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Big Brother launches this weekend! Here’s a wrap up of recent bits-and-pieces you need to know before the premiere:

• Housemates will enter over three nights throughout the first week, so we won’t meet all of them within the short 90 minute launch episode.
• Promos ‘revealing’ potential housemates have been screening on Channel Nine, however we’ve learnt most of the people shown are paid actors or models. There’s a good chance all of the people in the ads have been paid to be there.
• And speaking of housemates, the rumour that rugby player Greg Bird would be entering the house has been debunked. Although making it through to the second round of auditions, he’s back on the field next week.
• Some broken promises: The “nightly adult show” that Peter Wiltshire from Channel Nine said would screen on GO! channel is not happening (at least not in the first two weeks of the season).
• There will be no Friday Night Live.
• Holden has signed on as a major sponsor which means it’s quite likely the winner (and possibly the finalists) will receive a new car as well as prize money. Check out our comprehensive and revealing twitter interview with their public relations department :-)
  

  @behindbb we’re still finalising plans but think that would be pretty cool ^AM

  — Holden (@holdennews) August 10, 2012

We’re worried Sonia Kruger may develop a permanent duck face with all this SSHHHH’ing she’s doing for the “every housemate has a secret” promo, so it’s our duty to get to the bottom of what these secrets are before she’s permanently disfigured.

Contrary to earlier predictions the show will be based on the French ‘Secret Story’ (housemates try to keep their secrets for the duration of the season), the first week of episode scheduling reveals that housemates will likely know the premise as soon as they go in to the house, and most if not all secrets will be revealed by Wednesday 15 August.

But what are the secrets? Here’s a breakdown of the most likely scenarios:

• The gay housemate who appears straight – now a casting staple in the reality TV world, Big Brother Australia first touched on this concept in 2006 with David the gay farmer. We’ve heard whispers that Channel Nine specifically requested a gay male housemate be cast to soften the ‘blow’ in premiering their new drama House Husbands, which includes two gay dads raising a child.
• Family members – highly likely that two housemates will be related, and possibly not even aware of it. Overseas versions of Big Brother have included long-lost half siblings who didn’t know each other until the secret was revealed. In one season of US Big Brother the entire house consisted only of secret couples. While we don’t give the Australian show producers that much credit, accounts from auditions show they were actively trying to get family connections. Behind Big Brother user kxk writes:

  I entered my 18 year old nephew [into auditions], he refused to do it. But anyway, he hadn’t signed the application or anything. Day before auditions [the producers] rang him and asked him to come.

  So what’s interesting about him that I put on the form? He has never met his father – drug addict/deported to the UK; he has 2 half brothers he’s never met, one is in Australia. They asked him about this on the phone.

• Asylum seekers – on the fringe of conventional TV secrets, some have predicted one housemate will have come to Australia as a refugee (and would have been legally accepted, of course). Attitudes towards asylum seekers and “boat people” were key questions during the audition process. This could indeed play a role in creating discussion and conflict if one housemate is against asylum immigration, while another is revealed as a real refugee.
• An unconventional job – an easy one for a PG timeslot, one housemate could be coy about how they really earn their income. Although considering this season is meant to be “family friendly”, we’re not so sure they would go to the extreme of casting sex workers.
• Fake couples – an idea used in the French ‘Secret Story’, relative strangers pretend they are in a relationship as their key secret.

What ideas do you think will be used as housemate secrets? Leave a comment below or discuss Big Brother in our unofficial, uncensored forums!

On the same day that Big Brother Executive producer Alex Mavroidakis said in an interview “I really want to go back to the purity of the format”, the official BB Twitter account has quietly let slip that there will be no internet feeds – a key component of the Big Brother franchise.

The past eight seasons of Big Brother Australia have included feeds, going back to 2001 when broadband internet was still unavailable to most people. In the USA version, now in its 14th season, viewers are able to purchase a live feed package with four streams, split screen and a rewind function.

Instead Australian producers have once again followed their counterparts in the UK, who ditched the feed earlier this year. That move copped them a mountain of complaints from fans. Going on the defence, BBAU says the twitter account @BBAULIVE will be an appropriate substitute for watching the housemates via camera.

Here’s an example of how the live update twitter account works in the UK. A good substitute? You decide.

11.45pm: Lights are out in the bedroom. Oh. Hang on… They’re back on again. #bbuklive

— Big Brother Live (@BBUKLive) August 6, 2012

The move has left fans feeling producers and Channel Nine are scared of their own show, and don’t want to deal with another turkey-slapping incident – which originally came to light via internet feeds. Fans argue the core element of the show – the live connection – has been traded in for prepackaged and selectively edited footage.

Here’s the original twitter post and some of the fall out. What do you think about no live feeds? Leave a comment below or join the discussion in our forums.

@thequalitydan No direct live stream this year. But check out @bbaulive to follow every moment (video included) from the House. #BBAU

— Big Brother(@bbau9) August 6, 2012

@bbau9 @behindbb @alexmavroidakis @thequalitydanAbsolutely horrible decision for #BBAU. I’m already disappointed, but I saw it coming.

— Ryan (Uni) (@marquisite) August 6, 2012

@behindbb @bbau9 Here Here! Well said, I’m actually quite furious considering I doubt that we’ll see much house action in the live shows

— Ross (aka RK) (@rkbbuk) August 7, 2012

BBAU live feed has just been confirmed to be axed similar to C5’s decision, instead having a twitter feed. #mistake #bbuk #bbau

— Ryan (@TweetMeRyan) August 6, 2012

With info from BBspy.

Hey you there, get out of the way of those screens – we want to see inside the house!

In a curiously titled interview with BB Executive Producer Alex Mavroidakis posted to the official website today, the most interesting information was actually right behind him – screens in the control room showing this year’s house.

Thanks to some clever sleuthing by our forum users, here’s a match the room to the picture look at the house. Each area of the house is shown in the control room based on colours. For example: all backyard cameras have green text under them.

• 1. Backyard and pool area (screens with green text) – this year’s pool is roughly diamond shaped and sits in the middle of the backyard area. There’s a 360 degree camera on a pole situated in the middle of it. You can see the shape in aerial shots of the renovations.
• 2. Entrance to the house – another shot from the backyard. It is speculated the white arch will be the entryway into the house from outside.
• 3. Kitchen or storage room (screens with turquoise text) – while these shots are not so clear, they look likely to be the kitchen or food store room.
• 4. Lounge area (screens with orange text) – There appears to be lounge furniture in these rooms. The orange camera on the very right could be showing the ‘sin bin’.
• 5. Bedroom (screens with purple text) – Clearly the house bedroom. Under each bed you can see the blue neon lights we previously reported on.

Thanks to marquisite, matts bb and Will.

Now that the housemates for this season are officially in lockdown, rumours are flying on who will be entering the house come Monday week.

Here’s a snapshot of who we’ve heard have made it thus far:

• A female children’s entertainer from Sydney who goes by the pseudonym “Pixie”.
• A 19 year old guy from Brisbane who works at the Royal George Hotel.
• A 26 year old copywriter also from Brisbane. He’s friends with the band The Amity Affliction and has a long term girlfriend.

  Update: This potential housemate broke up with his girlfriend of seven years to go on the show, citing “it’s for her own good”.

• Gold Coast Titans player Greg Bird. While it seems like a long shot, he was spied in later rounds of the audition process where show producers were very keen in him. He’s also conveniently been sidelined out of this weekend’s game with a hamstring injury. Greg’s coach said: “It’s a hamstring strain [for Bird] and very rarely do you get them back within a week.”
• A blonde, female professional athlete from the Gold Coast.
• Less known is an ‘arty hipster’ girl from Sydney who professed “I dont have Facebook, I dont even have an iPhone, I go to libraries to use books”. We’ve heard that Pixie was likely chosen over this other girl.

Have you heard a rumour? Let us know and discuss the latest Big Brother gossip on our forum.

Update: Sure enough, a few hours after this article was published the official Big Brother Facebook page has updated their cover image to include the “every housemate has a secret” promo. We may have rushed them along :-)

Remember when the new BB series was titled “Big Brother: Secrets”, but was then mysteriously renamed?

Our sources have revealed the latest round of Big Brother promos airing this weekend will explain that “every housemate has a secret”.

The promos features various extras from the shuffle ads making a ‘shush’ motion at the camera. A voicoever then asks “can they keep their secret?”

The ads have only just started airing at this point as housemates go into lockdown today.

It’s highly likely the ‘secrets’ theme is based on Secret Story, one of the French versions of Big Brother. In that show each housemate has to conceal a secret with all others trying to discover it. If a secret is guessed correctly, the person wins the other housemate’s prize money. Each secret is worth around €10,000.