Nathan: He is probably the second or even best character of the season. Very dynamic with personal content from his life, his position within the house dynamics as well as being a fun character. He was funny which is what I like in a housemate but was also very aware of the nature of the game, he was one of the few who knew how to nominate properly. However, in the week he was evicted I did get irritated with him really trying to lead the group to fail the task and would chastise anyone who displayed opposing thoughts, and I did not agree with him about Jess and Marty “excluding others” being the same about the bedroom situation. But in saying that when he leaves that’s kind of it. The season is dead and it becomes the Jess and Marty show. Without Nathan the only non-romance storyline is Kieran being a dag.
Alex: I found him even more boring this time compared to the other two times I’ve watched. I really was thinking his arc picks up closer to his eviction, yet it never did. I don’t really know anything about him other than the fact his birthday is sometime when the series aired. I didn’t notice his absence at all and I don’t really care to say anything else. However, he was probably the best at nominating and giving concise reasons. He’d probably thrive in the modern format.
Mirabai: I liked her a lot on this rewatch. I have always looked back at this season and thought wow Mirabai was boring, but not this time. I don’t particularly like showmances but she was an interesting little one jumping from Damian to Brodie. It seems she was slut shamed which is sad, I don’t really judge anyone for what they do in the house regarding situations with partners. I haven’t ever been in an experience like that and I don’t know what it’s like to feel the things they feel so I will not pass judgement on her for pretty much cheating on her boyfriend. I liked her hippy vibe, I liked her friendship with Jess and Marty as the three became the rootable underdogs during bedroom wars and I found her lack of skills with household chores comical and relatable. I have drastically increased my opinion on her and had an All Stars been done 15 years ago I would have liked to have seen her included as a random choice. I did not expect to like her as much as I did tbh.
Keiran: I loved him on my first watch, loved him on the second and on this one I haven’t changed my opinion. He’s not conventionally attractive, he’s relatable, can laugh at himself and was a fun presence in the house that did make me laugh. I am not surprised he got the most votes to enter as an intruder and I would say it’s well deserved and earnt. Like Brodie it sucks that he was nominated against the couple, I don’t think he could have won but he would have made those last few weeks more fun than they were. I’d like to see more people like him on reality TV today.
Jessica: Again, like Keiran I loved her again and again and if not more this time. She was the ONLY one who I genuinely found myself smiling and laughing out throughout the course of the season. She has the perfect personality for TV and you could tell she genuinely loved the experience. I don’t really care much for the her and Marty thing as much as it seems many people did, as I think she stands very well on her own as a likeable figure. Robbed 4th place goddess like many other reality TV seasons and her not being in the final week is just sad. She made the most of her time by always having fun and was a dynamic character all around. She was fun on uncut too, I have slim to zero bad things to say about her. Her horrible nominations were so hilariously over the top and her fun-loving attitude is infectious. She made this season. Had it not been for her then I really would have struggled a lot. Just like Sara-Marie, Jessica helps my contention stand that vote to save is better than vote to evict.
Sahra: I don’t have a lot to say about her at all. I do like her, I mean she is likeable and I didn’t not enjoy some of her scenes. But apart from uncut she was just kind of there. The three-person friendship between her, Alex and Nathan also came out of nowhere on the edit. She is to me the definition of neutral if I was to rank every single BBAU housemate.
Marty: I have always thought of him to be so boring. I ranked the runners-up a while ago and put him last. But like Mirabai I have completely shifted my opinion on him. IMO he is the better version of Blair. He was always having fun and was always a likeable presence on the show. I roll my eyes usually whenever someone calls themselves “happy-go-lucky” but I actually think that’s an accurate description of him. He was literally always having fun and smiling on the daily shows and always got involved with house activities. I don’t think I have ever seen a male housemate have such a huge array of different undies as well lmao. He was extremely cute and I can see why Jess fell for him despite his age. To also see a straight male be so comfortable with sexuality in such an early season of RTV is also very wholesome to watch. My opinion on him has skyrocketed from what I went into this having.
Peter: Now here we have my least favourite winner of BBAU and that is including Chad and Marley. Talk about B O R I N G. He got shown talking about his parents and then was in love with Turkan and then disappears for the next 6 weeks to then win. As horrible as I feel for someone to lose both parents so young, I still don’t find him interesting or entertaining. I do not care what the winners of these shows do with the money at all. If they want to help their families go for it, spend it on clothes go for it, spend it on partying go for it or give it away I really do not care. I wouldn’t have voted for him if I could just because he could have used the money to help his family. There’s no reason why any of the other housemates wouldn’t have needed the money the same if not more than he did. I just choose to never really let this impact how I feel about choosing a winner or a rooting interest. There are times where in the series if he was nominated in the right mix up, he probably would be evicted (for example if he was nominated maybe against Sahra or Marty around halfway he probably goes). Him winning is not satisfying to me. I still like to think people were confused on how the voting worked and voting Marty thinking they were voting him to win.
That wraps up my thoughts on 2002. Three years ago, when I intended on doing a full Big Brother rewatch this season took me so long to watch that I did not bother to keep going whilst Uni was on. But now I have made it through and will be continuing on with BB3. Let’s go Reggie!
