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Big Brother series 7, broadcast in the United Kingdom (at Elstree Studios) in 2006, is the seventh season of the popular Big Brother reality television series. Shown on Channel 4 from May 18, 2006 to August 18, 2006, it is the longest series yet at thirteen weeks long. The series has been criticised by many different organisations for the introduction of a man with Tourette syndrome to the house and disallowing, for a short period, contestants to speak in Welsh. On the opening night, the programme obtained a peak audience of 8.1 million viewers, one million greater than the previous year's show.

The show's format is unchanged from previous years. A number of contestants (known as "housemates") live in a purpose-built house, totally isolated from the rest of the world. Each week, one is evicted from the house, by way of a public vote. The final housemate to leave wins the grand prize of £100,000.

Companion shows Big Brother's Big Mouth and Big Brother's Little Brother are retained this series, with the addition of Big Brother's Big Brain (a psychology show), hosted by Dermot O'Leary. Live action (with a 15-minute delay) is available by pressing the red button on E4. On Freeview this will be removed in mid-July and replaced with FilmFour.

Housemates

Of the seventeen housemates introduced into the house, fourteen entered on the launch night. This is greater than previous years. Due to the departures of Shahbaz and Dawn, two new housemates — Sam and Aisleyne — were introduced as part of the Meal or No Meal task.

Following the departure of George, there is some speculation about the possibility of another new housemate, sent in with the Golden Ticket winner on Day 23.

This series overall has seen the largest number of housemates to leave without eviction, with three so far, beating the third series, where two housemates walked out and the fifth series, in which two were ejected.

Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace

Aisleyne (born 28 December 1978) is a 27-year-old model and promotions girl from London, who entered on Day 12 as a prize won during the Meal or No Meal task in week 2. She sparked bitching among Imogen, Grace, and Sezer who vowed to give her a hard time in the house. Grace has since called her a "ghetto hoe" and a "wigger", claiming that Aisleyne wants to be black. Aisleyne also upset Mikey when she said she didn't miss Sezer after his eviction.

Bonnie Holt

Bonnie Holt (born February 1986), the first housemate to enter, is a 20-year-old care worker from Loughborough, working with sufferers of Down's syndrome. With a brother, Clyde, and sister, Lara, she is known for her strong Loughborough accent. The first evictee, she was evicted on Day 9 with 78% of the vote.

During the week after her eviction, Big Brother's Little Brother had a "Bonnie's View on Everyfin and Everyfin" section, the title being based on Bonnie's rap in her audition tape. In this section, Bonnie tells the viewers her opinions on various institutions and events; including one section on the Monarchy where she wholeheartedly gave her support of "monks and that".

Dawn Blake

Dawn is a 38-year-old exercise scientist from Birmingham, who thinks people are "shit". She claims to be the great great granddaughter of poet William Blake, though William Blake had no children. In her audition for the show Dawn claimed that she thinks Gandhi, Bob Geldof and Mother Theresa are nice people and everyone else is a bastard. Similar to almost all the housemates, her personality in the house seems to differ greatly from her personality in her audition tape. On entry to the house, she claimed that if she were to be reincarnated, she would want to come back as either Jesus or Adolf Hitler.

Dawn was ejected from the house after a coded communication with the outside world, thereby breaking one of the fundamental rules of Big Brother. Dawn told Big Brother about this rule-breaking when they were reluctant to let her leave the house, thus forcing them to remove her. When called to the diary room to be informed of her ejection, she consistently talked over Big Brother in order to emphasise that in her view she was not removed, but left voluntarily, which made sense given that she had received her coded message to leave the house. During her time in the house Dawn was subject to accusations by fellow housemate Nikki of causing a BO epidemic in the house's towels and clothes; however, Dawn did not find out about this during her stay in the house. When she was ejected from the house she said "Shut Up!" 37 times. An extended version of the conversation, shown later, revealed that she had calmly asked to leave voluntarily before this tirade.

George Askew

George is a 19-year-old student from London, whose friends include Princess Beatrice of York and Sam Sangster (son of the race-horse owner). A former student at Ludgrove School (he was there at the same time as Prince William and Prince Harry), he went onto the prestigious Harrow School. George is the son of a former private secretary to the Prince of Wales. He is a great-grandson of the 4th Earl of Ellesmere (through his paternal grandmother, Lady Susan Askew) and his great-uncle was the 6th Duke of Sutherland. One of his father's cousins married into the Bowes-Lyon family, Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and so it has been claimed he is linked to Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.

On Day 13, George left the Big Brother house. He had told Grace his intentions earlier and she could not persuade him to stay. Before leaving he told Big Brother in the Diary Room: "My reason for leaving the Big Brother house is the thought of fame and how I would like to continue my private life - and fame is too much for me."

Glyn Wise

Glyn (born 9 January 1988) is an 18-year-old and the self-proclaimed "Sexiest Lifeguard in North Wales" and nudist from Blaenau Ffestiniog in Gwynedd. He entered the house in his lifeguard attire complete with buoyancy aid. His first language is Welsh and told Big Brother in the Diary Room that being in the house is improving his English. Despite the relatively high regard with which Glyn seems to hold himself and his physical appearance, he has achieved little success with the female members of the house (aside from receiving a lap dance from 35-year-old Lea). He is the most intelligent housemate according to an intelligence test which all the housemates sat.

Grace Adams-Short

Grace (born 1985) is a 20-year-old dance teacher from Plymouth but now living in London. A self-confessed Sloane Ranger. Grace has been getting close to both Mikey and George in particular, and it was disputed both in and outside of the house as to which one she will "pair up" with, until George left. While in the house, she stated that she would not model for Nuts or Zoo but would for something like FHM. She also claimed she would not pose topless due to her job. Her time in the house heralded a number of exposes on her life, including claims that she was a childhood bully, and a failed pop star

Imogen Thomas

Imogen (born November 1982) is a 23-year-old bar hostess and former beauty queen from Llanelli, South Wales. She was Miss Wales in 2003. Imogen claims to have had sexual relations with Manchester United footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and former Manchester United footballer Dwight Yorke, with whom she reportedly finished the relationship because "he was no longer famous enough". Whilst he was in the house, Imogen spent most of her time with Sezer, and although the two shared several kisses, she never shared a bed.

After the third week, she had still not nominated once. The first week she did not vote because she was put in the Big Brotherhood. In the second and third weeks, she was banned from nominating after discussing nomination tactics, breaching one of the fundamental rules of Big Brother.

Lea Walker

Lea is a 35-year-old single mother and model from Nottingham, who has spent £35,000 on plastic surgery, raising funds by selling her house, and claims she now has the largest breast implants in the UK, wearing a UK bra size of 30M. Lea has also appeared in the TV series Plastic Surgery Ruined my Wife, where her boyfriend, Tigertailz bass player Gregg Russell complained she was now receiving too much attention. She revealed to the housemates that she has taken part in two pornographic films.

She gave Glyn a lap dance on day 8 which he visibly enjoyed and has formed a great bond with fellow housemate Richard, and she was given the affectionate nickname "Dolly" by him.

Lisa Huo

Lisa (born January 4 1979) is a Chinese 27-year-old upholsterer from Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester. She speaks some Shanghainese, and lived in Shanghai, China until she was two. She initially developed a good relationship with the majority of the housemates due to her outgoing nature, particularly with Pete. However, she did offend Bonnie and Sezer when she claimed she didn't like them, in the diary room, which was broadcast to the other housemates. As week 3 progressed, Lisa's friendship with Pete began to deteriorate, as he made it clear he only liked her as a friend, she appeared to take pleasure in torturing and killing insects, something that upset Pete greatly and led to an angry confrontation. She also later became offended when Pete failed to list her as a reference on his CV. Pete nominated Lisa for eviction in the third weeks nominations.

She has become well known for her heavy Manchester accent and frequent use of the words "alright", "mint" and, in particular "fuck".

She has admitted to fancying Pete (with whom she platonically shared a double bed until Pete decided to move to one of the newly vacant single beds in the evening of Day 20). She also declared that she never cries, but has shed tears on more than one occassion in the house.

Mikey Dalton

Mikey (born 1983) is a 23-year-old Iranian Liverpudlian software developer and model whose activities in the house have been so far been dominated by flirtatious activity with both Imogen and Grace. His video package at the start saw him claim that he dislikes feminists and believes that women and men are not equal, which bought him a negative reaction from the crowd. Despite these claims, this side of his personality has not been seen in the house and Mikey has been a fairly reserved housemate.

Nikki Grahame

Nikki (born April 1982) is a 24-year-old model, dancer and aspiring footballer's wife.

Nikki has been known to become emotional at the slightest provocation, though this became more severe as the second week began. Her grievances ranged from a lack of male attention, to the cramped nature of the house, to missing her friends and family, to not being provided with her £16 make-up remover or her clothes. On the first night in the house, Nikki was upset because Big Brother refused to provide her with bottled water and she refused to drink the twice-filtered tap water (although this could be attributed to the fact that Nikki struggled with anorexia from an early age. Nikki also demonstrated a distinct lack of aptitude in cooking food (she allowed a wok containing only olive oil to burn) while criticising a meal prepared for the house by Grace.

It is largely for these reasons that Nikki commands little respect among most of her other housemates. The members that have not criticised her directly about her naïvety have readily done so in secret.

Nikki received four nominations and faces eviction from the Big Brother House on Friday 9 June, the third week of compulsory evictions.

Pete Bennett

Pete (born 1982), second housemate to enter, is a 24-year-old rock and roll singer from Brighton, who has Tourette syndrome. His band, Daddy Fantastic, claim to be influenced by Jimi Hendrix and Scooby Doo. According to a report in the Sunday Mirror, Daddy Fantastic is named due to Pete's partiality to BDSM. Pete's most prized possession is a teddy bear given to him as a birthday present by Robert Smith, lead singer of The Cure, who is a friend of Pete's mother Anne.

There is ambiguity over Pete's surname. Some claim that it's "Bennett" and some that it's Stephenson. His name is Bennett but his mother is Mrs Stephenson, having remarried . During a conversation with Aisleyne, he said that he too had a double-barrelled name, which explains the discrepancies.

In a pool-side conversation on Day 22, after a curious Richard questioned Pete regarding his heavy London accent, Pete revealed that he had grown up in London and moved to Brighton "about five years ago". (When Richard asked why, Pete replied "Coz it's wicked!")

The bookies have placed Pete as the favourite to win since the beginning of the series.' The housemates themselves also agree that he is the most likely to win.

Richard Newman

Richard (born 1972) is a 33-year-old gay Canadian, and self-styled "sexual terrorist". He has taken on the role of the "father figure" in the house according to former fellow housemate George. He is also something of an "agony uncle" and is always giving advice to other housemates. He taught Glyn how to wash his clothes. Richard says that he has a preference for 'big, dumb men' and his ideal weekend away would be spent in prison.

According to the shouting test, he is the loudest housemate. He once referred to Imogen as "dull, boring and plastic". Although he has tried to portray himself as caring for the other housemates, he led the group in sending Shahbaz to Coventry.

Sam Brodie

Born as a male in 1987, Sam is a 19-year-old half Indonesian half Scottish cross-dresser from Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland, and is an unemployed nail technician. Sam entered on Day 12 as a prize for Meal or No Meal. Although not having had a sex-change operation, Davina revealed on the live programming that Sam prefers to be referred to as a female. Sam revealed to the housemates to being biologically male on the same night as entering the house, and said they could act however they wish. Imogen took a liking to the new housemate, informing Sezer he should refer to Sam as a "she" as wanted. Sam appears to have insomnia and has become known for repeatedly telling all the housemates that they are "amazing". Sam has caused some problems in the house as the other housemates feel she is "too nice", and has also caused controversy among housemates, by entering or staying inside the bathroom whilst others go to the toilet.

Sezer Yurtseven

Sezer is a 26-year-old Turkish-Cypriot, claiming to be a stock broker and property developer from London. Sezer previously played cricket for Kent up to under-19 level. He is a former boxer, competing in white collar boxing , and he claims he is the youngest person to have been on the London Stock Exchange floor at the age of 18 (which is odd given that the floor closed in 1986 when he was just six).

However, it turns out Sezer is not a complete fantasist. He is registered with the Financial Services Authority as having worked in commodities and foreign exchange trading at three different firms: a brokerage called ADM between 2001 and 2002, then as an independent trader at London Capital Group until 2004, and at a trading arcade called Schneider Trading Associates up to February 2006. Sezer is also a director of three companies, including the eponymous Cezer Trading and Seven International Property (both dormant having never traded). Given his self-declared wealth, it is seen as curious that the 26-year-old Sezer still lives at home with his mother. . The Sun revealed that Sezer had been arrested for an alleged date rape in 2004 but the charge was dropped due to lack of evidence.

Sezer was evicted on day 16 with a record 91.6% of the vote. It is believed that Sezer was evicted because he told fellow housemates that the girls watching would vote to keep him in. He even told Imogen, that if they were both up for eviction, he would win because more girls vote than boys. It was this smugness and vanity that probably led to Sezer's downfall. He was self-assured right up to the moment his name was announced, at which point is mouth literally fell open. He walked out to boos and jeering.

In the week after eviction, Sezer tried to prove he was a nice guy afterall, by doing nice acts such as dating Vanessa Feltz and visiting an old folk's home on Big Brother's Little Brother.

Shahbaz Chauhdry

Shahbaz (born March 1969) is a gay 37-year-old "unemployable", Scottish born Glaswegian. He styles himself as "the paki poof" or a "wacky paki", a phrase that caused offence with at least one housemate. Shahbaz writes poetry in his spare time and longs to get it published one day. He also knits and despite classifying himself as unemployable, according to the Daily Star he once worked as an entertainer in a detention centre for illegal immigrants. He lived on £75 a week before entering the house.

Shahbaz has been criticised by some housemates for what they regard as childish behaviour. It was generally accepted that he did not adapt well to life in the house. Through his acting-out behaviour and "theatrical" monologues Shahbaz had been cast aside by his fellow housemates, except Pete, Glyn and George. Shahbaz was being monitored by production team psychologists following comments that he intended to commit suicide whilst in the house and on Day 6 he agreed to leave the Big Brother house. On this final day in the house he was subject to obvious bullying and ostracisation by the other housemates, which included them locking him outside in the garden, mocking him, stealing his clothes while he was swimming, insulting him, throwing his breakfast in the bin and then shouting at him for wasting food, and pointedly leaving the sitting room upon his entrance. Those leaving included Pete, but George stayed in the room.

After leaving the house, it had become clear that Shahbaz understated his mental condition to psychologists, therefore cheating the selection process . On BBLB Shahbaz said that during his stay his inner demons had come back "to bite him on the arse", but overall his view was that having been in the BB House was positive for him. On BBBM the following day (26 May) he told Russell Brand that he had asked to be allowed to re-enter the BB House.

Chronology

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Weeks 1 and 2

During week one, "The Big Brotherhood" task was introduced, in which some housemates were elected to "The Big Brotherhood" and hence recieved their suitcases and were immune from eviction that week. Lisa and Shahbaz, as leaders of "The Big Brotherhood", chose the housemates who would enter this group, until just three were left (Dawn, Glyn and Bonnie). These then faced the public vote and Bonnie was evicted on Day 9.

Earlier in the week (on Day 5), Shahbaz hid the housemate's food in the garden. After it was uncovered, Shahbaz admitted to the act and, increasingly ostracised and bullied, left the show voluntarily later that day.

On Day 7, Dawn recieved a message from her family that her sister was ill. Dawn admitted to the other housemates that this was code that "things were getting too heavy". As a result, Dawn was ejected from the house by Big Brother for rulebreaking the following day.

The second task introduced to the housemates was that of "Meal or No Meal" (a pun of Endemol's other television series, Deal or No Deal). The task entailed the housemates answering various questions, in order to win a luxury food budget. At the climax of the task (on Day 12), Pete was asked questions answered wrongly in previous rounds. Getting three out of four right, Pete won the house two new housemates, Sam and Aisleyne. Some of the original housemates adapted badly to the new arrivals, criticising them nearly immediately. Sezer was the main instigator and vowed to bully them.

George left voluntarily on Day 13. That same day, both Sezer and Imogen were banned from nominating due to their discussion of tactics the previous night. In this round of nominations, Richard, Lea and Sezer were revealed as facing the public vote.

On day 16 Sezer became the second person to be evicted from the house with a record 91.6% of the vote.

Golden Ticket

For the first time in Big Brother's history one hundred Willy Wonka-style Golden Tickets were hidden beneath the wrappers of Kit Kat chocolate bars for members of the public to find. Successful claimants will be invited to the Big Brother studios to participate in the programme on June 9, 2006. During this programme, one claimant will be selected to become a housemate in a manner to be determined by Big Brother at its discretion. The selected claimant will, with immediate effect, become a Big Brother housemate and will enter the Big Brother house and be subject to Big Brother's rules. The chocolate bars went on sale on May 19, 2006. As of 10:20 PM, Friday June 02, no more tickets could be registered and Davina made the announcement live on TV.

The first Golden Ticket was found in a London branch of Sainsbury's supermarket on Friday May 19. The Sun and the Daily Star are offering to buy Golden Tickets from their readers. On May 24 2006, an old couple found a Golden Ticket, but passed it on to a friend.

According to reports, eBay is allowing the sale of Golden Tickets through pre-Approved auctions. They are not allowed to be sold in the general auction, as one ticket was put on sale for a bogus £10.1 million before it was removed. There have been many other similar false sales. Genuine tickets are being sold on eBay's United Kingdom website.

According to the 2 June edition of BBLB, Big Brother 4's Ray Shah managed to find a Golden Ticket while on-air with Q102, a Dublin radio station, but stated in a live phone call with Dermot O'Leary that he is not interested in returning to the house. The ticket was given, as initially intended, to morning show presenter Sue Carter, who has appeared on Endemol's list of known Golden Ticket holders. Q102 purchased in excess of 10,000 Kit Kat bars with the intention of finding a Golden Ticket, with a trip to the UK (as the bars were not yet on sale in Ireland) being sponsored by Stena Line and an Irish Peugeot dealer.

Title Sequence

The title sequence this year contains 'hidden' words, which are clearer when watched in slow motion. At the start is a red screen, containing phrases such as "This is the title sequence for Big Brother", "Not for transmission", and a copyright date of 1903, the birth date of George Orwell. Other words flashed on screen include "You are being observed"

Criticism

More than years previously, Big Brother has been criticised in the media for both its choice of housemates and its practice once the housemates are inside. Initially the programme faced accusations of exploiting a man with Tourette syndrome, by accepting him as a housemate. The Tourette Syndrome Association of the U.K. claimed that this year's contestant, Pete Bennett, could suffer in the house, and also stated that parents were concerned that their children could be subjected to bullying as a consequence of Pete's behaviour inside the house. Channel 4 said Pete's inclusion could educate people about the syndrome.

Further criticism arose when contestant Glyn Wise was reprimanded for communicating in Welsh to housemate Imogen Thomas. Big Brother deemed this a form of 'code' and issued a warning to Glyn, who retorted "But Welsh is British". Following the incident, the Welsh Language Society complained to Channel 4, Ofcom and S4C, saying "are we moving towards a state where 'big brother' is watching over us and deciding what language we can and cannot speak?"

The programme attracted more criticism on May 31 for putting "vulnerable" people in the Big Brother house. Shabaz was revealed to be mentally and emotionally unstable and threatened to commit suicide on live television, Lea suffers from Body dysmorphic disorder and has previously attempted suicide, 19-year-old Sam has admitted to being ostracized by family because of his homosexuality and having had trouble with gender identity disorder, and Nikki has suffered from anorexia and been sectioned in the past due to the condition. A spokeswoman for mental health charity SANE claimed that producers are "playing fast and loose with people's lives." A spokesperson for Rethink commented "The programme should not profit from people having a breakdown." A spokesman defended the show saying that a psychologist is always available for housemates.

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See also

• Big Brother 7 nominations table

External links

• Channel 4 - Big Brother

• Big Brother (UK TV series)
• Channel 4 television programmes