Big Brother 2007, also known as Big Brother 8, is the eighth series of the British reality television series Big Brother. The show followed twenty-three contestants, known as housemates, who were isolated from the outside world for an extended period of time in a custom built House. Each week, one or more of the housemates were eliminated from the competition and left the House. The last remaining housemate, Brian Belo, was declared the winner, winning a cash prize of £100,000 (the second housemate to do so after Liam McGough was awarded the same amount in the third week).
The series launched on Channel 4 on 30 May 2007 and ended on 31 August 2007, lasting 94 days - the longest British edition of Big Brother to date. Davina McCall returned as presenter for her eighth consecutive year. Eleven women housemates entered on launch night, with an additional seven men being introduced by the time of the fourth week. The series was watched by an average of 3.9 million viewers, the lowest viewed series of the show at the time.
The first series of Big Brother to air since the highly controversial fifth celebrity series, Big Brother 8 was the subject of viewer complaints and press attention, mainly regarding the ejection of a housemate for the use of a racial slur.
Housemates
There were a total of 22 housemates in this series of Big Brother. Each week, two or more housemates were nominated to be evicted by the general public until the winner was left. All of the housemates that entered on the first day were female, then on the third day; a male housemate – Ziggy – entered the house. On 7 June 2007 it was announced on Big Brother's Big Mouth that Day 10 would see the addition of two male housemates, in replacement of the cancelled eviction. These two housemates were Gerry and Seány. On 15 June, four new male housemates entered the house. They were Billi, Jonathan, Liam, and Brian. Five new housemates, Amy, Jonty, Shanessa, David & Kara-Louise entered the house in a separate room called Halfway House on Day 59.
Name Age on entry Hometown Day entered Day exited Result Brian Belo 19Essex (originally from Nigeria) 17 94 Amanda & Sam Marchant 18Stoke-on-Trent 1 94 Liam McGough 22County Durham 17 94 nowrap Zachary "Ziggy" Lichman 26London 3 94 Carole Vincent 53London 1 94 Jonathon "Jonty" Stern 36London 59 94 Kara-Louise Horne 22London 59 87 Tracey Barnard 36Cambridgeshire 1 87 Gerasimos "Gerry" Stergiopoulos 31 London (originally from Greece) 10 80 Amy Alexandra 21Grimsby, Lincolnshire 59 73 David Parnaby 25Ayr 59 66 Shanessa Reilly 27Cardiff 59 66 Chanelle Hayes 19Wakefield 1 62 Charley Uchea 21London 1 59 Nicky Maxwell 27Watford (Originally from India) 1 52 Thaila "Pauline" Zucchi 26Swindon 40 42Left Laura Williams 23Rhondda Valleys 1 38 Jonathan Durden 49London 17 35 Nabeel "Billi" Bhatti 25London 17 31 Seán "Seány" O'Kane 26Derry 10 24 Shabnam Paryani 22London 1 17 Lesley Brain 60Tetbury 1 11 Emily Parr 19Bristol 1 9 Notes
Nominations table
Week 1Week 2Week 3Week 4Week 5Week 6Week 7Week 8Week 9Week 10Week 11Week 12Week 13FinalNominationsreceived BrianNot inHouse Seány,Carole Billi,Gerry Gerry,Carole Tracey,Carole Gerry,Tracey Gerry,Charley Nonominations Jonty,Kara-Louise Nonominations Jonty,Kara-Louise Winner(Day 94) 3 AmandaNoteligible Carole,Nicky Carole,Tracey Tracey,Charley Carole,Tracey Carole,Nicky Carole,Tracey Carole,Tracey NonominationsJonty,Kara-Louise NonominationsJonty,Kara-LouiseRunners-up(Day 94) 0 SamNoteligible Shabnam,Carole Carole,Liam Billi,Carole Carole,Tracey Carole,Charley Carole,Tracey Carole,Tracey Nonominations 0 LiamNot inHouse Jonathan,Charley Tracey,Billi Tracey,Charley Nicky,Charley Charley,Nicky Charley,Tracey Nonominations Kara-Louise,Jonty Nonominations Kara-Louise,Jonty Third place(Day 94) 4 Ziggy Shabnam,Emily Noteligible Charley,Nicky Billi,Charley Laura,Charley Nicky,Charley Nicky Tracey,Charley Nonominations Amy,Gerry Nonominations Kara-Louise,Tracey Fourth place(Day 94) 12 CaroleNoteligible Noteligible Laura,Nicky Laura,Nicky Laura,Chanelle Nicky,Tracey Nicky,Chanelle Charley,Ziggy Nonominations Amy,Kara-Louise Nominated Tracey,Ziggy Fifth place(Day 94) 21 JontyNot inHouse Nonominations Gerry,Kara-Louise Nonominations Brian,Liam Sixth place(Day 94) 9 Not inHouse Halfway Housemate Jonty,Amy Nonominations Tracey,Liam Evicted(Day 87) 11 TraceyNoteligible Noteligible Seány,Jonathan Carole,Billi Ziggy,Chanelle Ziggy,Gerry Gerry,Ziggy Gerry,Ziggy Halfway Housemate Amy,Gerry Nonominations Kara-Louise,Jonty Evicted(Day 87) 26 GerryNot inHouse Shabnam,Tracey Charley,Liam Nicky,Tracey Laura,Nicky Charley,Nicky Nicky,Charley Charley,Tracey Nonominations Amy,Jonty Nominated Evicted(Day 80) 17 AmyNot inHouse Nonominations Kara-Louise,Gerry Evicted(Day 73) 5 DavidNot inHouse Halfway Housemate Evicted(Day 66) N/A ShanessaNot inHouse Halfway Housemate Evicted(Day 66) N/A ChanelleNoteligible Noteligible Charley,Seány Charley,Billi Charley,Laura Charley,Nicky Charley Charley,Tracey Walked(Day 62) 9 CharleyNoteligible Noteligible Nicky,Seány Billi,Chanelle Chanelle,Brian Chanelle,Gerry Gerry,Ziggy Chanelle,Gerry Evicted(Day 59) 25 NickyNoteligibleNoteligible Jonathan,Seány Billi,Carole Gerry,Ziggy Gerry,Ziggy Ziggy,Gerry Evicted(Day 52) 20 LauraNoteligible Noteligible Carole,Jonathan Carole,Ziggy Ziggy,Chanelle Evicted(Day 38) 7 JonathanNot inHouse Nicky,Tracey Tracey,Nicky Laura,Chanelle Walked(Day 35) 5 BilliNot inHouse Carole,Jonathan Nicky,Charley Evicted(Day 31) 8 SeányNot inHouse Tracey,Shabnam Brian,Tracey Evicted(Day 24) 5 ShabnamNoteligible Noteligible Evicted(Day 17) 4 LesleyNoteligibleWalked(Day 11) 0 EmilyNoteligible Ejected(Day 9) 1 Notes 1 2 none 3 none 4 5 none 6 7 8 9 10 Againstpublic vote Emily,Shabnam Carole,Shabnam,Tracey Carole,Jonathan,Seány Billi,Carole,Tracey Chanelle,Laura Charley,Nicky Gerry,Nicky Charley,Tracey David,Shanessa,Tracey Amy,Jonty,Kara-Louise Brian,Carole,Gerry,Jonty,Liam Jonty,Kara-Louise,Tracey Amanda & Sam,Brian,Carole,Jonty,Liam,Ziggy Walked none Lesley none Jonathan none Chanelle none EjectedEmily noneEvictedEviction cancelled Shabnam81.4%to evictSeány44.5%to evictBilli55.1%to evictLaura68.1%to evictCharley75.8%Nicky76%to evictCharley85.6%to evictShanessa38%to evictAmy58%to evictGerry3 of 3 votesto evictTracey38.5%to evictJonty3.0%Liam19.1%(out of 3)Carole4.9%(out of 6)Amanda & Sam39.7%(out of 2)David37%to evict30.8%to evictZiggy15.3%(out of 4)Brian60.3%to win
Notes
: As the only male housemate, only Ziggy was eligible to nominate this week. The eviction was later cancelled due to Emily being ejected. : This week, new housemates Seány and Gerry were two of four housemates allowed to nominate, and together had to choose the other two housemates to nominate with them. They chose Sam and Amanda. : As punishment for discussing nominations, Billi and Charley's nominations were voided by Big Brother. Had this not happened Charley and Nicky would have faced the public vote with them. : Week 6 was Fake Week, and the "eviction" on Day 45 had the "evicted" housemate, Charley, interviewed by Davina - with the interview shown on the plasma screen in the house - and then put back in the house. : As punishment for discussing nominations, Chanelle and Ziggy were only allowed to nominate one housemate each. : After continuous swapping of housemates between the Main House and the Halfway House, the housemates remaining in the Halfway House automatically faced the public vote, in which there was a double eviction. : Amanda and Sam chose to become one housemate on Day 69. However, as a result they both automatically faced eviction. As well as finding out that they were nominated, Amy, Jonty and Kara-Louise were also able to see who nominated who. : For Week 11's shopping task those who won mini-tasks gained "guru status" and were immune from eviction. All other housemates automatically faced the public vote. The Gurus had to decide from the two housemates with the highest number of votes (Carole with 49% & Gerry with 24%) whom to evict. The Gurus unanimously decided to evict Gerry. : In Week 12, there was a double eviction. As such, the three or more housemates with the most nominations faced the public vote. : There were no nominations in the final week. The public were voting for the housemate they wanted to win, rather than evict.
Weekly summary Week 1 Entrances On Day 1, Sam, Amanda, Lesley, Charley, Tracey, Chanelle, Shabnam, Emily, Laura, Nicky and Carole entered the house. On Day 3, Ziggy entered the house. Tasks On Day 2 the housemates were given a breakdancing task, they were split into two crews and competed against each other. PunishmentsOn Day 6, Shabnam was punished for discussing nominations. Big Brother made the bathroom off-limits to all housemates. On Day 8, Ziggy and Emily were punished by being forced to pick another housemate to be punished on their behalf. They chose Shabnam. As a result, Shabnam's clothes, make-up, and belongings were confiscated by Big Brother. Nominations This week, only Ziggy was allowed to nominate. He nominated Emily and Shabnam, and they faced the public vote. Exits On Day 9, Emily was ejected from the house after using a racial slur. The eviction that was scheduled between Emily and Shabnam, was eventually cancelled. Week 2 Entrances On Day 10, Gerry and Seány entered the house. On Day 17, Billi, Jonathan, Liam and Brian entered the house. Tasks Big Brother gave the housemates a charades task with a twist of having to play it under water. As a prize for completing the task successfully, housemates were rewarded with a chinese take away meal. On Day 12, Gerry and Seány were instructed by Big Brother to interview each of their fellow housemates in the "Big Brother Board Room" (the vestibule before the front door of the House) to decide which two housemates would be nominating alongside them. On Day 14, the housemates were given a shopping task which instructed them to remain lying down (but moving), dressed in sardine suits in a sardine tin filled with brine and fish guts. The housemates failed the task after only remaining in the tin for one hour and 26 minutes. Hidden in a small sardine tin in the garden was the magic number, four hours and 20 minutes, this was the time limited Big Brother had set for the housemates to remain in the tin in order to win the task. On Day 15, the house were given a pile of pork pies and tankards of beer, and a dart board. On the bottom of each pie, there was a conversation topic, and all housemates had to contribute to the discussions. Afterwards, all housemates had to nominate one person to put up a set of shelves in the Diary Room without instructions. The housemates chose Carole, who failed the task Twists New housemates Gerry and Seány were told that them, and 2 other housemates would be the only housemates nominating this week. They had to choose 2 other housemates to nominate. They chose Amanda and Sam. Punishments On Day 14, due to Gerry and other housemates discussing nominations, Big Brother took away the house's bathroom privileges. On Day 15, Seány pushed a pork pie into the diary room camera, and as punishment Nicky had to clean the windows for two hours. Nominations The housemates nominated for the second time. Amanda, Gerry, Sam and Seány were the only housemates to nominate. Carole, Shabnam and Tracey received the most nominations and faced the public vote. Exits On Day 11, Lesley walked from the house. On Day 17, Shabnam was evicted from the house, receiving 81.4% of the public vote to evict. Week 3 Tasks On Day 18, Billi, Jonathan, Liam and Brian successfully performed "YMCA" as 'The Big Brother Village People' and won a luxury shopping budget. Housemates also had to swim the equivalent distance to the width of the English Channel in the swimming pool for this week's shopping task, which they successfully completed.