So, let me explain...
BB04:
Bree was wrongly evicted in Week 10 due to a vote counting error instead of Wesley. When she was put back into the house, Bree suffered emotionally with the added pressure that she had a slight advantage in the game after being outside for a few hours and her fellow HM's theorised that it would alter the way Bree portrayed herself. Wesley was quoted as saying: "
They've gone out there now and shown all the best parts of Bree [...]
so now they're gonna bring into the house this brand new, great girl; she might be a new crowd favourite." And Paul was spot-on by stating that: "
She's the most popular face in the country at the moment; she's the poor girl who got evicted and wasn't meant to be."
As it turned out, Bree wasn't evicted again until Finale night when she became runner-up of the season. I feel that what happened here was a case of sympathy voting and for the fact that because she'd already been evicted once (even in error) people weren't going to let her go again while there were others still in the house who hadn't given the audience the satisfaction of seeing them be evicted yet. In saying that, for all we know Bree may very well have reached the Finale regardless - she was undoubtedly the "alpha female" of BB04 and was a popular HM all season, but it makes you wonder how the rest of the evictions (particularly those of Ryan and Paul, who were much larger characters overall) would have played out without Bree's incorrect eviction fiasco taking place. It definitely would have changed nominations and also affected storylines in those last few weeks.
Who do I think would have won the season instead? While it isn't ideal, Trevor probably would have still won by default, but the chances of Bree making it over Ryan in any normal circumstance isn't an infeasible theory.
BB06:
The most controversial and biggest downfall of the show was obviously the "turkey slap" incident that occurred in Week 10 between Ashley, John and Camilla. This moment arguably marked the "beginning of the end" for Big Brother Australia and is what completely destroyed Australia's general perception of the Big Brother brand forever. It also sent what started as a brilliantly planned and well-thought-out season into total disarray. As a result, the Uncut/Adults Only program was axed and the live house streaming was restricted (and eventually removed all together). Internet content regulations were tightened nationally (not just in relation to Big Brother) and ACMA proposed for the legislation to broaden their regulatory powers to also cover both Internet and mobile phone broadcasts. After John and Ashely were removed from the house they were replaced by two new male HM's (Max and Chris) and Camilla, like Bree, also became runner-up of the season. This is where things get interesting.
Had this huge controversy not happened, I personally believe we would've seen a very different outcome to not only BB06 but also to the following BB seasons, including the fact that I strongly disbelieve Gretel Killeen would have ever been unceremoniously cut from the show after BB07 nor do I think that the series itself would have ended on Channel 10 after BB08. I am uncertain at just how much longer it would run but I can only imagine what kind of BB07 and BB08 we might've received if the "turkey slap" hadn't caused such a rift in the series.
If the rest of BB06 continued without fuss, I am confident that Camilla almost definitely would not have been runner-up (again, I believe she also fell victim to sympathy votes) and I actually believe we'd have seen David at the Finale (and potentially even win). When you re-add Ashley and John into the mix but minus Max and Chris from the last few nomination rounds, it obviously becomes a bit of a struggle to predict an alternate order that the HM's would've actually been evicted in. However, if you take past seasons into account, a HM who has been part of some sort of twist or surprise implemented by Big Brother at the beginning of their season nearly always remains in the house until the last week (BB05's Greg, BB07's Billy, BB08's Terri and BB10's Jade are all clear examples of this), therefore it's not a far-fetched theory to suggest that Krystal would have also been there for at least the Double Eviction on Day 99 (with Ashley or John being evicted around Week 13 instead). Theoretically, I'm willing to place Camilla, David, Krystal and Jamie as the final four.
As far as Big Brother goes, had the "turkey slap" not caused the eventual demise of the show on Channel 10, we would've seen the series develop very diversely to recent years and it wouldn't have digressed as far from the original concept as much as it has today. On the other hand, who's to say that the show wouldn't have continued well into its tenth or so season with Channel 10 but grow as stale as Australian Idol did by 2009? Even so, I highly doubt it would have ever become the mind-numbing mockery that Channel 9 has started to produce and I don't believe Kyle and Jackie-O would have hosted BB08 at all. If it were still to be that the show got "rested" then bought by another network, I think we would've seen a situation similar to what happened on BBUK when it finished on Channel 4 then picked up by Channel 5, rather than how Channel 9 renewed it here but with the strict proviso that it be "family-friendly".
The "turkey slap" is undoubtedly the pinnacle moment of BBAU's undoing, so it's interesting to think about what could have happened to the whole show had that incident not become such a big deal in the first place.
BB09:
In Week 9, Josh was informed that his brother has suddenly passed away. Josh spent a night outside of the house where he made the decision to withdraw from the show. As a result of Josh leaving, voting lines for that week's eviction were closed with all votes cast invalidated (despite Josh not even being up for nomination at all), the eviction show was cancelled and the weekly task also ended prematurely.
While he wasn't one of my favourites, Josh was clearly a popular HM with the public and at the time of his departure he had never been nominated at all. Therefore, I pose a question: where do you think he would have placed had he not withdrawn from the competition and, more interestingly, how do you think it would have affected the remaining order of evictions?
Angie, Estelle and Sam were all nominated in the week that the eviction was cancelled. As happened in the following week, Angie would have likely still been the next to go regardless. But then I don't think the likes of Sam and Zoe would have lasted as long as they did either had Josh still been around. Chances are, the continuing "bromance" between Josh and Michael would have prevented Michael from running his own game plan completely off-track, which meant the two of them had the potential to run the season right to end. Without Josh, it's obvious that Michael's overall strategy in the house began showing flaws and his ultimately fatal mistake was kissing Estelle after spending weeks criticizing her in attempt to start a "showmance" only days away from the Finale. In all honesty, I think Josh would have remained in the house until the final day. In turn, I think Michael would have remained alongside Josh, which means Layla would have more than likely been evicted in the weeks prior. Going off the fact that Benjamin's percentage of votes in the two weeks before the Finale were slightly lower than Estelle's, I also believe we might have seen Benjamin actually miss out on the Finale by a very small margin, probably evicted in the Double Eviction on Day 85, especially if such a "loved" character such as Josh was still in the house. Realistically, I almost believe that the final three HM's could have potentially been Estelle, Michael and Josh in this version of events, with Michael inevitably winning. With Josh still there as a "side-kick" to Michael, it would have been a lot more easier for him to take out the win that way. (For my sake, I am glad he didn't though.)
At the end of the day, I stand by one of my greatest beliefs that "everything happens for a reason" but this is still an incredibly intriguing concept to think about.
Over-thinking it all? Perhaps. But that's what I do best.
Thoughts?
