VERY LONG POST !!!!
I finally get to lay down in bed after an exhausting 2 days of constant travelling. So I’ll share with you all my experience at the BBUK love eviction show.
The studio is a short walk away from the train station, once I got to the studio at about 7:20PM and along the walk there were about 7 security guards every few meters showing people which way to go. Once I got to the studio I entered a giant warehouse that looked like a giant school gymnasium where we were all to line up.
Lining up took about 45 minutes and the process was extremely slow. Once you reached the end of the line they would scan your ticket and then lock your phone in a yondr pouch. Apparently ITV are extremely strict when it comes to photography according to the floor manager.
The security was also pretty tight, we all got fully patted down and had to empty pockets and prove we had no other phones/photography devices on us. One lady was told to remove her watch (something about it being able to take pictures) and she went ballistic at the security lol. Her husband had already passed through and she called him back over and they stormed out and left lmao.
Once you get checked you go sit down in rows of about 80 or so, just as you would in primary school assembly or so. There was about 300-400 people I’d say in the hall once I was in there. What really shocked me was that about 70% of the people there were easily under the age of 30. There were some people older, who must have been long term fans as I heard them discuss how this was a lot smaller than what the crowds used to be. Oh and so many gay couples. I’ve never felt so single in my life lol.
The floor manager also told us that 10,000 people applied for tickets and we were all very lucky to get them. So I’d say the chances of there being repeat attendees in the crowd is not likely at.
We sat down in our rows for about half an hour and then at 8:20 they opened the roller door and allowed us row by row to walk over to the stage. The stage is TINY. It was honestly so small I was so shocked once I saw it. It is literally the size of a regular person’s backyard. I was no more than about 2.5 meters away from the stage.
The staff were super friendly actually. The guy that comes out and hypes up the crowd was so funny. They really emphasis how important the crowd is to the show. During ad breaks there’s a DJ that plays music and we all danced and the best dancers got a signed card from AJ and Will.
Speaking of, AJ and Will came out within minutes of us all arriving. And they were super friendly and did so well. They interacted with us and they really appreciated all the enthusiasm. Poor AJ was freezing in the jumpsuit as it was really cold. She had to hold heat bags and had hot water bottles on her feet to keep her warm. Will is also so much sexier IRL. I thought he just sucks in his cheeks in pictures, but no he just has really nice cheekbones.
Honestly, they have way more chemistry than the show lets us see. They were super happy and looked like they were genuinely having fun as we watched them rehearse lines together and they even danced and sung with us during the ad breaks.
There’s also so many people working on the show behind the cameras. Every time the show crossed back to the daily show a team of about 8 or so people would rush onto the stage to do up AJ’s makeup and fix up Will’s hair. There were multiple camera men and heaps of supervising producers and many security in the midst of the crowd.
They also loved the signs in the crowd (I really wish I made one now) they actually took time to look at every single one of them and even invited everyone with a sign to come and take a group photo with AJ and Will. And because there’s three different spots in the crowd where AJ and Will present from there’s multiple opportunities for crowd members to appear on screen.
As for the crowd, they hate Kerry. It was made obvious to me as early as walking towards the house in our rows. I heard multiple people say things like “Kerry is a horrible person”. They really hated her. That crowd genuinely despised her. Surprisingly they loved Jenkin, anytime he came on screen they’d all laugh. There was a lot of praise for Jordan and pretty much universal love for Yinrun. I cheered for Yinrun and the people around me started to as well and we got so loud to the point where one of the security had to tell us to calm down.
You may notice that in last week’s show when AJ was naming Farida and Kerry as nominees there was almost no cheers the first time their names were spoken. It seems the first crowd did the same thing as us, we weren’t sure if we were allowed to make noise so we didn’t do anything. Then later in the ad break the crowd manager said to us whenever they read a nominees name we are to cheer even if they aren’t our favourites.
Along with that, they never explicitly told us not to boo, but they were definitely alluding to wanting us to cheer and be crazy and loud.
When I was walking in my row I heard a group of girls behind me discussing if they could boo or not, I said I’m pretty sure we can’t. Everyone seemed to be under the impression that we either couldn’t boo or it wasn’t very clear if we could. But once we all figured out it was pretty much free reign, yeah…
During the whole show the crowd was rather positive for most of it. Yinrun was getting literal universal cheers from everyone. Many people were interested in the Matty and Jordan storyline when it showed on screen. The only negative thing I noticed was Olivia and Hallie getting booed when AJ and Will mentioned the rule breaking.
When it came time to the eviction I was not expecting the get Kerry out chants at all. The crowd was not giving that vibe at all. I knew they didn’t like Kerry, but I really thought everyone would just be positive like they asked us to be. But omg once they crossed to the house and the chants started. It was just so weird. I wasn’t expecting it at all.
I was on the centre left part of the crowd facing the stage, the chants started coming from the right side. Everyone around me was shocked at it and we all just started laughing at how savage it was. Everyone was surprised at it. Then everyone else started joining in. I’m not sure if everyone just stopped to let AJ talk or if the other side was told to stop. Either way, it came out of literal no where.
So yeah, then Zak left and he seemed so uncomfortable facing the crowd in person. He looked so tense up on stage.
Oh and also, the late and live stage is literally right next to the house, like 10 meters from the end of the walkway. And the fire exit door seems to be used because it’s the only door I think that is actually there. The other entrance was blocked by numerous security and camera men.
Once AJ, Will and Zak had entered the late and live studio, we started to all head off back down towards the street to leave. Of course everyone was desperate to get their phones out of those pockets lol.
But yeah, that was my experience. Honestly I had so much fun. That’s one of the highlights of my European trip so far. I’ll forever remember it as a great experience. I’ll absolutely go out of my way to try go again!
I hope I included everything. Ask any questions if it seems there’s things I should have mentioned!