Big Brother is set to return to Australian television screens in 2025 with some major changes in store.
The reality show will be back at its original home at Ten next year, with the network vowing to bring the Australian franchise into line with its winning format.
A brand new crop of housemates will be live streamed 24/7 as the series returns with fresh new host Mel Tracina in 2025.
Tracina is planning to revamp the series after taking the hosting reigns from Gold Logie winner Sonia Kruger.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Saturday at the ACRA Awards in Sydney, Tracina revealed Aussie viewers will finally have access to the game in real-time.
‘What’s so good about this is the livestream element,’ she said.
‘So you don’t have to worry about getting a bad edit, or being the “season villain”, because viewers can log in at any time and see what the [housemates] are up to.’
The beloved reality show, which sees housemates compete to stay in the house to win prize money, found roaring success on Channel Ten in the early 2000s.
Big Brother host Mel Tracina says she feels a responsibility to restore the beloved reality TV franchise to the glory days that she grew up watching
Since then, the show has changed networks several times – first going over to the Channel Nine before a revamped version at Channel Seven.
Big Brother has continued to enjoy healthy viewership numbers with its cross-platform livestream cameras in the US and UK.
Across the three weekly airings of the American franchise on CBS, streaming, and the show’s 24/7 live feed on Paramount+, viewers racked up 8.3 billion minutes of viewing time.
That put the long-running reality TV series on par with major streaming hits like new seasons of Bridgerton, Stranger Things, and Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon in 2022.
The 2025 season will see Big Brother Australia finally implement the livestream feeds that have proved a ratings winner for the UK and US franchises
Big Brother Australia was axed from Channel 7’s 2024 schedule after scoring its lowest rated season yet.
The show got bumped from its original 7.30 time slot to a later time after just one week on-air, and concluded its 15th season with just 152,000 overnight viewers in the five capital cities – a huge drop from when the show relaunched in 2020 with 853,000 viewers.
Fans were left unimpressed with last season’s rebrand, which was focused on fostering romance among sexy, single cast-mates.
Many felt the last season had more in common with Love Island than Big Brother, with one writing on social media at the time: ‘Bring back the days of regular people on here. Why would I want to vote for any of these people?!’
Many felt the new season had more in common with rival Love Island than Big Brother, with one writing on social media at the time: ‘Bring back the days of regular people on here. Why would I want to vote for any of these people?!’
‘So sad to see what was once a great show absolutely ruined,’ another lamented.
‘I found out I got the job pretty quickly before the news came out,’ Tracina told Daily Mail.
‘I grew up watching it. When it came out in 2001, I was there.’
Reggie Sorenson (Bird) won the third and fourteenth seasons of Big Brother Australia in 2003 and 2022
Previous to this gig, she was known for her role as ‘culture correspondent’ for Ten’s comedy panel show The Cheap Seats.
‘This is so huge to me. It’s also just the fans that love it, it’s a juggernaut of a show,’ she added.
‘It means so much to so many Australians, so I feel the pressure of doing the best job that I can.’
Big Brother is known for being one of the only reality TV competitions that not only happens in real-time as it airs, but that actually allows viewers access to an unedited look at what’s happening in the house.
Host Mel Tracina is most well-known for her role as culture correspondent on Ten’s panel show The Cheap Seats
By hosting live feeds, fans are able to watch the game unfold naturally instead of following storylines set forth and edited by production.
It comes as reality TV fans switch off shows they feel are over-produced or have only cast social media influencers.
New series Made in Bondi faced backlash after it was revealed none of the Australian cast were born or raised in the iconic suburb and the houses on the series were rentals.
The Block fans panned the 20th anniversary season as fake and ‘scripted’.
Channel Nine accidentally leaked the cast of its 2024 season which includes a former contestant on Channel 9’s survival show The Summit, a former FBoy Island US winner, a ‘bikini pro athlete’, viral TikTok stars, and an alum from Love Island US.
Meanwhile, X-rated Aussie Shore has found an audience because most of its ‘wild’ cast were plucked out of Queensland nightclubs.
At the peak of the Big Brother’s popularity, it averaged an astonishing 1.4million viewers per episode that saw it remain a Ten tentpole show for eight seasons.
With Channel Ten insisting a return to ‘the authentic, OG show you fell in love with all those years ago’, casting everyday Aussies could see the series return to its glory days.