Big Brother is back for its' 18th series and these days, it's less 'social experiment' and more 'huge, giant celebrity maker extravaganza'. Lets take a look at what's changed from season one in 2000 to season 18 in 2016...
The House
Big Brother House 2000
The first house was located in Bow which, back in the pre-property boom days of 2000 was probably considered the 'outskirts' of London and pretty darn affordable. Now, good lucking finding anything cheaper than a 1 bedroom flat in this previously run down area of East London for less than £600k.
The house was pretty basic. IKEA mattresses, two bedrooms (male and female) one bathroom, a garden, a patio area and a chicken coop. Oh and a jacuzzi that appeared several weeks in. Presumably in a bid to get the housemates wearing a little less.
Big Brother House 2016
Despite This Morning's Richard Arnold claiming that the house 'feels like prison' 2016's place is a darn sight more fancy than the house from 16 years earlier. There's a fancy light up kitchen bar, a lovely outdoor space with pool and jacuzzi, a massive multi-person bathroom. But, there's just one bedroom with double beds. Gross.
In 2002, the house was moved to Elstree Studios in Borehamwood. This year, the house was extended significantly to include TWO houses which means a whole bunch more housemates hiding across the way...
The Launch
Big Brother Launch 2000
What would Big Brother be like without it's huge gigantic reveal show? Pretty dry actually. In 2000, the housemates entered the house to no fanfare on the 14th July, were filmed for four days before the series premiered to the UK on July 18th. A couple of friends and family showed up to wave them in as they all enterered the barbed wire gates together before the fire door to the studio closed behind them but there was none of this live TV nonsense to deal with on the very first day.
Big Brother Launch 2016
Obviously you know the deal now. A huge, 125 minute long public extravaganza presented by Emma Willis that the top trends on Twitter - beating even the EU Referendum debate. The housemates enter one by one (except the twins, there's twins that count as one contestant) to a smashing, flashing VT featuring them saying things like 'I have a crazy life, hotel parties, people passing out on my floor that I've never met. I want to FUCK SHIT UP' (That's Marco Pierre White's son. He seems like a charming lad) and 'we've met extra terrestrials' (the twins again) and 'If I walk into a room I can have any guy in there' - that's from a lass called Laura.
The contestants' professions
Contestants' professions 2000
Back in 2000, people had normal jobs. Andy was a product marketing manager, Anna was a nun, Claire was a florist, Craig a builder, Darren, greeter at the Millenium Dome, Nichola an art teacher and Tom a farmer.
Contestants's professions 2016
Now, things have changed. Everyone's got about 17 professions and none of them sound like they're an actual thing. Check it out; Alex is a 'model and TV personality'. Chelsea is an 'entrepeneur', Emma & Victoria are 'international DJs, models and dancers'. Sam is a 'hairstylist and model', Laura is a model, dancer and club hostess'. There's a whole bunch more 'models' chucked in there too. Shout out to Andy West, the lone real-jobber in the house who was the BBC journalist who quit over the BBC's refusal to remove Tyson Fury from the shortlist for Sports Personality Of The Year for his homophobic comments.
The contestants ages
The contestants' ages in 2000
The only thing that's stayed the same really. The average age in 2000 was 28.18 with the youngest being 23 (Andy) and the oldest coming in at 37 (Caroline).
The contestants' ages in 2016
Now, the average age is 29.08. Chelsea is 48 and the oldest whilst Evelyn is the youngest at 20.
Celebrity vs non celebrity
What is a celebrity? 2016's line-up just proves we don't actually know anymore. Arguably, Big Brother was the catalyst for Z-list celebrity culture. Prior to Big Brother, celebrities were Hollywood stars with great teeth and designer clothes. Post Big Brother and the rise of the celebrity weekly magazines, anyone could be a celeb; Jane from Bolton, Tim from Ludgate. It didn't matter if they were good looking or had any talent. All they needed was a place on a reality show and a willing to bare their soul.
People from Big Brother 2000 left the house as celebrities, people from Big Brother 2016 are entering the house as self-confessed celebs. Marco Pierre White's son has already got nearly 41k followers on Instagram. That's the same amount as someone like Vicky McClure - one of the UK's most-admired actresses. Laura Carter (the girl who can get any guy in the room) has nearly 60K. Lateysha's already appeared on a reality show, MTV's The Valleys. She's got 203k followers.
How they looked
The people in 2000? They looked like normal people. The crooked teeth, the dodgy clothes, the red-ish faces and crappy hair.... That's how normal people are meant to look.
Compare that to this years' entrants. Thanks to contouring, fast fashion, a rising interest in health and fitness, improvements in beauty products and a healthy dose of Instagram filtering, 2016's contestants already look like ready-made celebrities. The only thing separating Lateysha and Kim Kardashian's Instagram is 72 million followers and a couple of pictures of private jets. Sadly, the days of watching reality celebs transform from nice looking people into shiny, beautiful swans (hey there CherylCole) are long gone. These days, people can do it for themselves.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.