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Gretel..

Yes, I love Sonia. The only criticism I have of her is putting her feet on one of the girls faces, Penny I think her name was. That was uncalled and not the least bit funny. Other than that I have no issues with her.

People accuse her of being patronising comparing her hosting style to that of a teacher speaking to prep students but it doesn't bother me in the slightest. Let's face it this show is designed to pander to school children an whenever she talks like that I'm not assuming she has adult viewers in mind at that particular moment but school children who are fans of the show.

As much as I prefer Gretel over Sonia I do agree however that Sonia would suit the today audience of Big Brother better then Gretel. Like you said, BB this days is targeting school children more
 
Sonia for me is part of the dumbing down of the show like it's for a much younger audience, and I think she's one of the reasons why the show has got a smaller audience on the new channel. I don't really feel she has much interest in the program, it's just a job and nothing more to her.

I thought Gretel was great on season 7, I had no problems at all there. And I definitely think she had more interest than Sonia has shown who is just reading her script and putting on the cutesy facade as it's some show for children.
 
Sonia for me is part of the dumbing down of the show like it's for a much younger audience, and I think she's one of the reasons why the show has got a smaller audience on the new channel. I don't really feel she has much interest in the program, it's just a job and nothing more to her.

I thought Gretel was great on season 7, I had no problems at all there. And I definitely think she had more interest than Sonia has shown who is just reading her script and putting on the cutesy facade as it's some show for children.
Oh this we know for sure. Gretel spent many, many hours of her own time just watching the HM's and really getting to know them so that upon their eviction, she would have decent questions prepared (as well as ones formed based on notes from other people) rather than the generic questions Sonia was given to ask. Gretel would also quite often bring things up that were never shown on the Daily Show or UpLate and was also able to discuss events as though she was in the house when they occurred - because she pretty much was, as a fly on the wall.

She allowed Big Brother to consume her life more many months for seven years, and is probably why she was burned out and over it by the end. That dedication became the norm, and to scale back would've created a sense of her slowly giving up and disconnecting from her role.
 
The housemate you are referring to is Jamie McDonald from the 2007 series. Yes I agree that was one eviction interview in particular where Gretel was quite rude and a bit over the top, even in the nomination show Jamie made small jokes about Gretel liking him and Gretel did seem like she didn't want to know the guy. But that's what made Gretel a great host! She was unscripted, uncensored and just plain brilliant. Her sarcasm gave the show a whole new aspect. The live shows felt more then just a show, they felt like national events! Gretel was obviously very into her work and was deeply engaged when talking to housemates. Sonia is so scripted and boring. When Jason was evicted last year we could see the auto cue. Sonia makes the evictions feel more like ore recorded eliminations like you see on Masterchef and the biggest loser. Sonia makes the stupidest jokes and the only reason she gets laughs is because the audience is told to. Gretel probably wouldn't be into hosting Big Brother now but I do believe that if she did return as host then that would be the shows saving grace.
Still one of the most disgusting things i've seen.

If anyone here was around on the old official forum back at that time, it was savage between the " mean girls " ( cornell fans ) and the " decent people " fans and i always had the suspicion that gretel herself was 1 of the posters leading the charge.

Things were said and i'm certain she took it out on him.


Spoken to the great man many a time and it seems I took it more personally than he did.

Great bloke, missus and kid now
 
Spare me, this isn't about one a particular housemates it's about the barely contained disdain she approached all the hms in the latter seasons she hosted.

Killeen has and will always be a basic bitch to me. She can hide behind her so-called 'intellect' (highly debatable) and whatnot but underneath it all there's a nasty bitter and twisted misandrist residing inside her who has a higher opinion of herself hat has no basis in reality.

'Calling' out (more like ridiculing the stars who put food on her table, ungrateful bitch) Big Brother contestants just gave her the outlet to let that side of her out in the open and get away with it scott free because of fans like you who detested housemates she condescended to with glee and championed her as some kind of feminist role model as some form of thank you. *yuck*

PS

In a funny way Kingston reminds of Killeen. Yet you have a problem with the former (rightfully so) but are willing to kiss the arse of the former (mindbogling). Go figure.
I might have it wrong but didn't she get divorced around s1-2...and there was a noticeable shift in her on-air attitude.

Which just got progressively worse until they axed her
 
I might have it wrong but didn't she get divorced around s1-2...and there was a noticeable shift in her on-air attitude.

Which just got progressively worse until they axed her

No one axed her. She decided to leave the show after season 7.
 
For me, Gretel is Big Brother Australia. She was, and to an extent still is, the face of the show in this country.

However, as much I absolutely adore Gretel in so many ways, there's a number of reasons why she just wouldn't be right for the show anymore. First of all, she has moved on, plain and simple. But in addition to that, the host of a live show needs somebody who is current and also in-touch with today's viewers. Unfortunately Gretel doesn't fill that quota anymore and, apart from her stints on Mornings (does she still do that?) she has pretty much dropped off the radar nowadays.

To quote myself from a recent post I made in another thread, the problem with Gretel and her current relationship with Big Brother (if her recent interview in 2012 on ABC's One Plus One show was anything to go by) she seems to now hold some sort of disaffection towards it and the time she spent hosting it. I know she certainly loved it for several years during its prime (and she was bloody fan-effing-tastic at her job, probably the best live TV host this country has ever had in my opinion) and she dealt with hell of a lot during her time on BB (more than most other hosts ever would, or even could) but she definitely lost touch with the show towards the end.

And in all honesty, I don't blame her for the distaste, considering the way she was (in my view) unceremoniously dismissed in between seasons. Regardless of whether it was a mutual decision or not, personally I will never be content with the fact that she never received the on-air send-off/farewell that she absolutely deserved - and that phone call interview at the BB08 Finale doesn't count as a send-off either.

But yeah, unfortunately Gretel wouldn't suit the show today, nor any show to be completely honest. I'm sure she's quite happy living away from the spotlight too after being a very prominent figure on our screens for a long time. Best wishes to her, I say.
Agree 100%. Was Gretel fired or was it a mutual decision? I’m tending to think it may have been mutually agreed to an extent. I always felt that Gretel was kind of running out the clock on BB towards the end of the run… Things like the Michael incident and her other interviews where she was harsh with HM’s were a result of her desire to be done with the show. When production changed for BB08 and the desire to take the show a new direction came up it’s possible she thought it was the right time to step aside.

As for whether she should have returned it makes sense why she didn’t/wouldn’t. I think it could have worked but not with the show we currently have. Had they gone with more of a BBCAN vibe for the series I think she would have loved it.
 
It's surprising really that Big Brother is still Gretel's last big primetime hosting gig. I guess that might be partly her choice but as previously said her main roles have been guest hosting or just guesting as a panelist. Even with Australian TV now reduced to only talent shows really having hosts front and centre nowadays it's amazing how someone so talented really hasn't had a flagship role in the 14 years since she left the show she hosted so successfully, and on her terms.
 
It's surprising really that Big Brother is still Gretel's last big primetime hosting gig. I guess that might be partly her choice but as previously said her main roles have been guest hosting or just guesting as a panelist. Even with Australian TV now reduced to only talent shows really having hosts front and centre nowadays it's amazing how someone so talented really hasn't had a flagship role in the 14 years since she left the show she hosted so successfully, and on her terms.
I’m shocked that she hasn’t started her own production company TBH.
 
For me, Gretel is Big Brother Australia. She was, and to an extent still is, the face of the show in this country.

However, as much I absolutely adore Gretel in so many ways, there's a number of reasons why she just wouldn't be right for the show anymore. First of all, she has moved on, plain and simple. But in addition to that, the host of a live show needs somebody who is current and also in-touch with today's viewers. Unfortunately Gretel doesn't fill that quota anymore and, apart from her stints on Mornings (does she still do that?) she has pretty much dropped off the radar nowadays.

To quote myself from a recent post I made in another thread, the problem with Gretel and her current relationship with Big Brother (if her recent interview in 2012 on ABC's One Plus One show was anything to go by) she seems to now hold some sort of disaffection towards it and the time she spent hosting it. I know she certainly loved it for several years during its prime (and she was bloody fan-effing-tastic at her job, probably the best live TV host this country has ever had in my opinion) and she dealt with hell of a lot during her time on BB (more than most other hosts ever would, or even could) but she definitely lost touch with the show towards the end.

And in all honesty, I don't blame her for the distaste, considering the way she was (in my view) unceremoniously dismissed in between seasons. Regardless of whether it was a mutual decision or not, personally I will never be content with the fact that she never received the on-air send-off/farewell that she absolutely deserved - and that phone call interview at the BB08 Finale doesn't count as a send-off either.

But yeah, unfortunately Gretel wouldn't suit the show today, nor any show to be completely honest. I'm sure she's quite happy living away from the spotlight too after being a very prominent figure on our screens for a long time. Best wishes to her, I say.
Agree 100%. Was Gretel fired or was it a mutual decision? I’m tending to think it may have been mutually agreed to an extent. I always felt that Gretel was kind of running out the clock on BB towards the end of the run… Things like the Michael incident and her other interviews where she was harsh with HM’s were a result of her desire to be done with the show. When production changed for BB08 and the desire to take the show a new direction came up it’s possible she thought it was the right time to step aside.

As for whether she should have returned it makes sense why she didn’t/wouldn’t. I think it could have worked but not with the show we currently have. Had they gone with more of a BBCAN vibe for the series I think she would have loved it.
Reading back my almost seven-year-old post was quite a nice surprise. Still agree with all of the above.
 
I suspect she happily gave up that gig when finances allowed her to do so. She has said on numerous occasions that she found the exposure and fame very confronting and at times lonely. I don't blame her for not wanting to be back in the spotlight.

Bravo Gretel!
 
I was thinking about the 2007 Finale the other day and I think that was the last straw though as well, She was appeared to be frazzled by having to drag out the show because they were struggling to get a clear verified result and was over it by the end.
 
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