Leon Murray (old voice of BB) fired at last minute

the Theorist

the Theorist

Overanalyzing this show since 2001.
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BBman said:
Everyone have a look at a daily mail article about Leon Murray and the reason he was axed. Apparently the cost and wanting to promote himself as BB.
10 wanted someone less known and not to promote themselves. I'm actually happy 10 didn't let Leon get his way. I'm glad they said no to promoting himself, we want a bb that's unknown
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Thing is, as per the excerpt below, that's already started to backfire because one of the reasons we didn't want Leon is because we don't want that cartoonish, OTT, first-person speaking Big Brother. What happened to "Bolder, Badder" in 2025? He isn't meant to be the HMs buddy, and Leon's style is synonymous with family-friendly BB. It's simply cringe.

"With negotiations collapsing, producers quietly turned to a familiar face, Gold Coast-based voice artist Pete Cunningham, who once trained under Murray. Cunningham has been instructed to deliver his lines in a near-identical style, sparking concern from loyal staff who worked on earlier versions of the show.​
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"Pete was trained under Leon, and he mimics him almost perfectly," an insider revealed. ​
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"It's basically a photocopy voice. You'd think it was Leon until you really listen."​
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But the double standard hasn't gone unnoticed."​
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www.dailymail.co.uk

Big Brother Australia AXED as chaos erupts behind the scenes

It's the sound every Australian reality fan can recognise in a heartbeat - deep, commanding and loaded with nostalgia.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk

More thoughts below...
 
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Also, love the freshness of Pete Cunningham - I'll be first to admit I was one of the few who were very vocal about wanting him as the revival's main Big Brother. However, this so-called Leon "photocopy" version is not it. It doesn't work and somebody should have picked up on that before the season started.

I've always felt the Big Brother voices in Australia differ from overseas counterparts in that he is more of a secondary character in our series. They're a vital component to the show and so many of our different "eras" of BBAU can be clearly defined by the legacy that each Big Brother left on their respective seasons.

Pete definitely has the potential to be the right balance between having the deep sternness of Nick Colquhoun with the cheekiness of Leon, without sounding corny and over-the-top. But directing him to essentially be Leon doesn't quite meld, and nor should it.

Once they made the decision to go in another direction, Pete should've absolutely been given the opportunity to make this series his own. Just like every other fresh Big Brother voice before him.
 
the Theorist said:
Also, love the freshness of Pete Cunningham - I'll be first to admit I was one of the few who were very vocal about wanting him as the revival's main Big Brother. However, this so-called Leon "photocopy" version is not it. It doesn't work and somebody should have picked up on that before the season started.

I've always felt the Big Brother voices in Australia differ from overseas counterparts in that he is more of a secondary character in our series. They're a vital component to the show and so many of our different "eras" of BBAU can be clearly defined by the legacy that each Big Brother left on their respective seasons.

Pete definitely has the potential to be the right balance between having the deep sternness of Nick Colquhoun with the cheekiness of Leon, without sounding corny and over-the-top. But directing him to essentially be Leon doesn't quite meld, and nor should it.

Once they made the decision to go in another direction, Pete should've absolutely been given the opportunity to make this series his own. Just like every other fresh Big Brother voice before him.
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Nick Colquhoun! Ugh that voice, get him back in the drivers seat. Also need the stern instruction like in this vid

 
DDN said:
Umm… what? Is the person who made this comment almost deaf?
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To be fair, I do hear it.

Tonight's episode had a prime (vomit-inducing) example: "Big Brother thinks you're pretty great, bruh" - and also last night on the streams, he said goodnight to the HMs then Vinnie wanted attention, so BB quietly whispered "goodnight Vinnie". That has all the earmarks of Leon's Big Brother.
 
Thanks for posting. I'd been wondering about more to the story. What a mess! Although I wouldnt be thinking this at all if they hadn't got Leon for the promos! You'd think they had their things in order to get that far. Like we thought Mike Goldman was back because of his involvement in some promos too.

Anyway I dont think Pete Cunningham is really doing it for me. I just look at him as a standin whereas Peter Abbott, Nick Colquhoun and Leon Murray as the main bbs. I dont think Pete can do a big enough voice.
 
Interesting things I pulled:

"After preliminary meetings and recording promotional material, negotiations reportedly stalled when Network Ten baulked at Murray's fee, estimated at $800 per recorded voice segment.
Each line, insiders claim, would be billed separately every time Big Brother spoke.
'The numbers started to look scary for the network,' an insider admitted. 'Leon was asking for rates that reflected his legacy, but the production wasn't prepared to pay that kind of money.'
Murray is also understood to have pushed for greater creative involvement and a producer credit, along with the right to publicly promote himself as the voice of Big Brother.

[...]

Murray was reportedly told not to publicly discuss his role or brand himself as Big Brother, yet Cunningham has already begun promoting his events company, Glo Events, on social media while referencing his involvement with the show.
'Network Ten chucked Leon in for this exact kind of self-promotion,' one insider said. 'The double standards have not sat well with him. It's hypocritical.'"
 
Having grown up with Leon as BB (was too young for ch10), this is disappointing but also understandable from production. Pretty ridiculous of Leon. From what I have seen of him I think he is a bit... overconfident as a person maybe?
 
the Theorist said:
And yet the very large majority of casual fans on social media continually insist on wanting the "OG BB voice"... referring to Leon... without realising there was at least two other main voices before him.
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Yep, thats why I'm surprised some say there was backlash at his announcement. I wasn't aware of this supposed backlash until I got told about it and so think it was just by like 3 people here?

I see people who love Leon as bb all over instagram/Facebook, etc.
 
Thing is Pete had his own unique voice that worked when he was a deputy under Leon on 9. It was sort of relaxing to hear too.

He’s nailed Leon’s voice though.
 
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