greg Mathew however, was the reason behind the success. David was evicted earlier on in the game.
After their time in the house, the brothers prepared to go on a north pole expedition in 2006. After completing the task of becoming the first twins to trek to the region, they had their trip aired on Big Brother UpLate in 2006.
In 2011, Greg Mathew became the new licensee of Fanny’s Nightclub in Newcastle’s King Street Hotel.
The twins returned to Big Brother in 2008 to be a part of the final night, and in 2011, joined fellow contestants at the ACA Big Brother ten year reunion.
Tim Brunero
Status: Runner-Up
Duration in House: 100 Days
‘Tiny’ Tim Brunero entered the house as the resident ‘geek’; but it was a moniker he wouldn’t wear for long. Soon into his time in the house, he developed a crush on Kate, and began to beef up under the inspiration of the other male housemates. He soon became ‘Titanium Tim’ and won over Australia, so much so he became the runner up for the season.
Tim went on to do quite good things. He became a writer for magazine and newspaper articles, and was a writer for The Chaser website. He has had many radio gigs, most recently one in Adelaide.
He hosted the award winning community television series, Dare I Ask, in 2009, but before that in 2008, he returned to Big Brother as Co-host of Big Brother’s Big Mouth.
In 2011, he attended the ACA Ten Year Big Brother reunion where he revealed his time in the house was set up by the Chaser boys, who were surprised he made it as far as he did.
Simon ‘Hotdogs’ Deering
Status: Tenth Place
Duration in House: 64 Days
As I write this, I wonder what the reception will be when they realise Hotdogs is included on this list! Simon ‘Hotdogs’ Deering was pretty much well-known for one thing- his name. Hotdogs. Who’d call themselves that?
Well, since leaving Big Brother, Hotdogs went on to host The UpLate Game Show for Network Ten, which turned out to be quite a long running venture.
Last I heard, he was living with Vesna- however something tells me that arrangement just isn’t meant to work.
Other Notables:
Vesna Tosevska (Third Place)
Vesna was Big Brother’s most popular intruder (as opposed to Most Successful intruder, which goes to Rachel Corbett). When she exited in third place, Vesna was already known for her hot temper, lack of inhibitions and quirky stories.
She podcasted some thoughts she had on the show in 2007 on her MySpace website. In the same year, she was nabbed twice for drink driving. She was also known for getting into the men’s magazine circuit soon after Big Brother. She was one of many reality television contestants to take part in the Nova Reality TV Reunion show in 2010.
Heath Tournier (Eleventh Place)
Another intruder, Heath got up to a few things since his brief stint on the show. He was involved in a violent pub brawl in Torquay, before appearing as a plumber in Neighbours in 2008. He had four lines- so not as many as Blair!
BIG BROTHER AUSTRALIA 2006
By the time Big Brother aired its sixth season in 2006, it had already been a bonefide hit for five previous seasons. Surely a show like this would be fatigued and begin to drop? No. In fact, ratings rose for this season, and as did the calibre of the contestant’s personalities.
It was the year of the SAVE/EVICT vote, where for the first time ever, viewers could vote to either save or evict a housemate up for eviction.
It was also the year of the mole. With so many housemates claiming they’d do anything to be on Big Brother, BB himself tested that theory and made Michael McCoy his resident mole, making him perform tasks from eating a pack of Tim Tams to throwing water over someone’s mattress to getting himself nominated.
Lastly, it was the year of the Revenge Room. In 2004, Big Brother UK created a ‘bedsit’ twist which involved two evicted housemates entering a see-all room where they could watch their housemates every move, and perform pranks on them. The contestants were volatile and when they re-entered the house, a massive fight erupted leading to the expulsion of one housemate, a police investigation and a security beef-up. Why then Big Brother Australia tried this task, knowing full well what could happen, is beyond me! Luckily it wasn’t as controversial, but it showed what lengths the show would go to dig up some controversy.
Speaking of, it was an incident on this season that is blamed for the downfall of Big Brother in Australia. The infamous ‘turkey slap’ saw two male housemates ejected, the cancellation of Big Brother Adults Only and a heavily censored show to come.
Oh, and two more twists this season (I know; overload!)- the punishment room was introduced this year and another couple (mother Karen and daughter Krystal) entered the house!
This year uncovered several stars- such as Jamie, Camilla, Krystal and David. So what did they get up to post-BB?
From 2006:
Jamie Brooksby
Status: Winner
Duration in House: 100 Days
Jamie Brooksby was a fan favourite from the get go. A hit with the ladies and easily relatable to the men, Jamie won over the nation, who crowned him winner of the sixth season of Big Brother. After Big Brother, his relationship with Katie hardly went anywhere, and the pair split up soon after.
His biggest publicity stunt was spending 24 hours in a Myer Melbourne window as part of a Bonds underwear promotion.
Jamie returned for the 2008 finale of Big Brother, however has done little since this time.
Camilla Severi
Status: Runner-Up
Duration in House: 100 Days
Camilla Severi, well, where do we start. One of my personal favourites, I see her as the personification of Big Brother 6. Camilla was one of a kind. A no-nonsense hot tempered yet easily upsettable and caring housemate, I don’t think she could have flown under the radar even if she wanted to.
She holds the very nerve-racking title of Most Nominated Housemate. Officially, she faced eviction ten times. Add onto that one other time she nearly faced eviction had it not been for Jamie taking three points off of her as part of his winning prize from Friday Night Live one week, but Camilla was also evicted by her own housemates in week one in a fake eviction.
She was one of two housemates to enter the Revenge Room. There, she watched her housemate’s every move and played pranks on them. She returned soon after and made it to the final 2, narrowly missing out on the win by the closest margin of the time.
Since leaving, Camilla has been most well-known for her circuit of the radio industry. She joined B105 as part of the breakfast team with Labby & Stav where she remained until the end of 2011. During that time, she gave birth to a boy, Charlie, with her boyfriend Glen Krohn.
In one of her worst moves yet, she defected to Nova for 2012 but was subsequently dumped after a month on air, blaming backlash from listeners for her declining listenership.
She has since joined Koffee as the brand’s face and ambassador, and presents a weekly morning show.
David Graham
Status: Third Place
Duration in House: 99 Days
Since leaving Big Brother as the first (main) openly gay contestants on the show, David has gone on to quite a few things. Due to the twist that saw viewers allowed to either vote to save or evict housemates, David came third having received more save votes than evict. This is because Jamie, who he was facing, received more. That man he embraced during his eviction show, Sherif, is no long his boyfriend. He has now met someone named Michael, and in 2011, they planned to marry in New York, where gay marriage is legal.
On another personal note, David was also involved in a 2010 parachute accident where ‘high winds’ caused him to crash, breaking a leg and crushing his hand. It ‘shattered’ his dream of becoming a crisis rescue paramedic according to News Limited, but his doctor seemed to state in the article that there was a chance he could resume training if recuperation went well.
But to television matters, and his homosexuality caught the nation’s eye, and he became quite the ambassador for the sexual orientation in Australia. His stories were aired on shows such as Australian Story, and his courage when he came out on Big Brother is probably the hardest hitting emotional scene of the entire series.
David competed on Network Ten’s special, Australia’s Brainiest Big Brother Australia 2006 Housemate, and won the show. He also competed on the sixth season of Dancing With The Stars in 2007, placing fifth.
He continues to be seen on television- interviewed as part of ACA’s Big Brother Ten Year Reunion last year.
Krystal Forscutt
Status: Sixth Place
Duration in House: 92 Days
Being a promotional model before entering the house, with none other than her hippy MOTHER, Krystal had all the makings for success. Unfortunately, she made it no further than sixth, but provided a lot of entertainment, especially for the boys! Her fake breasts were noted quite often in the media, most probably because hers were the first to be openly stated as such. Rove McManus made quite a funny joke about them when interviewing her post-show.
After leaving the house, she featured as a contestant on Seven’s It Takes Two. She was eliminated second in the show’s second season.
She went on to appear in magazines such as Zoo Weekly, FHM and Ralph, and she actually made quite a popular name for herself through these…in a good way! This helped her propel her own modelling career which has since led her to bigger things.
She appeared in the video game, Need For Speed: ProStreet as a starting girl in one of the races, making her the first Australian to appear in the franchise.
She has done a bit of television work since as well. She appeared in a 2008 episode of Packed To The Rafters and on The Matty Johns Show. She also had a role in the music video Guns & Guitars. She also apparently pursued a career in Hollywood, but has since relocated to Melbourne.
She had a brief stint in music, as part of the girl group, Video Girl, but their plans for a 2011 music release was cut short.
Relationships she has been involved with include one with record producer Sergio Faid, a relationship which lasted from 2008 to 2010.
On August 4, Forscutt became engaged to Neil Hipwell, a gym owner. Forscutt herself is now working as a personal trainer and helps manage her fiancée’s gym, Newlife Health Club. She has decided to ‘ditch’ her bikini model image.
Danielle Foote
Status: Sixteenth Place
Duration in House: 27 Days
While Danielle hasn’t done too much since going on Big Brother, she debuted a song, Underneath The Radar’ on the ARIA charts, which peaked at #41, which for this stage in the show’s life was a pretty big achievement for a housemate.
She performed the single on the final night of Big Brother Australia 2006.
She is signed with Brisbane based Secret Days music label since we last heard from her.
Other Notables:
Claire Madden (Seventh Place)
Since leaving Big Brother, Claire had a relationship with winner Jamie’s brother, Jon, and are apparently still seeing each other. She produced a wildlife documentary in 2007 and was named an ambassador for several wildlife sanctuaries. She has her own website, zoogirlclaire.com, which has seemingly been taken down.
Gaelan Walker (Tenth Place)
Gaelan was most well-known for his odd name, Gaelan. But since leaving Big Brother, he has starred in cameo roles on show such as The Wedge (as character Lucy’s boyfriend) and Offspring.
Ashley Cox & John Bric (Both really named Michael, Ejected)
Look, these guys obviously haven’t had much limelight since their infamous turkey slapping days in the Big Brother House (which made up a minute portion of their time and was severely overhyped), but since leaving many reports have backed up their choice to remain out of sight and out of mind of the show with John even hinting a return to his homeland Brazil.
Katie Hastings (Fifteenth Place)
Since leaving Big Brother, she continued her relationship with Jamie for a little while before separating from him. She, along with Jamie, did appear in a Myer window where Jamie was living for 24-hours as a Bonds publicity stunt.
In 2007, she appeared in an episode of Kath & Kim as a butcher apprentice for Kel.
Michael McCoy (Nineteenth Place)
One of Big Brother’s most controversial housemates, Michael was involved in a publicised brawl with a student not long after leaving the house, but he was not charged. Michael most notably called out host Rove McManus on his chat show Rove Live, for not including expelled housemates Ashley & John on the panel of ex-housemates joining him on the show.
BIG BROTHER AUSTRALIA 2007
After the controversial sixth season, it came as some surprise that Big Brother was to return for a seventh season in 2007. The season saw the return of the save/evict vote, secret couples (though instead of one couple- there was one couple, and a housemate who was one of the couple member’s ex) and the Friday Night Twist which was now enhanced to take the form of a ‘Save and Replace’ twist where one housemate (the FNL winner) was able to take one housemate off of the nominations block completely, and replace them with someone else.
The season also introduced two other twists- the white room, where four contestants were housed for a week with the room’s bland design and blaring lights intended to drive three of them out. In the end, Demet, Cruz, Harrison and Kara made it to the end of the week, and were later enticed to leave the room through a chain of tasks, leaving Demet as the winner.
The show’s other twist was the depletion of the prize money- which could be earned back based on the housemate’s performance in tasks.
This year saw the show’s second female winner crowned, Aleisha. She won with just 51% of the vote (less than 200 votes separated her from the runner up) against the first ever intruder-to-make-it-to-the-finale, Zach Douglas.
The show suffered ratings decline due to a raft of reasons. Fans usually blame the amount of censorship to come out of the show after ACMA put pressure on Ten to do so after last year’s turkey slap incident.
This was the last season UpLate aired. Bree Amer joined this season for a brand new Sunday Night edition.
This was the last season to be hosted by Gretel Killeen; the dumping of whom had to be Big Brother’s worst mistake of all.
From 2007:
Aleisha Cowcher
Status: Winner
Duration in House: 100 Days
Anyone who watched the seventh season would have known there weren’t too many housemates that were worth watching (unless you’re me or a select few who think this season actually produced a wonderful selection of housemates. Aleisha was one contestant everyone could love. Her bubbly blonde personality was a sure-fire way to get her evicted, especially when the girls of this season dropped like flies. Still, she defied the odds and became the first female Big Brother winner in 4 years.
Since then, Aleisha moved to Sydney with fellow housemate Emma Cornell but later moved to Melbourne. Between then, she appeared in many photo shoots. In Melbourne, she set up her own salon ‘Telleleish’ with her sister.
In a 2012 interview, she says she keeps in contact with Zach, Andrew and Emma and she hasn’t spent all her prize money because she is trying to buy a property.
Aleisha is also engaged, but it’s not to Billy whom she had a relationship with inside the house. Those two broke up after two years together.
Aleisha also made appearances at the 2008 Big Brother finale and the ACA Big Brother Ten Year Reunion.
Zach Douglas
Status: Runner-Up
Duration in House: 100 Days
Zach Douglas is best known for becoming the first and only intruder to make it to an Australian finale- and better yet, he almost won the show, losing out to Aleisha by less than 1 per cent.
His biggest claim to fame since leaving Big Brother was his short stint on 7HD show The NightCap where he was dumped after two episodes after offering advice on oral sex.
Other Notables:
Kris ‘Billy’ Bentley (Fourth Place)
Billy entered the house as Hayley’s ex-boyfriend in a plot by Big Brother to cause a stir (Hayley’s current boyfriend Andrew was also in the house). Since leaving the house, he continued a relationship with Aleisha for two years, but split due to personality differences. He also did a bit of modelling and appeared alongside Aleisha in a special Ready Steady Cook episode.
He now hosts morning radio show Billy & Bek with former Big Brother 2007 housemate Rebecca Dent.
Joel Scalzi (Sixth Place)
The loveable South Australian made it only to sixth place before being evicted. His father, Joe Scalzi is a politician and ran a highly publicised campaign to regain his seat of Hartley at the 2010 South Australian state election. He didn’t succeed but Joel did help in raising his awareness.
Daniela Da Silva Pola (Seventh Place)
Daniela was one of the first two intruders to enter the house. Since leaving, she’s done minor radio work including filling in for an episode of the Hot 30 Countdown, a job she raced to get causing her to be pulled over by police on her way to the station. She also appeared at the 2007 Perth Telethon as part of the panel.
Michelle Olsen (Eighth Place)
Another loveable bogan, Michelle entered the house with headlines claiming she’d shake it up. She sure did, but her time was a short one. When she left the house, she infamously hugged prime minister John Howard, a stern critic of the show. She is now a Zumba teacher apparently.
Jamie McDonald (Ninth Place)
‘I’m NOT crying!’ Sure you’re not Jamie, at least not any more. BB07’s self-confessed nerd was actually quite a go-getter before the show, having appeared in shows such as Secret Life of Us and video-game community show Level 3.
He now works for Super Radio Network and has been linked to Fairfax.
Andrew Temment (Eleventh Place) & Hayley Luscott (Seventeenth Place)
Well this is the couple who endured Big Brother with Hayley’s ex-boyfriend in the house! Unfortunately Big Brother’s curse had its toll on this couple, who split after the finale. Hayley blames Big Brother for ‘using’ their relationship.
Thomas Haynes (Tenth Place) Susannah Murray (Fifteenth Place)
Thomas & Susannah formed a relationship while in the house; however Susannah was actually seeing someone before entering. They are apparently still together and have lived together in Ultimo since 2008. Susannah’s ex-boyfriend blamed Big Brother for their relationship meltdown. In 2009, Sydney Confidential claimed the couple were experiencing ‘withdrawal symptoms’ since leaving the house.
Laura Clare (Twelfth Place)
The other intruder in the first intruder batch, Laura wasn’t well-known for being popular with the housemates, or the public. Since leaving the house, she took an unsuccessful stab at the modelling and singing scene. She was a noticeable absence at the 2007 Big Brother finale.
Rebecca Dent (Thirteenth Place)
Since leaving Big Brother, Rebecca landed a role on 99.5 Sea FM’s breakfast show Billy & Bec, with fellow housemate Billy Bentley. Before then, she also hosted a radio show in Gladstone, was part of Hot FM’s Marty & Bec Breakfast show and hosted Southern Cross Ten’s Landed Music.
Emma Cornell (Fourteenth Place)
Since Emma’s controversial eviction where she learned of her father’s passing, Emma returned to life in Sydney where she lived with winner Aleisha. She sold her story of her time in the Big Brother House and the controversy surrounding her father’s passing.
BIG BROTHER AUSTRALIA 2008
It was a new year for Big Brother- a fresh start, new hosts, new attitude and new personality. Radio jocks Kyle Sandilands (former Celebrity Big Brother housemate) and Jackie O (confessed Big Brother nerd) were signed up to host, the show got a new look and a truckload of twists and turns were implemented to spice up the show. The show also kept fan favourites such as Friday Night Live and all the hosts, and Sunday night eviction shows. It lost its Nominations show and launched Big Mouth, a concept that proved popular in the UK. On paper, it all looked so good- controversial hosts, controversial new take and a promise to bring back Big Brother as we loved it.
And hats off to them! At least someone did something- for by the time 2007 ended, Big Brother just became the same thing year after year. Unfortunately, it all didn’t go to plan.
Kyle & Jackie O were criticised from day one of hosting. The new theme package, including promotions, opening titles, look, font and eye all looked cheap. The twists fell flat in very versatile ways. Promised ‘snap evictions’ occurred maybe twice- once the evicted housemate came back, and the second saw the eviction of two of three housemates actually picked to enter by public voting.
Relatively good twists, such as the Housemate Hand Grenade, where evicted housemates could issue a reward or punishment to their remaining housemates, were unannounced or unpublicised, meaning they were hardly a drawcard.
The only good twist, where Nobbi was sent to the in-house combi to live out the rest of his stay on Big Brother, was one of the Housemate Hand Grenade results, and hence went relatively unnoticed.
There were more wannabe celebs entering the house than housemates themselves. Carson Kressley, Pamela Anderson and Peter Powers were just some of the guests.
In the end, Ten couldn’t even play out the entire season before announcing its cancellation. The show was not to return in 2009, and due to short notice, the end of Big Brother was quite thrown together with only two or three segments in the final show signalling a send-off.
Still, it saw the first and to this date only three-way finale, with Ben and Rory evicted on final night, lending the currently incumbent winning trophy to grandma Terri.
From 2008:
Terri Munro
Status: Winner
Duration in House: 80 Days
When Terri won the final season of Big Brother (at the time!), she became the third female and oldest housemate to win the show. Since leaving, there were rumours she wanted to spend her money on plastic surgery, but I doubt that is true.
She actually returned to life working at Coles, but did make an appearance at the Big Brother 2012 housemate hunt.
Travis Keyser
Status: Fifth Place
Duration in House: 84 Days
Travis was none for HIIIIISSSSS VOOOOIIIIIIICEEEEE! Which is lucky, because he is now a Radio Announcer in Broken Hill. He also planned a Euro trip with fellow housemate Brigitte, but I couldn’t find much info on this.
Michael Crafter
Status: Joint Eighteenth Place
Duration in House: 3 Days
Michael Crafter entered the house as a ‘Gatecrasher’- a housemate chosen by the public to enter. He only lasted 3 days before Terri voted him out! He was already well-known for his participation in the band, I Killed The Prom Queen.
Since leaving Big Brother his band has continued to produce music.
Other Notables:
Rory Ammon (Runner-Up)
Rory’s gotten up to no good since leaving the house. He was involved in a drunken Geelong pub brawl in 2010 and subsequently faced court for his actions. He is now banned from pubs in Geelong.
Nathan Strempel (Fifteenth-Place)
Since leaving Big Brother, Nathan worked in Adelaide at Life FM radio station and even hosted Xtreme Sports Hour on online television network Australia Live TV.
In Memoriam
Gordon Sloan (Big Brother Australia 2001, D. September 2007)
Gordon Sloan may not have lived in the house for very long, but being on the first season of all did him wonders! He became a ‘human shield’ in the Iraq War. In September 2007, Gordon went on a holiday to China. In Beijing on 13 September, Sloan died when he didn’t awake from a coma after a heroin overdose. Big Brother fans continue to mourn the loss of Gordon, a wonderful housemate.
Game show hostess Adriana Xenides, who competed on Celebrity Big Brother in 2002, also died on 7 June 2010 from a ruptured intestine.
So there we have it, from Ben to Terri and everyone in between, it seems even the smallest of characters can get somewhere on this show. So who will be next? Well, the brand new series of Big Brother Australia can’t come soon enough. Approximately 3 years too late in my opinion! The good news is, it’s going to be here in three short months!
Big Brother to me has a special place in my heart, as you’ve all probably read already. It’s the granddaddy of reality television shows. So it’s only natural that I have quite a few opinions of the show that I’d like to share with you. These will be expressed in posts to be made during the weeks leading up to the launch night.
So, if you’re a Big Brother lover, keep it here with Throng as we divulge all the need-to-know news.
Big Brother Australia 2012 launches TONIGHT, 7PM on Nine!
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