The eleventh season of the reality show, Pinoy Big Brother, subtitled Gen 11 (short for Generation 11), aired on Kapamilya Channel and A2Z for 99 days from July 20 to October 26, 2024.
This was the seventh consecutive season in which both civilian adults and teenagers participated in a season, using a similar format of both All In and Connect seasons to house them together as a single batch. This is also the first season in the entire series to feature all-female finalists, and the third season to be dominated by teen housemates, following the Lucky 7 and Connect seasons. This season is tied with Connect as the shortest special season produced by the series to date. Following the series’ transfer to TV5 during the final week of Connect, it became the first and, to date, only special season to have been broadcast entirely on the network.
Fyang Smith emerged as the winner of the season against runner-up Rain Celmar, while Kolette Madelo and Kai Montinola finished in third and fourth place, respectively. Smith became the latest late-entrant housemate in a special season to win the season, following Daniel Matsunaga of All In, and Liofer Pinatacan of Connect. She was also the third and latest teen housemate to win in a special season and the seventh teen overall to win in the series, following Maymay Entrata of Lucky 7 and Jimboy Martin of 737.
Development A new season of Pinoy Big Brother was confirmed on December 13, 2023, during the ABS-CBN Christmas Special that presented the network's program line-up for 2024. The season, the first to air in two years, is subtitled Gen 11, emphasizing the season's focus on housemates from Generation Z. ABS-CBN Television Production Head Unit and Head Director Laurenti Dyogi initially confirmed that the season would premiere in June. However, the season's premiere date moved to July 20.
Auditions
On April 6, Dyogi announced that Star Hunt will oversee the casting process for the upcoming season along with auditions for Star Magic and aspiring Star Hunt Academy trainees, beginning with on-ground auditions in Metro Manila, and then in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao in the following weeks. Auditions were also held abroad ahead of the season's announcement.
Auditions for Gen 11 officially began on April 27 and marked the return of physical auditions after it was halted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines during the past two seasons. Like in previous seasons, the auditions for adult and teen housemates (ages 16–32) were held simultaneously. Online auditions began on May 29, and ended on June 16, 2024. A total of 35,906 auditioned for this season, with 20,157 coming from on-site auditions via Star Hunt and 15,749 coming through online auditions. Among them, 67 were selected for the final casting.
+On-ground auditions of Pinoy Big Brother: Gen 11DateLocationVenue September 1, 2023 Sacramento, California, U.S. Memorial Auditorium April 27, 2024 Quezon City Robinsons Novaliches April 28, 2024 Las Piñas Robinsons Las Piñas May 4 and 5, 2024 General Santos KCC Mall of GenSan May 11 and 12, 2024 Quezon City Robinsons Galleria May 18 and 19, 2024 Naga, Camarines Sur Robinsons Naga May 25 and 26, 2024 Mandaue, Cebu Pacific Mall Mandaue
False casting calls In April 2024, netizens reported unauthorized audition calls that falsely claimed to be open casting calls for ABS-CBN shows such as Pinoy Big Brother, FPJ's Batang Quiapo, and Senior Highs sequel, High Street, that were widely circulated on social media. In response, ABS-CBN issued an advisory on April 16, 2024, to debunk the misleading casting calls and advise the public to be vigilant against scammers falsely representing themselves as part of the show's production.
Timeslot The show airs at 10:15 p.m. (PST) every weeknights after Pamilya Sagrado, 8:30 p.m. (Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, A2Z and TV5) on Saturdays, and at 8:30 p.m. (Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live and A2Z) and 9:30 p.m. (TV5) on Sundays after Rainbow Rumble.
This season, a daily 30-minute highlights show aired on Monday through Friday, with a one-hour live eviction show on Saturday and nominations show revealed on Sunday.
Overview
Logo The logo for Pinoy Big Brother: Gen 11 features significant changes from the logos used in past seasons. The logo's eye is identical to that used on the tenth season, which features gradients inspired by the colors of the Philippine flag, but slants rightward. The text Pinoy Big Brother also slants rightward and has a gradient spanning shades of blue and red. The season's subtitle Gen 11 is featured below with a white neon color. Below the text is an outline of a house in neon light.
House The house's façade was repainted in yellow and blue, and four LED screens were installed on the windows; the other façade (also known as House B in Double Up including the activity area) was demolished in May 2023 due to the expiration of its lease. The interior of the house has been updated, repainted, and furnished with a video-game theme. Mural paintings by Polido Mural Arts adorn the walls. The living area prominently displays a large version of the current graphical eye's logo, along with pixelated art of José Rizal, the GomBurZa, and Melchora Aquino. The translated lyrics of the show's theme song are also displayed in various Filipino languages. In the pool area, a mural featuring the lyric "Oh Shux!" from the 2023 song "Pantropiko" by the P-pop girl group Bini, along with pixelated clouds and trees, adds to the theme. The confession room has been repainted and renovated, now featuring sofa "blocks."
Hosts Bianca Gonzalez, Robi Domingo, Kim Chiu, Melai Cantiveros, and Enchong Dee, collectively known as Pamilya ni Kuya (), reprised their roles as the main hosts of the season. This is the first full season without Toni Gonzaga as the main host since the inception of the Philippine franchise in 2005. On June 20, 2024, former Kumunity 10 celebrity housemate Alexa Ilacad was named one of the presenters for the season and its digital companion shows.
Livestream Every day from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 a.m., viewers can watch the show live on the e-commerce app Lazada through LazLive. There are four distinct live streams available for viewers to choose from: the main stream, which will showcase the entire house, the dining area, the living room, and the pool area.
Sponsorships The show has partnered with the following products and services: mobile payment app Maya, which serves as the season's official finance and voting partner; Unilever beauty products Cream Silk and Pond's; soft drink brand Coca-Cola; and e-commerce app Lazada, which serves as the official e-commerce and shopping application and also provides the show's livestream via the Lazada app. All these products have product placements inside the house.
Companion shows This season has a digital companion show called PBB Gen 11 Up, hosted by Alexa Ilacad, Enchong Dee, Melai Cantiveros, Kim Chiu and Robi Domingo and airs every Saturday at 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and can be viewed on Kapamilya Online Live via Facebook and YouTube.Citations for companion shows:
Theme songs This season's theme song is a remix of the original theme song "Pinoy Ako" by the band Orange and Lemons, modified to match the season's theme, reverting back from the newer "Pinoy Tayo" by Rico Blanco used in the previous season. Meanwhile, the eviction theme song is "Huwag Muna Tayong Umuwi" () by Bini, from their sophomore album Feel Good (2022).
Prizes The winner received , and a house and lot from Vista Land. Meanwhile, the second, third, and fourth "big placers" received , , and , respectively. All finalists also received an all-expense paid trip to South Korea for two from Mitzy Travel & Tours worth , and a three-month endorsement contract with Lazada as "LazAffiliate Ambassadors" worth .
Format Every week, each housemate must nominate two other housemates for eviction, with the first receiving two points and the second receiving one. The top three (or more if there is a tie) housemates with the most nomination points will be put forward for public vote. Furthermore, Big Brother has the authority to grant immunity or an automatic nomination to a housemate, primarily due to twists or violations. A nomination round may be paused due to pending tasks, challenges, or twists.
Twists Partnership with Maya: Maya has partnered with Pinoy Big Brother to serve as the season's official finance and voting partner, with the following twists inserted into the season: Save or Spend Weekly Task: In the event that the housemates win their weekly task beginning in Week 2, they will be able to manage their weekly budget, which will be deposited through Maya. If they succeed in their weekly task, they will receive ₱15,000. Housemates have two options: they can spend a portion of their weekly budget for the week or save it and watch it grow with an interest rate of up to 15% (potentially growing to ₱200,000). Vote to Save-Evict: This season, voting will be done entirely through the Maya app, as opposed to the two platforms (Kumu and text voting) that were used in the previous seasons, namely Connect and Kumunity 10. To vote, viewers must first create a Maya account, verify their account, and have enough funds to vote. Viewers can cast 10, 50, or 110 votes (one peso = one vote for 10 and 50 votes, or ₱100 for 110 votes) to save or evict a housemate of their choice from eviction. Viewers have only 15 chances to vote each day, which will be reset at midnight. This method was eventually discontinued after the seventh eviction round due to widespread and violent use of the vote-to-evict against several housemates, and it was replaced solely by the vote-to-save beginning with the eighth nomination round. Unlimited Voting: Carried over from the previous season, unlimited voting was re-introduced as a twist during the open voting held on Day 86 to determine the Big 4 up to the Big Night again to determine the season's winner. Unlike the usual 15-votes-per-user-per-day limit in previous eviction rounds, viewers could now vote as many times as they wished during the open voting period and the finale. Two-in-one housemates: This season featured two sets of two-in-one housemates. This is the third season to feature more than one two-in-one housemates compete after the second celebrity season and Double Up. On Day 1, Dingdong Bahan and Patrick Ramirez, who are a couple, were introduced as two-in-one housemates. As part of a challenge, Big Brother only allowed one of them to enter the house on launch night. During their first week together, they were assigned different tasks and told to keep their relationship a secret until later. They accomplished this and were able to keep their status as a two-in-one housemate. On Day 34, Joli Alferez and Gwen Montano, who had previously been considered separate housemates and entered the house on Days 24 and 33, were turned into a two-in-one housemate by Big Brother due to their "situationship" in the outside world. Both completed separate tasks to become official housemates, eventually becoming the next set of two-in-one housemates competing. Eleven "official housemate" slots: On Day 1, Big Brother revealed to the housemates that they were only referred to as "houseguests," but in reality, they are all housemates. Big Brother then revealed eleven "official housemate" positions for the "houseguests" to fill throughout the week. Three voting rounds were held to determine the "housemates," and those who were not chosen were at risk of being included on the list of nominees for the first eviction. This challenge put the housemates' integrity with one another, as well as their commitment and willingness to stay in the house, to the test. Intruders: More housemates entered the house in the coming weeks, beginning on Day 16.