Celebrity Big Brother 2007 was the highly controversial fifth series of the
United Kingdom reality television series
Celebrity Big Brother, a spin-off of
Big Brother. The series was broadcast on
Channel 4 in the UK (also on
S4C in
Wales), and involved a number of
celebrities referred to as 'housemates', who live in the Big Brother House with no contact with the outside world. In recent series, the show's producers have offered celebrities money to appear on
Celebrity Big Brother.
Celebrity Big Brother 2007 started on 3 January 2007,"
Celebrity Big Brother Launch Night",
Channel 4 Press. URL last accessed on 2006-12-08. and ran for 26 days. The launch show peaked at 8.2 million viewers, making it the second most-watched launch in Big Brother history.
Viewing Figures The Celebrity Big Brother Show URL last accessed 2007-01-07 It was the first
Celebrity Big Brother series to be shown in the 16:9 widescreen format.
On 16 January 2007 this series had attracted the largest ever number of public complaints to the UK broadcasting watchdog
Ofcom about a Big Brother series."
Ofcom probes Big Brother racism",
BBC News. URL last accessed on 2007-01-16 The complaints received detailed concerns that housemate
Shilpa Shetty had been subjected to bullying, allegedly with undertones of racism.
Big Brother:thousands complain",
Channel 4 News. URL last accessed on 2007-01-16 As an example, Danielle Lloyd called Shilpa "a dog" and that she should "fuck off home". This sparked widespread anger and demonstrations in India, where the alleged racism was reported on the news, and led
Big Brother's main sponsor
Carphone Warehouse to suspend its sponsorship of the show.
Carphone axes Big Brother deal",
Guardian Unlimited. URL last accessed on 2007-01-20 As of 19 January 2007, a Channel 4 spokesman agreed that participants should be made aware of the controversy, probably explaining the recent explanations and apologies tendered by the housemates and their complete lack of surprise after learning about the latest eviction.{{cite web
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6279363.stm
|title=Are housemates aware of race row?
|date=2007-01-19
|publisher=BBC
|accessdate=2007-01-19}}{{cite web
|url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_headline=no-crowd-no-shock%2D%2D-no-reality%26method=full%26objectid=18505500%26siteid=94762-name_page.html
|title=NO CROWD NO SHOCK.. NO REALITY
|date=2007-01-20
|publisher=Daily Mirror
|accessdate=2007-01-20}}
As in earlier series,
Davina McCall presented the main Channel 4 show.
Dermot O'Leary presented
Celebrity Big Brother's Little Brother and
Celebrity Big Brother's Big Brain.
Russell Brand presented
Celebrity Big Brother's Big Mouth.
Celebrity Big Brother Diary Room Uncut,"
Celebrity Big Brother's Big Brain",
Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2007-01-04. and live streaming also returned on the Official Channel 4 website and also on
E4 at selected times.
On 28 January 2007, Shetty was voted the winner of Celebrity Big Brother 2007 with 63% of the final vote.Channel 4 - Celebrity Big Brother, 28 January 2007
This was the fifth series of the reality show (in the celebrity format), and after a brief pause in 2008 for (available on
E4 only) which wasn't as big a success as
Channel 4 bosses had hoped for, the sixth series was shown in January 2009. Contestants were chosen during the period when the ninth series of the ordinary show was airing in 2008.
The House
The general layout of the House was largely untouched from the
previous non-celebrity series. The living room and bedroom had no noticeable changes. There were several single beds in the same room, with one double bed, meaning that two housemates (Leo & Donny) had to share. The bathroom is much smaller than previous versions and the toilet and shower were no longer fitted with cameras. The dining room table was moved inside, and the kitchen fully equipped with modern conveniences. Outside the garden was a three-jet hot tub with a farmyard seating area. The bridge to Nowhere was still present, leading to a sitting area with heated seats and the
topiary man. A workout area was situated just off the kitchen area. Inside the House there was also a fax machine built into the wall. On day 24 this was used to post viewers' questions to the housemates.
Questions, Questions Channel Four's Official Big Brother Website. URL last accessed on 2007-01-26. Meanwhile, the Diary Room was identical to the previous summer's Big Brother, with an oversized gold chair and padded walls, the only change being the addition of yellow lights facing the walls. The House Next Door was used again, and its interior was re-designed to resemble a
Victorian style kitchen, with uncomfortable beds in the bedroom, for use in the master-and-servant task.
Housemates
Eleven housemates entered the Celebrity Big Brother house on Day 1 followed by three more housemates on Day 3. This was more than any other celebrity series to date (the
regular series in 2006 has had fourteen housemates enter on Day 1). The housemates in
Celebrity Big Brother 2007 were (in alphabetical order by first name):
Shilpa Shetty
Shilpa Shetty (born 8 June 1975) is an award winning
Indian actress and an active
AIDS and
PETA campaigner. Though her native language is
Tulu, she is a fluent English speaker."
Will Big Brother boost Shilpa?",
BBC News. URL last accessed 2007-02-08. Shilpa was the victim of racist abuse from fellow housemates Jade Goody, Jo O'Meara and Danielle Lloyd. After one particularly loud argument with Jade, Danielle was seen laughing and saying 'That was brilliant, I think she should fuck off home'. Shilpa went on to win the contest and is said to have buried the hatchet with all of the girls involved.
Carole Malone
Carole Malone (born 14 October 1947) is a columnist for the
Sunday Mirror. She starred in the 2006 series of
Celebrity Fit Club where she was captain of the winning team as well as losing 3 stone on
ITV. On Day 2 Carole broke Big Brother rules by discussing nominations with Shilpa and Cleo.Confirmed by
Dermot O'Leary on the 5 January 2007 edition of
Big Brother's Little Brother Carole was a servant during the Master and Servant task. Carole was put up for eviction after being unanimously chosen between her and Cleo by her fellow housemates to face the public vote as punishment for discussing nominations. Carole was evicted on Day 10. Carole has revealed that she was born in 1947 and not 1954, as previously believed."
Malone evicted from Big Brother",
BBC News. URL last accessed on 2007-01-12.
Cleo Rocos
Cleo Rocos (born 24 July 1962 in
Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil) is a comic actress who appeared on
The Kenny Everett Television Show. Cleo has developed a maternal role in the house and tends to look after the younger housemates and do such things as cook and clean for them, which was first pointed out by Ian and Jo on Day 2.
Phew! Hot Mamma Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2007-01-05 On Day 2, Cleo broke Big Brother rules by discussing nominations with Shilpa and Carole. As punishment, the rest of the housemates (except Carole but including Shilpa) were made to vote unanimously on who should face the public vote. Cleo was not chosen. Cleo was a servant during the Master and Servant task. In battle of the tribute bands she was in Jermaine's group as a member of the
Jackson 5, the group won. She was evicted on Day 24, along with Jo.
Danielle Lloyd
Danielle Lloyd (born
Liverpool, 16 December 1983) is an English
model and former
Miss Great Britain (2006), stripped of her title for dating a panel judge,
footballer Teddy Sheringham, and posing for
Playboy. Danielle was a servant during the Master and Servant task. She was accused of racist bullying of her fellow house mate
Shilpa Shetty, along with
Jade Goody and
Jo O'Meara. On one occasion Lloyd said that Shetty should "fuck off home", something that Big Brother questioned her about at a later date. Danielle eventually finished 5th on final night. Upon leaving the show, it generally seems that the public have been more forgiving of Lloyd than Goody or O'Meara, and she still regularly gets modelling work.
Dirk Benedict
Dirk Benedict (born 1 March 1945) is an
American actor best known for playing
Face in
The A-Team and
Starbuck in the original
Battlestar Galactica. Dirk made a unique entrance to the house by arriving via (a replica of)
The A-Team van, smoking a cigar and with the theme tune playing in the background. A memorable moment occurred a few minutes after he arrived in the house, when a drunk Donny said "It's Dirk fucking Benedict", to which Dirk responded "I seldom use my middle name." Dirk made no secret of his attraction to Shilpa, even saying that he would marry her in a moment, although his attention and flirting with her was light hearted and not excessive. On Day 2 a comic feel surrounded Dirk as Shilpa learned to pronounce his name. Dirk finished third.
Donny Tourette
Donny Tourette (born 4 March 1981) is the lead singer of
Towers of London, a punk rock band from London. He staggered into the house in a drunken state and instantly breached Big Brother rules when his stash of alcohol was removed from his suitcase."
Donny argues with Big Brother when his alcohol is confiscated from his suitcase..",
Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2007-01-04. Donny escaped from the Big Brother House on 5 January 2007 by climbing over the garden wall in the House Next Door with the help of 'H' from Steps,"
Singer escapes from Big Brother",
BBC News. URL last accessed on 2007-01-07. saying
"I'm not fucking waiting hand on foot on some fucking moron and her family", referring to Jade Goody, as he climbed over. His clothes and belongings were left in the diary room by a fellow contestant.
Ian "H" Watkins
Ian "H" Watkins (born 8 May 1976) is a
Welsh actor and was previously a member of the pop group
Steps. He
came out as
gay to
The Sun on the same day as he entered the house.
Jack Tweed
Jack Andrew Tweed, (born 9 June 1987 in
Waltham Forest,
London)
Births England and Wales 1984–2006 is Jade Goody's widower. He entered the House on 5 January 2007 as a member of Jade's family. He was a master during the Master and Servant task. Jack left school at the age of 16. He has courted controversy over his comment (which was bleeped) and suggested that
Shilpa remove objects from the toilet with her teeth. When Jade apologised to Shilpa (on day 16), Jack confessed that he was very disappointed with Jade for apologising to her and used an abusive term relating to Shilpa. Following Jade's eviction, he spent more time with former
Miss Great Britain Danielle Lloyd, who was said to be flirting with Jack and told him "I love you" when she was drunk.
Celebrity Big Brother: Danielle enjoys a Jack-uzzi The Sun Online, accessed 2007-01-22 In May 2007, Endemol released previously withheld material in which O'Meara, Tweed and Goody constructed a limerick which Endomol claimed was based around, although it did not directly use, the word "paki".
On 1 September 2008, Tweed was sentenced to 18 months in prison for attacking a 16 year old boy with a golf club in December 2006, one month before entering the house. He served four months of the sentence before being released on license, monitored via electronic monitoring, on 27 January 2009.
Kisses as Jade Goody Greets Her Boyfriend Outside Prison Gates This is London, 27 January 2009
He married
Jade Goody on 22 February 2009. By this stage, she was terminally ill with metastatic
cervical cancer, from which she died on 22 March.
On 3 March 2009, Tweed was convicted of common assault for attacking a taxi driver in May 2008.
Ongar:Jack Tweed found guilty of assaulting taxi driver The following month, he received a 12-week prison sentence for the crime.
Jack Tweed jailed for 12 weeks for taxi driver assault On 5 September 2009 he was charged with
rape, following an allegation by a 19 year old female
Jack Tweed in 'rape' arrest that he raped her in his
Woodford Green house the previous day. Tweed was held on remand through revocation of his existing license, without application for bail, to appear before Snaresbrook Crown Court on 21 September 2009.
Tweed remanded over rape charge After the court hearing on 21 September 2009, Tweed was remanded in custody again, that time until 16 November 2009.
Tweed in court over rape charge At a hearing at Snaresbrook on 22 December 2009 he was remanded until his trial on 12 April 2010. He is in
Pentonville; his co-defendant is on bail.
Jack Tweed denies raping teenager
Jackiey Budden
Jacqueline "Jackiey" Budden, (born January 1958) is Jade Goody's mother and entered the house on Friday 5 January as part of Jade's family. Jackiey was a master during the Master and Servant task. Jackiey caused a slight stir in the house, and upset both her daughter Jade and fellow house mates Shilpa and Ken with her demanding attitude and garrulous personality.
Mum's the Word Channel 4's official Big Brother site URL last accessed 2007-01-06 She was unable to correctly pronounce Shilpa's name, so instead referred to her as "Princess" and "The Indian". On Day 8, Jackiey became the first house mate to be evicted from the Big Brother house in a surprise eviction; Jackiey left the house via the diary room and was unable to say goodbye to her fellow house mates. There was no crowd present at Jackiey's eviction and she left the house without any shoes. Her arm is paralyzed from a motorcycle accident.
Jade Goody
Jade Goody (5 June 1981 – 22 March 2009) entered the house on Friday 5 January. Jade first rose to fame when she appeared in the
third UK series of Big Brother and since then has gone on to have a career in the
media industry. Jade was at the centre of racist bullying allegations against fellow housemate Shilpa Shetty.
The
Act Against Bullying charity branded her behaviour as "unforgivable". Among Jade's comments were: "Shilpa Walla", as well as suggesting Shetty "makes
her skin crawl". She also referred to Shetty as 'Shilpa
Poppadom'.
She was evicted on Day 17, Big Brother producers and Endemol had decided not to have a live crowd present nor the usual press conference to enable them to brief Jade Goody on the recent racism allegations.
Jermaine Jackson
Jermaine Jackson (born 11 December 1954, also known as Muhammed Abdul Aziz) is an American
R&B singer, former member of
The Jackson 5 and brother of
pop stars
Michael Jackson,
Janet Jackson and
La Toya Jackson. On the launch show, Davina revealed that Jermaine's favourite
tube line was the
Central Line. In the house several of the housemates have commented that Jermaine was very
shy and they therefore found it difficult to converse with him and get to know who he was.
Jo O'Meara
Joanne O'Meara (born 29 April 1979 and better known as Jo O'Meara) was previously a member of the pop group
S Club 7 and a former contestant on
Just the Two of Us. She also had a brief solo career before pursuing a career in
dog breeding. She came in for criticism for ganging up, with Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd, on fellow housemate Shilpa Shetty, along with allegations of racist bullying in the house. Jo had stated that she believed that Shilpa was a "mole," planted in the house to upset the game. She was evicted on Day 24 (with only 48% of the vote), along with Cleo Rocos.
Since leaving the house Jo had apparently slipped into deep depression and even thought about suicide.
Interview with Jo O'Meara SkyNews Video
Ken Russell
Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell (born 3 July 1927) is an English director of such films as
The Music Lovers,
The Devils,
The Boy Friend,
Lisztomania, and
Tommy, and at age 79 was the oldest male contestant in the programme's history. Since entering the house Ken prevented many of the other housemates from sleeping due to his excessive
snoring. Danielle informed Ken of his snoring on Day 3 which led to many of the housemates pondering over a solution.
Shut That Snore! Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2007-01-05 On Day 5 at 14:55, he voluntarily left the house after arguing with new housemate Jade Goody and her family.
Leo Sayer
Leo Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is a singer who had success in the 1970s with hits such as "
When I Need You", "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing", "
Moonlighting" and "
Thunder In My Heart". Leo found it difficult to sleep on his first night in the house as he was forced to share a bed with Donny who was
naked, a prospect that Leo found uncomfortable."
Leo struggles to sleep",
Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2007-01-04. Leo was a servant during the Master and Servant task. He reverted to mime communication and decided to take a vow of silence, much to the confusion and annoyance of the other housemates.
You Make Me Feel Like Miming Channel 4's official Big Brother site URL last accessed 2007-01-07 Leo escaped from the house by breaking open a fire door with a broom after hitting a two-way mirror on Day 10 when Big Brother refused to provide him with clean underwear."
Leo's Dash for Freedom",
Channel 4's official Big Brother site. URL last accessed on 2007-01-12. It was revealed later that he had overlooked clean underwear in his suitcase. He was up for eviction at the time and, though he did not know it, leading the poll.
Daily summary and highlights
Nominations table
Notes
When Jade, Jack, and Jackiey entered the house they became "masters" along with Jermaine, Ken, and Shilpa. The other eight housemates were chosen to be their "servants" and moved to the House Next Door. It was revealed that the masters are automatically nominated for eviction in which the viewers are to vote which housemates to save, rather than evicted. Therefore, the housemate with the least number of votes is evicted. Donny, who was originally a servant, left the house on Day 3. On Day 5, Ken voluntarily left after being involved in arguments with housemates.
Carole and Cleo were banned from nominating as a punishment for discussing nominations earlier. Additionally, housemates had to choose one of them to face the public vote."
Housemates to nominate today",
Digital Spy. URL last accessed 2007-01-11. They chose Carole."
The Punishment Fits the Crime",
Channel Four's Official Big Brother Website. URL last accessed 2007-01-11. On Day 10, Leo escaped the house.
The nominations were cast on Day 15 and announced on Day 16. The voting package was delayed and only shown at the end of
Big Brother's Big Mouth where it was also revealed that all Channel 4's profits for this vote will go to charity.
There was a double eviction on Day 24 and therefore the three or more housemates were placed up for the public vote rather than the two or more housemates. If there was not a double eviction, Dirk and Jo would have faced the public vote. The voting lines originally opened on Day 22 but were reset on Day 23 due to an error which stated that viewers were to vote to save
Shilpa when they were in fact voting to evict. Viewers who had voted before the lines were reset were offered a full refund with all unclaimed money and profits from the vote being donated to charity
Voting Reset & Refund Information Channel Four's Official Big Brother Website. URL last accessed 2007-01-26
There were no nominations in the final two days and instead the public were voting for the housemate they wished to win rather than evict. The housemates coming 5th and 6th were evicted together in a double eviction on the final night, All 4 other housemates left the house separately.
Racism and bullying
Celebrity Big Brother criticism focused around the treatment of housemate
Shilpa Shetty by contestants
Jade Goody,
Jo O'Meara and
Danielle Lloyd.
UK media regulator
Ofcom received more than 44,500 complaints - a record number for a British television programme after transmission.
Channel 4 received an additional 3,000 complaints,"
Channel 4 denies Brother 'racism'",
BBC News. URL last accessed on 2007-01-17. about
racism and
bullying by housemates against Shetty. The
Eastern Eye newspaper launched an online petition that registered over 30,000 signatures."
Racism, ratings and reality TV",
Guardian Unlimited, URL last accessed on 2007-01-18 Channel 4, who had initially described the situation as "girly rivalry", later admitted there had "undoubtedly been a cultural clash between her and three of the British females in the house".
Viewership
Celebrity Big Brother's launch show (aired on 3 January 2007) averaged 7.1 million viewers,Donna Watson, "
BB RATINGS CONTINUE SLIDE",
The Daily Record, 2007-01-09. Retrieved on 2007-01-09. and ratings fell to 3.9 million by 7 January.The Association Press Limited, "
Jade blamed for tumbling Celeb BB ratings",
Tiscali, 2007-01-08. Retrieved on 2007-01-09. Ratings quickly rose as media coverage reported alleged racism towards Shilpa Shetty from fellow female contestants; the episode that aired on 16 January saw a ratings boost with the show sharing 18% of the available audience and ratings of 4.5 million viewers, as the episode aired on 17 January was predicted to be Celebrity Big Brother's top ratings grabber. The episode the following night also rose in ratings, as 5.2 million people viewed the episode. The ratings once again rose on Jade's eviction night to an average of 7.8 million viewers and a peak of 8.8 million viewers, which were the highest viewing figures in Celebrity Big Brother's history and second for any Big Brother show after the
Big Brother 3 finale, which landed a record 10 million viewers.
Trivia for "Big Brother". Internet Movie Database. The Big Brother 3 final night was the same night that Jade left the house for the first time back in 2002.
Post event
Shilpa Shetty
On 14 February 2007 Shilpa Shetty said "Jade did apologise. And I've forgiven her. Anyone, who knows me, knows I forgive and forget easily.""
I'm totally apolitical: Shilpa Shetty",
Hindustan Times. URL last accessed 2007-02-18.
On 17 February 2007, Shilpa said that she wanted to forgive Jo O'Meara, but she and other Celebrity Big Brother contestants had difficulty contacting her."
SHILPA BANNED FROM SEEING SICK JO",
Daily Star. URL last accessed 2007-02-18.
On 11 May 2007 Shilpa Shetty released her new Bollywood film,
Life in a...Metro. The film had a
Leicester Square premiere (the first for a Bollywood film). In the UK, Shilpa continues to work on projects, including a
West End musical and perfume.
Jo O'Meara
Unlike fellow housemate Jade Goody, Jo O'Meara did not donate her fees for appearing on the show (and for an interview with the
Sunday Mirror) to charity, stating that her intention in taking part in the show was to pay off her mortgage debt.
O'Meara has also stated that she never bullied Shilpa Shetty, and that the program showed her as a much different person than in reality and that the producers of the program exploited her. She has claimed that the media frenzy surrounding the racist depiction of the S Club 7 star has left her on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She is in an unstable mental state, and has even considered physically harming herself.
In an interview with
Sky News, Jo explained that she has been left feeling paranoid and that she has been prescribed drugs to return her to 'normal'. In an interview with UK breakfast television show
GMTV, O'Meara stated she needed to be in a
safe house as she has received death threats. In the interview, she stated how she received very little in the way of support from Big Brother.
Unlike Jade Goody and Danielle Lloyd, following the controversy Jo dropped out of the limelight completely, and worked in rehabilitating rescue animals, particularly horses. Her life has finally turned around and is back on track. Six months after leaving Celebrity Big Brother, Jo became pregnant by her long-term boyfriend, and gave birth to her first child, son Lenny,http://www.celebritybabyscoop.com/2008/06/14/jo-o%E2%80%99meara-introduces-baby-lenny/ on 12 May 2008. He weighed 7 lbs 15oz.http://celebrity-babies.com/2008/05/15/jo-omeara-gives/
Ofcom Report
On 24 May 2007, it was reported that TV watchdog
Ofcom had adjudicated on the race row during the Celebrity Big Brother series following the record number of complaints. Channel 4 was found to have breached the Ofcom code of conduct. Statutory sanctions were imposed on Channel 4, obliging them to broadcast statements of Ofcom's findings on three separate occasions at the start of the new series of Big Brother in May. It was also reported that footage of an alleged racist limerick about Shilpa, devised by her antagonisers, did exist, despite previous denials by Endemol."
CBB Ordered To Make Race Row Apology",
Sky News, URL last accessed 2007-05-24 However, the report made clear that the phrase
"fucking paki" was not used by Jack Tweed as previously believed."
Ofcom Content Sanctions Committee",
Ofcom Report, URL last accessed on 2006-05-25 A transcript of untransmitted footage was also released where Big Brother clearly warns some housemates that what they were saying could be regarded as racially offensive."
CBB5 Transcript on untransmittd material" URL last accessed on 2006-05-24
References
External links