Ruby Jacenko will not be a housemate

Be named before lockdown and you're kicked out

A random story to pop up in today’s Daily Telegraph newspaper reports that promotions girl Ruby Jacenko has been contracted by Southern Star and is about to go into lockdown before the season launch.

Ruby is known as “that chick who had a romance with Westlife singer Brian McFadden” and had previously pole danced at one of classy Kyle Sandilands’ birthday parties.

Our sources have confirmed now that Ruby has been named, she’s been kicked out of the show.

While we can all shrug our shoulders and wait for the next potential housemate to fill her spot, we can’t help but point out that Ruby looks exactly like the type of person producers initially said they were trying to avoid.

Blonde busty types were rejected in the Big Brother promo advertising, and during interviews producers said they were looking for ‘real Australians’. Do you think they’ll keep their word? Leave a comment below or discuss on our forums.

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More house tidbits

Themed rooms from an era in time

As the fit out of the Big Brother house nears completion, we’ve had word that each of the rooms in this year’s house has a specific theme: an era in time. Think 1960s, 1970s, and so on. All of the room’s furnishings are said to be inspired by that era. Little Sister hinted at a “past, present and future” theme on the official website when the site went live yesterday.

The biggest rooms in the house are the bedroom, the lounge room, the kitchen, the bathroom and the Rewards Room; these are the most likely to be themed.

Of the fourteen housemates going in to the house, four will be sharing beds and the rest will be in single beds.

We’re also told the backyard is still a work in progress, and that the Rewards Room deck is themed like a pirate ship.

We learnt yesterday that each of the beds in the bedroom has blue neon lights around the bottom – in a similar fashion to the last few seasons of Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother in the UK.

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Bedroom blues

The bedrooms get a makeover - but is it as creative as we think?

Another day, another leak from the compound on the Gold Coast. We can confirm that the production team have sourced beds with blue neon lights attached to the underside, turning the bedroom into a retro looking high class hangout.

The problem is that we’ve seen it before – Big Brother UK used the same idea (as can be seen below), so it begs the question – if we are using the UK version of the eviction stage, the UK bed design, the UK eye etc etc, are the housemates going to be the only Australian part of the 2012 series?

What do you think? Is imitation the highest form of flattery? Do you even care? Head to our forums or leave a comment below.

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Here’s what the eviction stage will look like

Housemates will strike a pose on new catwalk

BB seating chartUpdate: The new catwalk platform has mysteriously disappeared from the seating chart on the ticketing website. Too little too late for a cover up though, see the original chart and images below!

Tickets for the Big Brother launch night went on sale today and the seating chart has given us a glimpse of how the eviction stage will work.

Evictions and upcoming specials will return to the Dreamworld Auditorium. The biggest change is the removal of the “eviction plank” that led evictees through the centre of the crowd. Evictees will now enter via the side of the auditorium, on a 90 degree catwalk.

Walking past the front of the stage they will then have the chance to stop and pose on a small circular platform, wave to the crowd, tv cameras (and possible photographers below) before moving up to the main stage for the eviction interview. A ‘VIP area’ will have the best viewing area of the ‘pose platform’.

Behind Big Brother user marquisite has created this composite image (left) to show how the new catwalk and VIP seating will look on TV:

BB catwalk

We’ve already made a song and dance about how much producers have been “borrowing” from Big Brother UK, but this is no different. The catwalk idea has come straight from Britain (image on the right above).

Here’s how they do it (eviction happens towards the end of the video):

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New promos hint of UK copycat house

Will the season be "British BB down under"?

Big Brother Promo comparison

A fresh round of Big Brother promos have begun airing this weekend, featuring Sonia Kruger emerging from the Big Brother eye and floating about on some flashy CGI stairs.

She’s decided to keep her wardrobe conservative by wearing the same outfit as the previous shuffle promo… or more likely both promos were shot on the same day. :-)

While Sonia doesn’t tell us anything new other than the usual commercial TV guff, the ad does give some hints of where the season is heading. It’s a frame-by-frame copy of a Big Brother UK ad that aired last year (watch both below). Channel Nine and Southern Star have already looked to the UK for inspiration on previous promos and even the Big Brother logo itself.

So with the new season being heavily influenced by our British cousins, what could we potentially expect?

  • When it switched to a new channel, BBUK canned the live internet feeds. This is looking likely to happen on BBAU.
  • Evictions are held next to the house and involve a large crowd who greet (or boo) the evicted housemate as soon as they come out.
  • BBUK’s companion show “Bit on the side” airs later in the night and includes panelists and callers who discuss the latest house events. There’s a chance the 9pm ‘adult’ show on GO! channel will follow this format.
  • Some interesting recent tasks on BBUK may find their way to BBAU. One of particular note involved a housemate wearing an electric shock suit.

What do you want to see on the new Big Brother? Discuss the show in our fan forum.

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What have they been up to?

Former housemates with DUI charges, reality TV addiction and healthy chocolate...

It’s been more than ten years since Big Brother first aired on Australia television. What have your favourite and not so favourite housemates been up to since their time on the show? We’ll look into the post-show lives of various BB personalities over the coming weeks…

Saxon, housemate in 2003
Saxon on DUI chargesOops, in 2010 Daniel ‘Saxon’ Small was charged with DUI offences in Manly. He blew a blood alcohol reading of 0.062 before telling cops he had consumed three bourbon and cokes at his girlfriend’s house and no food. Because Saxon had a previous drink driving conviction he was fined $880 and had his licence disqualified for 12 months. Yikes!

Jessica, housemate in 2002
Jessica Hardy can’t get enough of reality television. After her stint on Big Brother season 2, then her own reality TV show where she married fellow housemate Nathan “Marty” Martin (now since divorced), she is set to appear on the current season of ‘Dating in the Dark’, airing on FOX8. Jess will be a contestant on the show, where ‘daters’ meet each other in a pitch black room and then decide whether they want to continue a relationship when the lights are turned on. A little known fact is that Jess was also a finalist on Channel 7’s “The Mole” in 2001. Reality TV junkie?

Jemma, housemate in 2001
Gemma with her chocolateJust last month Jemma Gawned was getting press for her ‘Naked Treaties’ food business, which specialises in healthy chocolates and cakes. Her “raw vegan, certified organic, gluten and dairy free” products are on the verge of breaking into markets in USA, Hong Kong and Singapore. Oh, and did we mention in 2005 and 2006 she dated Daniel MacPherson?

Gretel Killeen, host 2001-2007
Gretel Killeen show posterAnd what about the original Big Brother mum, Gretel Killeen? Aside from her usual plethora of public speaking engagements for various charities and not profits, most recently she’s touring an improv comedy show titled “Gretel Killeen’s Looking for Love in all the Wrong Underpants“. She’s also finishing off a movie version of her novel “Jimmy and Gret Don’t Do Sex” which she directs and stars in. Busy lady! And what does she think of Big Brother nearly five years after her departure? Well, newspapers have reported she is coaching new host Sonia Kruger, but Gretel now simply refers to Big Brother as a “rather controversial show” of her past.

Stay tuned, we’ll be revisiting other Big Brother personalities in the weeks leading up to the 2012 season.

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