Big Brother UK is in the throes of a slow and painful death

Many Big Brother fans enjoy the delights of the international editions, but reports from across the pond suggest BBUK is not doing so well.

Big Brother UK is not the original Big Brother, but you would be forgiven for thinking so. The first version of Big Brother was Dutch and aired in 1999. The UK and US versions both debuted the following year, in 2000, with the English-language Big Brother Canada arriving 13 years later. The US version was poorly received and while CBS changed the format in response, it took awhile for the US version to really gain steam.

In the UK, however, Big Brother was immediately a ratings hit. Now, it appears the UK version is the one in trouble. Viewers and critics across the pond are concerned that BBUK has lost its way.

As viewers of the UK version may know — after all, franchise fans often dabble in other versions — the show increasingly favors casting semi-reality TV stars. Low-level celebs who have made appearances on other reality shows and arrive in the house already inked with agents. That, coupled with increased complaints about violence, racial harassment and the voluntary departures has all contributed to the lowest numbers the show has ever seen. As Digital Spy reports:

"But fast-forward to 2017 and, amazingly, the stats are even more dismal. It breaks our hearts to report that just 1.3 million viewers watched this series kick off, making it the lowest-watched launch in the show’s 17-year history. But wait, it gets worse.As this series has unfolded, ratings have plummeted further still. Despite getting plenty of attention from the press and on social media, according to initial overnight figures just 800,000 watched Saturday (June 24)’s highlights show, which aired hours before Lotan Carter was removed from the Big Brother house. This means that the show has now lost 92 per cent of its early-2000s peak era audience."

The cast is bad, the production is bad, the fans are fed up. Things have not been quite the same since the show moved to Channel 5, but apparently it’s beginning to look like there’s no saving the show.

Meanwhile, stateside, Big Brother only seems to be getting more popular as a summer staple. As best we can tell, CBS remains committed to casting “regular” people and their periodic twists keep the game relatively fresh.

When season 19 starts Wednesday, we’ll welcome any UK fans looking for some classic BBTV.