Sanitised Big Brother? True!
Sandra McLean
April 15, 2006
THE producers of Big Brother 2006 have promised to curtail last year's headline-making acts involving exposure, nudity and bullying – but they won't rule out they won't happen.
"Things happen in the Big Brother house that cause a lot of publicity but we never plan them," said Kris Noble, executive producer of the Channel 10 reality series that returns for a new season on April 23 at 7.30pm.
"We never set out to be controversial and we don't want to break the rules but we want to be entertaining.
"We have to pop our heads out the window and see what the temperature is. We have very healthy debates on what we can and can't show. But you put a bunch of people in the house and after that it is a matter of chemistry."
Mr Noble said the show wanted to abide by the rules set down by the Australian Media and Communications Authority.
"We have given people in the control room extra training on public opinions on sexual harassment and bullying and just what can and cannot be allowed to be shown," he said. "We have also briefed the housemates and told them they just can't do what they like."
But last year the pictures did go to air, including a particularly offensive scene where a male contestant exposed his ***** while massaging a female "inmate" of the house. These scenes caused a political ruckus with Coalition MPs, including Christopher Pyne, parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Ageing and Health, describing Big Brother Uncut as "crass, ghastly and inappropriate". AMCA ruled last year that three episodes of Big Brother Uncut contained material that exceeded the MA15+ classification standard.
Earlier this year AMCA issued a veiled warning to Big Brother when it vowed to sharpen up its investigations into risque television programming.
This year's Big Brother will feature 14 housemates. Two of the housemates are from Queensland. Their identities will be secret until they enter the house on April 23.
Big Brother has already evicted one of the housemates before they even crossed the threshold at the show's Dreamworld base. The potential housemate was evicted for giving false information.
This is ironic as Channel 10 has made a habit of spreading rumours about the nature of the housemates and the tone of this year's show.
Some of the rumours include plans to televise a housemate giving birth "live", a stunt attempted in Holland.
Another rumour is that a former nun has been cast as one of this year's housemates. "I can say that each year we do have a lot of people audition for the show who are very religious," Mr Noble said.
"They see there is a way to keep their faith and do Big Brother.
"We have had nuns audition before and priests. I will not say if there is a nun amongst this year's housemates or not – it has to be a surprise on the night."
The Courier Mail
