ITV boss shares goal of Big Brother reboot
ITV commissioning editor Peter Tierney has opened up about the goals for the Big Brother reboot.
The Big Brother House opens its doors this weekend for the first time in five years, as co-presenters AJ Odudu and Will Best welcome a new generation of housemates.
The show returns to a completely different reality TV landscape, which now frequently comes under criticism for populating its casts with influencers rather than members of the general public.
In an interview with Deadline, Tierney suggested Big Brother has a chance to reset the narrative around reality TV with its choice of housemates.
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"They are aware of the way in which [some of] these shows are made, the directions you can push contestants in and the hands of the producer," he said.
"But Big Brother presents us with the perfect opportunity to make reality 'real' again, providing a better opportunity for an environment that is conducive to real life than many other reality shows afford you.”
Executive producer Katy Manley expressed hopes that the new Big Brother will get away from "polished, glossy TV" that has become so popular within the reality genre.
"Hopefully we are going back to something raw that has a hands-off producing style with a very fast turnaround edit," Manley said.
Related: Big Brother 2023's AJ Odudu and Will Best reveal support from show's original hosts
The production team is also looking to give Big Brother a revamp that fits within the ITV brand while still preserving the core of the gameplay fans have come to expect.
"The Channel 4 version felt like Channel 4's, and ditto Channel 5, so it was really important for us to take ownership of that brand and give it a sense of 'ITV-ness'," Tierney noted.
"We didn't want to tinker and change things too much, but you can pull certain levers and do certain things around the edges that make it feel like an ITV 2 show."
Big Brother: The Launch airs Sunday, October 8 at 9pm on ITV1, ITV2 and ITVX. After launch night, the show airs on Sundays to Fridays at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
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