Big Brother (Australian season 7)

Big Brother Australia 2007, also known as Big Brother 7, was the seventh season of the Australian reality television series Big Brother. Episodes were broadcast on Network Ten in Australia, and the first episode aired on 22 April 2007. Despite a drop in ratings compared to previous seasons, and a number of controversies, the then Big Brother executive producer Kris Noble considers the year's season a success.[1] At the end of this season's finale broadcast 30 July 2007, it was announced by host Gretel Killeen that Big Brother would be returning for an eighth season in 2008. In the finale Aleisha Cowcher was announced winner of Big Brother Australia 2007. She won by the closest winning margin ever in the Australian version. The news the following day reported a margin of 51% versus 49% – a difference of 65 votes. This was the last season hosted by Gretel Killeen.

Big Brother
Season 7
Presented by	Gretel Killeen
No. of days	100
No. of housemates	24
Winner	Aleisha Cowcher
Runner-up	Zach Douglas
Companion shows	Big Brother Nominations Big Brother: UpLate Friday Night Live
Country of origin	Australia
Release
Original network	Network Ten
Original release	22 April – 30 July 2007
Season chronology

Development

During the sixth-season finale, a seventh season of the show was confirmed. Auditions were held throughout November and December 2006, taking place in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, and Darwin. The house this season was confirmed as to be having an 'eco-friendly' theme and style; It featured a pedal-powered washing machine, a rubber garden turf made from recycled car tyres and carpets made from goat hair.[2] On 18 April 2007, after housemates were put into lockdown, it was revealed that there would be no prize money this season.[3] The launch date of the seventh season was rumoured to be 22 April 2007.[4] These rumours were later confirmed.[5]

Changes to the format

Big Brother 2007 introduced several new elements not seen in previous seasons of the series.

Big Brother Starburst Golden Key

On 29 January 2007, Network Ten, Endemol Southern Star, and Masterfoods announced "Australia's biggest ever integrated television promotion", the Big Brother Starburst Golden Key, which would allow a member of the public to enter the Big Brother House as a housemate.[6] Unique alphanumeric codes were included in packs of Starburst, a confectionery manufactured by Masterfoods. One hundred codes gave the opportunity to audition for the BB season after it began. Of these people, one would become a housemate and be eligible to win the season and all prizes.[6] The winner of this competition was selected during a special episode called "Golden Key". On Day 18, Nick Sady was announced the "Golden Key" winner and entered the Big Brother House.[7]

Prize money

Big Brother originally informed the housemates that there was zero prize money.[8] Later they were informed that they could earn prize money by completing various tasks (similar to that of The Mole).

Friday Night Live Changes

This year the winner of Friday Night Live was given a greater power in nominations. Replacing the Three Point Twist of previous seasons, the Friday Night Live winner each week this season was required to choose one nominated housemate to be removed from the nomination line-up, and to nominate another to replace them.[9] The winner of Friday Night Live this season was also given the chance to discuss their nominations, both past and present, with their chosen housemate whilst inside the Rewards Room.

Storeroom

All staple foods provided to housemates this year were vegan. The housemates could supplement this with milk and eggs supplied from the farm yard and herbs and mushrooms from the herb garden.[10]

Telephone

For the first time Big Brother Australia featured a telephone in the house. It was situated in the lounge and was shown on the Opening Night broadcast before the housemates entered the house. On Day 37, Big Brother informed housemates that if the phone rang only one housemate could answer it. Joel was nominated to answer it on the housemates' behalf. On Day 52 Joel received a call from Big Brother advising that he would be away from the house and would communicate via the phone to Joel at various times.[11] On Day 58 Andrew picked up the phone as a joke, and was penalised by being sent to the Punishment Room to polish boots. Michelle joined him in the Punishment Room due to the weekly task which involved housemates remaining partnered. On Day 97 the housemates were allowed to speak with several of the Big Brother UK housemates.[12] The UK Big Brother House also had a telephone and unlike the Australian version this was the first time the phone was used in the UK version.

Chill Out Room

Adjacent to the kitchen was a new room called the "Chill Out Room". As an official rule, no more than three housemates were allowed in the room at a time. It provided a quiet place to talk or relax, away from the rest of the housemates.

White Room

On 23 April 2007, the four remaining wild-card housemates not selected to enter the House via the public vote on Days 1 and 2 were isolated in the "White Room". The housemates were Cruz, Demet, Kara, and Harrison. The White Room and its fixtures and fittings were all entirely white, and the housemates had only white clothes to wear. White Room housemates were provided with a white porridge which fulfilled all nutritional needs.[13] In the centre of the room was a red button. At any time, a housemate could press the red button if they wished to leave. This decision to leave was final and the quitting housemate could not return to the Big Brother House or the White Room. The challenge was that the housemate who stayed in the White Room the longest without pressing the red button would become a legitimate Big Brother housemate and enter the main house with the rest of the housemates. Monitors in the Big Brother House allowed the housemates to watch, without audio, the White Room housemates at all times. The White Room housemates were unaware that they were being watched by the Big Brother housemates. Cruz was the first white room resident evicted when he pressed the red button after Big Brother offered $750 to whoever pushed the red button first.[14] In the days after Cruz departed no one else volunteered to leave, so Big Brother ran a set of challenges to decide who from the White Room would move to the main house. First, Kara was evicted when Harrison and Demet nominated her.[15] Then, the Big Brother housemates lodged their votes on who they wanted in the house.[16] Demet won the vote and became an official housemate.[17]

Housemates' voting

• Demet: Aleisha, Andrew, Emma, Hayley, Jamie, Joel, Kate, Rebecca
• Harrison: Bodie, Susannah, TJ, Thomas, Travis, Zoran

Secret Relationships

It was revealed on the Game On episode that housemates Hayley and Andrew were secretly in a relationship. Big Brother set the task to both housemates to enter the house and keep their relationship secret for one week. If successful in this task both would be allowed stay in the house; if they failed then one of them would be evicted. All other housemates had individually been challenged by Big Brother to secretly discover who was in a secret relationship, each believing they were the only housemate to be issued this challenge. Housemate Billy was added on Day 2. Billy is Hayley's former boyfriend and was added specifically to complicate her task of keeping her relationship with Andrew secret. Hayley was not allowed to inform anyone, including Andrew, of Billy's true status. Each day he received a mission from Big Brother to put pressure on Hayley's secret challenge.

Billy's Tasks

1. Day 2: Before Billy went to bed, he had to say "Goodnight Hayley, sweet dreams".
2. Day 3: From the moment Hayley woke up, Billy had to "wait on her hand and foot" and become her best friend. He also had to pick a bunch of flowers from the garden and give them to Hayley, and ask her to help pick the herbs.
3. Day 4: When Billy was asked to take a housemate with him to tend the animals, he had to choose Hayley.
4. Day 5: Billy had to become Andrew's best friend.

Big Brother confirmed on Day 8 that Billy's mission was an overall success, and his reward was becoming an official Big Brother 2007 housemate (who could compete to win Big Brother Australia 2007) on Day 16. On 29 April episode, Big Brother revealed the secret relationship. Three housemates had correctly guessed Hayley and Billy were involved. As fewer than half of the housemates had guessed correctly, Big Brother deemed Hayley and Andrew as successful in their challenge so both were allowed to stay. Big Brother also revealed that as Hayley and Andrew had completed their task successfully $50,000 had been awarded into the prize pool.

No housemates on Rove

Housemates this season were not featured as guests on variety/talk show Rove. Previously housemates would appear on Rove in the days following their eviction. As of 2007 Rove aired on Sunday nights at 8:30, immediately after the Big Brother eviction show. As Rove is taped in Melbourne, Victoria it was impossible for the housemates to travel so quickly to appear on both shows[18] (it is normally a two-to-three-hour flight from the Gold Coast to Melbourne). Even so, Rove chose not to cross to evicted contestants following the eviction shows, as Rove would not start airing immediately after Big Brother.

Viewers to nominate housemates

The public were able to submit nomination votes via SMS for 2 July nominations. The housemate with the most votes received two nomination points, and the next housemate received one point. With the tally counted, Michelle had the most votes from the public and so received an extra two nomination points. Daniela received an extra nomination point. As winner of Friday Night Games Daniela had the power of saving one housemate from eviction. She saved herself.

Viewers to nominate / Housemates to evict

Big Brother changed the usual format for Week 12 nominations. For this week viewers could nominate housemates, and from the nominated housemates the housemates themselves could vote to evict, reversing the usual procedure. While housemates were put through the usual nomination procedure and their nominations were screened, unknown to them, their nominations were ignored. Viewer nomination points were counted. On Sunday's eviction the housemates were apprised of this twist, and then were individually be asked to nominate to evict any of the nominated housemates. The nominated housemate with the most votes was to be evicted.[19][20] Daniela was evicted with a total of 12 points.

Housemates

Over the 100-day season, a total of 24 housemates entered the Big Brother House, twelve during the opening night and a following twelve at various points throughout the series. On the opening night, viewers were given the opportunity to vote in two additional housemates, one male and one female, from a selection of six potential housemates, while the remaining four would be isolated in the White Room. The following night, Susannah and Zoran entered the house along with Billy, or Mr. X, whose purpose in the House was to jeopardise Andrew and Hayley's secret relationship challenge, but was not officially recognised as a legitimate housemate until Day 16. Demet, one of the four White Room Wildcards, was voted into the House by the housemates on Day 11, while Nick entered on Day 18 as the winner of the Starburst Golden Key promotion. A further four Intruders followed, Daniela and Laura on Day 31 and Michelle and Zach on Day 50. In a promotion for the upcoming season of Australian Idol, Kyle Sandilands entered the House as a celebrity guest with a mission from Big Brother to encourage housemates to "be themselves", but left the House early due to a severe migraine. Due to an incident prior to the Big Brother 2007 finale, Intruder Laura was not invited to attend and participate while all other former Big Brother housemates, wildcards and intruders were present.

Name	Day entered	Day exited	Result
Aleisha Cowcher	0	100	Winner
Zach Douglas	50	100	Runner-up
Travis Perkins	0	99	Evicted
Billy Bentleyk	2	99	Evicted
Zoran Vidinovski	2	92	Evicted
Joel Scalzi	0	92	Evicted
Daniela Da Silva Pola	31	85	Evicted
Michelle Olsen	50	78	Evicted
Jamie McDonald	0	71	Evicted
Thomas Haynes	0	64	Evicted
Andrew Temment	0	64	Evicted
Laura Clare	31	57	Evicted
Rebecca Dent	0	50	Evicted
Emma Cornell	0	50	Evicted
Susannah Murray	2	43	Evicted
Nick Sady	18	36	Evicted
Hayley Zalewski	0	31	Evicted
Demet Sahan	11	29	Evicted
Bodie Czeladka	0	22	Evicted
TJ Whitlock	0	22	Evicted
Kate Gladman	0	15	Evicted

Nominations Table

Each housemate nominated two housemates for eviction each week, excluding the first. The first housemate listed was nominated for 2 points, whilst the second housemate was nominated for a single point. The three or more housemates with the most nomination points faced the public vote to save/evict, and when the save votes were subtracted from the evict votes, the housemate with the most evict votes was then evicted. Before the weekly nominations took place, the housemates competed in a competition called Friday Night Live (FNL) – the winner of which won a special nomination privilege – to remove one nominated housemate from the line-up and replace them with a housemate of their choice.

	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12		Week 13	Week 14		Nomination points received
											Fake	Real		Day 99	Day 100 (Finale)
Aleisha	Kate Jamie	Jamie TJ	Zoran Thomas	Nick Rebecca	Jamie Rebecca	Travis Joel	Daniela Jamie	Thomas Travis	Michelle Jamie	Michelle Zach	Daniela Zoran	Daniela Zach	Zoran Joel	No Nominations	Winner (Day 100)	16
Zach	Not in House						Exempt	Exempt	Zoran Jamie	Zoran Michelle	Joel Zoran	Daniela Billy	Travis Joel	No Nominations	Runner-Up (Day 100)	13
Travis	Zoran Emma	Zoran Emma	Emma Thomas	Nick Thomas	Jamie Rebecca	Thomas Zoran	Laura Daniela	Jamie Thomas	Daniela Joel	Zach Daniela	Daniela Zach	Daniela Zach	Zoran Zach	No Nominations	Evicted (Day 99)	23
Billy	Exempt	TJ Zoran	Zoran Thomas	Susannah Rebecca	Jamie Rebecca	Travis Andrew	Laura Daniela	Zoran Travis	Michelle Daniela	Daniela Zoran	Daniela Zach	Daniela Zach	Zoran Joel	No Nominations	Evicted (Day 99)	14
Zoran	Bodie Aleisha	Bodie Emma	Rebecca Jamie	Rebecca Nick	Jamie Rebecca	Travis Andrew	Laura Daniela	Andrew Billy	Billy Michelle	Michelle Daniela	Zach Daniela	Daniela Billy	Billy Travis	Evicted (Day 92)		47
Joel	Kate TJ	TJ Susannah	Susannah Travis	Jamie Nick	Jamie Rebecca	Travis Aleisha	Laura Andrew	Jamie Billy	Jamie Zach	Zach Travis	Daniela Zach	Daniela Zach	Aleisha Billy	Evicted (Day 92)		18
Daniela	Not in House				Exempt	Travis Andrew	Andrew Laura	Andrew Joel	Billy Zoran	Billy Aleisha	Zoran Billy	Billy Aleisha	Evicted (Day 85)			30
Michelle	Not in House						Exempt	Exempt	Zoran Zach	Aleisha Zoran	Evicted (Day 78)					12
Jamie	Emma TJ	Emma Bodie	Emma Aleisha	Emma Nick	Emma Zoran	Emma Aleisha	Joel Aleisha	Billy Joel	Joel Zoran	Evicted (Day 71)						35
Thomas	Kate Aleisha	Zoran Aleisha	Demet Hayley	Aleisha Emma	Zoran Travis	Travis Andrew	Laura Travis	Andrew Travis	Evicted (Day 64)							13
Andrew	Exempt	Bodie TJ	Demet Emma	Nick Susannah	Zoran Rebecca	Daniela Jamie	Daniela Laura	Jamie Thomas	Evicted (Day 64)							14
Laura	Not in House				Exempt	Daniela Emma	Zoran Andrew	Evicted (Day 57)								12
Rebecca	Bodie TJ	Emma Bodie	Emma Zoran	Emma Joel	Joel Emma	Emma Travis	Evicted (Day 50)									21
Emma	Kate Jamie	Rebecca Jamie	Thomas Rebecca	Rebecca Susannah	Rebecca Jamie	Daniela Jamie	Evicted (Day 50)									37
Susannah	Jamie Bodie	Bodie Aleisha	Emma Aleisha	Emma Jamie	Emma Zoran	Evicted (Day 43)										11
Nick	Not in House		Exempt	Joel Emma	Evicted (Day 36)											9
Hayley	Exempt	Bodie TJ	Demet Emma	Evicted (Day 31)												2
Demet	In White Room	Exempt	Susannah Thomas	Evicted (Day 29)												4
Bodie	Kate Rebecca	Zoran Rebecca	Evicted (Day 22)													14
TJ	Zoran Kate	Susannah Hayley	Evicted (Day 22)													9
Kate	Emma Bodie	Evicted (Day 15)														11
Notes	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11		none	12	13
Source	[21]	[22]	[23]	[24]	[25]	[26]	[27]	[28]	[29]	[30]	[31]		[32]	[33]	[34]
Nominated (pre-save and replace)	Bodie, Emma, Kate	Bodie, Emma, TJ, Zoran	Emma, Thomas, Zoran	Emma, Nick, Rebecca	Jamie, Rebecca, Zoran	Aleisha, Andrew, Daniela, Emma, Jamie, Thomas, Travis	Andrew, Daniela, Laura	Andrew, Billy, Jamie, Thomas	Aleisha, Billy, Jamie, Michelle, Zoran	Daniela, Michelle, Zach	Billy, Daniela, Travis, Zach		Billy, Joel, Travis, Zoran	none
FNL Winner	Emma	Hayley	Andrew	Demet	Andrew	Billy	Andrew	Jamie	Daniela	Daniela	Joel		Billy	Travis	Zach
Saved	Emma	Emma	Thomas	Emma	Zoran	Aleisha	Andrew	Jamie	Michelle	Daniela	Travis		Billy	none
Nominated For Eviction	Bodie, Jamie, Kate	Bodie, Joel, TJ, Zoran	Demet, Emma, Zoran	Andrew, Nick, Rebecca	Jamie, Rebecca, Susannah	Andrew, Daniela, Emma, Jamie, Rebecca, Thomas, Travis	Daniela, Joel, Laura	Andrew, Billy, Joel, Thomas	Aleisha, Billy, Jamie, Joel, Zoran	Aleisha, Michelle, Zach	Aleisha, Billy, Daniela, Zach		Joel, Travis, Zach, Zoran	Aleisha, Billy, Travis, Zach	Aleisha, Zach
Evicted	Kate 55% to evict	TJ 54% to evict	Demet 65% to evict	Hayley Chosen to evict	Susannah 47% to evict	Emma 76% to evict	Laura 43% to evict	Andrew 24% to evict	Jamie 25% to evict	Michelle 73% to evict	Daniela 12 of 21 points to evict		Joel 7% to evict	Billy 14% to evict	Zach 49% to save
		Bodie 7% to evict		Nick 51% to evict		Rebecca 4% to evict		Thomas 22% to evict					Zoran 1% to evict	Travis 18% to save	Aleisha 51% to save

Nomination Notes

• ^Note 1 : Andrew and Hayley won the privilege of immunity in this week's nominations, after managing to keep their relationship a secret from their fellow Housemates. However, they were to nominate as a couple until further notice; they could however be nominated as individuals. At this time Billy was only a guest in the House and could not nominate. Thomas was penalized with a nomination point after failing to properly nominate.
• ^Note 2 : As a new Housemate Demet was exempt from nominating this week. Billy became an official Housemate and allowed to nominate for the first time. This week was a Double Eviction.
• ^Note 3 : As a new Housemate Nick was exempt from nomination this week.
• ^Note 4 : Hayley was evicted when she and Andrew were forced to choose one of them to leave the House. Daniela and Laura entered shortly after her Eviction. Emma and Aleisha were both penalized a nomination point by Big Brother for discussing nominations. In the nominations twist, prior to leaving the House, Friday Night Games winner Demet – who was evicted the night before nominations – provided a choice of Housemates whom she wished to save and whom she wished to nominate. Once her list was applied, Emma was removed from nomination, and Andrew was nominated in her place.
• ^Note 5 : As new Housemates, Daniela and Laura were exempt from nomination this week.
• ^Note 6 : This week, Housemates were asked to nominate the two Housemates they saw as the biggest threat to them winning Big Brother. As this week was a double eviction, the five or more Housemates with the most points faced the public vote.
• ^Note 7 : New Housemates Michelle and Zach were exempt from nominations for the first two weeks of their stay. Thomas was awarded one nomination point for poor reasons of nominating.
• ^Note 8 : As there was an unbalanced ratio of males to females in the House – 8 males to 3 females – this week, only males could be nominated for eviction.
• ^Note 9 : Aleisha automatically faced the public vote this week after failing her secret mission as part of the Police Academy task.
• ^Note 10 : Joel was exempt from nomination this week after passing a task the previous week; however he could still nominate. Big Brother gave the public 24 hours to vote for whom they want to allocate two points and one point, which would be added to the nominations total this week. The public chose Michelle (77%) and Daniela (15%).
• ^Note 11 : This week the nomination process was reversed, with the public nominating and the Housemates evicting. In the first round of nominations, Housemates were allowed to nominate for any reason, but they were unaware that these nominations did not count. The public chose to nominate Daniela (26%), Billy (16%), Zach (14%) and Travis (13%). On Day 85 the Housemates nominated, but this time it was to evict, and Daniela was evicted with 12 out of 21 points, receiving two points from every other Housemate.
• ^Note 12 : The final four Housemates all automatically faced the public vote – which was to be a double eviction on Day 99; the day before the finale.
• ^Note 13 : The final two Housemates, Aleisha and Zach, both automatically faced the public vote to determine the winner; whoever received the most save votes (or the least evict votes) would be the winner.

Weekly summary and highlights

The main events in the Big Brother 7 house are summarised in the table below. Evictions, tasks, and other events for a particular week are noted. Events in the house are listed in order of sequence.

Weekly summary
Week 1	Entrances	On Day 0, Aleisha, Andrew, Bodie, Emma, Hayley, Jamie, Joel, Kate, Rebecca, Thomas, TJ and Travis entered the Big Brother House. On Day 2, Susannah and Zoran entered the house, having both received the highest number of votes to enter via public voting. Billy, also known as Mr. X, entered the house as a guest on Day 2.
	Tasks	On Day 2, housemates began their first weekly task. In the first part of the task, one by one, each housemate was called to the Diary Room in order to take a compatibility test. The test involved Big Brother giving a housemate two options, such as 'Saint' or 'Sinner', with the housemate asked to choose the option that best reflects their personality. In the second part of the task, Big Brother revealed that two of the housemates were in a secret relationship to each housemate and that they each had one week to decipher who these two housemates were. Housemates thought they were the only one to be given the task. Billy's Tasks: On Day 2, Hayley's ex-boyfriend Billy was told that before he went to bed, he had to say "Goodnight Hayley, sweet dreams". On Day 3, Billy received his next task; he had to wait on Hayley from the moment she woke up until the moment she went to bed. The following day, when Billy was asked to take a housemate with him to tend the animals, he had to choose Hayley. On the fifth day, Billy had to become Andrew's best friend. Friday Night Live: On Day 6, housemates competed in the first Friday Night Live of the season. The theme was 'Gladiators' this week. Emma was the winner. As a result of her win, she was allowed to choose one other housemate to take into the Rewards Room later that night and had to choose between three boxes which each contained a mystery prize; She decided to take Aleisha with her into the Rewards Room and won a New Zealand holiday.
	Twists	On Day 0, Big Brother revealed to the housemates that there was zero prize money. To the viewers, Gretel Killeen confirmed that two more housemates would enter the house the following night according to who received the highest number of votes to enter from the public. It was also explained that two housemates entering the house on Day 0 had been tasked with hiding their true relationship. Hayley and Andrew were revealed as being in the secret relationship on Day 2 to the viewers; If they failed to hide their true relationship, one of them would be evicted. Hayley's ex-boyfriend, Billy, entered the house later that day to complicate their secret task (see Billy's Tasks). On Day 2, Cruz, Demet, Harrison and Kara entered The White Room in a last chance attempt to become a housemate this season. Big Brother told them that the person who stayed in the room the longest would become a housemate.
	Punishments	On Day 7, Kate received her first official strike for showing aggression towards fellow housemate Emma.
Week 2	Tasks	On Day 8, Hayley and Andrew's relationship was revealed to the rest of the house and as the majority of housemates did not guess that it was these two housemates that were in a secret relationship, the house passed the first weekly task and added $50,000 to the total prize money as a reward. Billy's identity, as Hayley's ex-boyfriend, was also revealed. Hayley and Andrew earned immunity from the first round of nominations this season too, as a reward for successfully completing each of their secret tasks.
	Twists	On Day 8, Cruz, Demet, Harrison and Kara (from The White Room) were offered money in exchange for their departure. Big Brother told them that the first housemate to press the red button would walk away with the money on offer; Cruz later pressed the red button and therefore left behind The White Room and his chance to become a housemate this season with $750.
	Punishments	On Day 8, as a result of constant rule breaches, such as exceeding the four-minute shower limit, housemates were forced to earn their weekly food budget. For every rule break during the week, they would be fined one dollar and as a further punishment, housemates were supplied with porridge as their only source of food until further notice.
	Exits	On Day 8, Cruz left The White Room (see twists).
Week 3	Tasks
	Twists
	Punishments
	Exits
Week 4	Tasks
	Twists
	Punishments
	Exits
Week 5	Tasks
	Twists
	Punishments
	Exits
Week 6	Tasks
	Twists
	Punishments
	Exits
Week 7	Tasks
	Twists
	Punishments
	Exits
Week 8	Tasks
	Twists
	Punishments
	Exits
Week 9	Tasks
	Twists
	Punishments
	Exits
Week 10	Tasks
	Twists
	Punishments
	Exits
Week 11	Tasks
	Twists
	Punishments
	Exits
Week 12	Tasks
	Twists
	Punishments
	Exits
Week 13	Tasks
	Twists
	Punishments
	Exits
Week 14	Tasks
	Twists
	Punishments
	Exits

Friday Night Live

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12	Week 13	Week 14
Theme	Gladiator	Japanese Game Show	Bling Bling	On the Beach	Almost Famous	Outback Adventure	Jungle	Mexican	Nightmare	Back to School	Pirate	70's Disco	Seven Deadly Sins	Quest for Glory
Winner	Emma	Hayley	Andrew	Demet	Andrew	Billy	Andrew	Jamie	Daniela	Daniela	Joel	Billy	Travis	Zach
Winner's Choice	Aleisha	Andrew	Travis	Joel	Thomas	Zoran	Jamie	Thomas	Michelle	Zach	Zoran	Travis	Zach Billy	Not Applicable
Major Prize	New Zealand Holiday	Domestic Holiday	Watches	Holiday	Egypt Holiday	Vietnam Holiday	Borneo Holiday	South America Holiday	Cambodia Holiday	Vietnam Holiday	Thailand Holiday	South African Holiday	South American Holiday
Minor Prize	Scooter	Scooter	Scooter	Scooter	Scooter	Scooter	Nintendo Wii	Nintendo Wii	Scooter	Nintendo Wii	Scooter	Nintendo Wii	Nintendo Wii
Booby Prize	Baby Shoes	Porridge	Zebra Underpants	Bucket & Spade	Hiking Boots	Kangaroo Poo	Half-Eaten Banana	Chili Con Carne	Skeleton Foot	Whoopee Cushion	Pirate Video/Pirate Videotape	Leo Sayer Greatest Hits CD	Seven Deadly Pins

Italic and bold denotes prize won.

• In the 13th Friday Night Games, as the winner, Travis was allowed to bring two guests into the Rewards Room.
• Andrew has won more Friday Night Games than any other housemate, in any season that "FNL" has aired in on Big Brother.
• As an extra on the final Friday Night Games, Zach (the winner) won the chance to spend a few minutes with his best friend Zac, Zack, or Zachary who Big Brother used in the last mini-task, instead of the usual prizes.

Special shows

Game On

"Game On" was a live show that was broadcast on Day 2 (23 April 2007). The results of the overnight wild-card SMS vote were revealed. Susannah and Zoran were the chosen two out of the six wild-card housemates. The remainder of the wild-card housemates were isolated in the White Room. The Daily Show was incorporated into the first part of the live show. Hosted by Gretel Killeen.

Full House

"Full House" was a live show that was broadcast on Day 8 (29 April 2007). It was aired in the timeslot usually occupied by Eviction shows. The relationship between Andrew and Hayley was revealed to the house, as was Billy's role to impede Hayley's task of keeping that relationship secret from the other housemates. Hayley and Andrew were deemed by Big Brother to have successfully kept their relationship a secret from the housemates for the week (fewer than half of the housemates had successfully guessed their relationship) which meant they could both stay in the house. Big Brother also revealed that for succeeding in their task they had earned $50,000 to be added to the prize money, which was previously set at zero. Big Brother also tempted the wildcard housemates to leave the White Room by offering a sum of money to them (A$750), which Cruz accepted. Hosted by Gretel Killeen.

Wild Card Entry

"Wild Card Entry" was a live show broadcast on Day 11 (2 May 2007). The White Room housemates had left the room and, dependent on their success completing various challenges, one of them would enter the Big Brother house as a housemate.

• The first round was determined by nominations from the White Room housemates; Kara was eliminated with two votes.
• In the second round each housemate had to collect three major items of clothing and dress a model while airborne on a large steel frame.
• The third round was determined by nominations from the Big Brother housemates. To cast their vote they placed a plastic ball into the corresponding tube for either Harrison or Demet. Demet won with 8 votes against 6.

Hosted by Gretel Killeen.

Golden Key

"Golden Key" was a live show broadcast on Day 18 (9 May 2007). This special was to select the winner of the Starburst Golden Key. The show's producers had selected five finalists from the original 100 Golden Key winners after an intensive audition process. The chosen finalists were Carolyn, Nick, Natalie, Angie and Laura. To select which would become a housemate contestants chose one of five numbered discs randomly from a bag. Then they were allocated a clear box of confectionery depending on which disc they had selected. One box also contained a golden key, and the contestant whose box contained the key, Nick, was designated the new housemate. He entered the house during the show, while the housemates were conducting their weekly task performance. Hosted by Gretel Killeen.

Intruder Alert! / Intruder Eviction

"Intruder Alert!" was a live 90-minute special that aired on Day 31 (22 May 2007). Hayley was evicted from the house during the episode. Later new housemates Daniela and Laura entered as intruders. Hosted by Gretel Killeen.

The Works

"The Works" was a scheduled Big Brother special focusing on behind the scenes footage that was planned to air on Day 46 (6 June 2007). The show would have been recorded on the same day at Network Ten's Pyrmont studios.[35] The show was later cancelled for unapparent reasons.[36]

Live Eviction 6 / Intruders Incoming

The 6th Live Eviction show was a 90-minute eviction and intruder special that aired on Day 50 (10 June 2007). It featured a double eviction and introduced the two new intruders, Michelle and Zach. Michelle entered and met the remaining housemates. Zach remained in the Rewards Room, awaiting entry during UpLate later that evening. Hosted by Gretel Killeen and Mike Goldman.

Kyle in the House

"Kyle in the House" was a special version of the daily show that aired for 60 minutes before Live Eviction 11 on Day 85 (15 July 2007). It featured a recap on Kyle Sandilands' entry to the house and during the show Big Brother set Sandilands a special task to "challenge the housemates".

Live Eviction 11

The 11th Live Eviction show aired immediately after the special daily show on Day 85 (15 July 2007). The remaining housemates were forced to vote out one of the nominated housemates, and Daniela was evicted with a total of 12 points, meaning that every housemate except herself had given her two points. Hosted by Gretel Killeen.

Gretel Goes In

The final nomination show on Day 93 (23 July 2007) was a special where the housemates did not need to nominate and instead Killeen went into the Rewards Room to interview the housemates individually and ask questions supplied by the viewers. Hosted by Gretel Killeen.

Quest For Glory

The final Friday Night Live show on Day 97 (27 July 2007).

Final Sunday Double Eviction

Final Sunday Double Eviction was the last Eviction of Big Brother 2007, and was broadcast live in front of an audience on Day 99 (29 July 2007) from Dreamworld, and was hosted by Gretel Killeen.

Finale

The season finale aired on Day 100 (30 July 2007) in which Aleisha was announced the winner and Zach the runner-up. It was the closest winning margin in Australian Big Brother history of less than 500 votes and the announcement of the winner was delayed by an hour after the voting lines closed as votes were rechecked.[37] At one point during the final episode, there was just 64 votes difference between the last two housemates.[37] Aleisha is the second female to win Big Brother Australia.

Reception

The 2007 launch had the smallest ever opening episode audience in all seven Australian Big Brother series, and a 14% drop from the previous year's opening night. Network Ten came second overall but lost the night to Nine Network's 60 Minutes. Nevertheless, with an average of 1.549 million viewers, the opening night was Ten's best Sunday night of the year, to date.[38] The series finale was expected to have just under two million viewers, a 10% drop from 2006's finale.[39] Network Ten later announced that the peak audience for the finale was 2.3 million viewers.[40] Crikey's media reporter Glenn Dyer stated that Ten's reported figures were exaggerated, and that the average number of viewers was 1.791 million for the entire show, not 1.9 as Ten had stated, which only accounted for 8.30pm – 10pm. He also said that while the peak of 2.3 million viewers beat the 2006 finale, the average audience was fewer than the 2006 finale's average 1.88 million viewers.[41] In June, the series ratings were down 5% overall and 13% in the 16- to 39-year-old demographic compared to the previous year's series.[42]

By the series' final week in July these figures had dropped a further 5% and 2% respectively.[43] The Daily Show and Live Eviction Show were down 100,000 and 200,000 viewers respectively.[44] Overall the season attracted around one million viewers each night.[45] The show received several bad reviews. The Sunday Telegraph stated that "nothing could get worse for the ratings-challenged BB".[46] The Daily Telegraph named the series "Most. Boring. Ever."[47] The Sunday Herald Sun said that the show "has committed the worst television sin – it is boring."[48] eBroadcast Australia considered the program "left lifeless and fading" after the finale.[49] Christian Today thought the entire season "a slump in rating".[50] One review in The Age praised the series, pointing out the highlights of the season and claiming "[Big Brother] is as enjoyable as watching a quality sitcom or drama".[51] Another Age journalist disagreed, commenting that the 2007 series "just didn't sparkle".[52] In comments reported in a newspaper article, evicted housemate Emma reflected on the program's reduced ratings and noted that whilst inside the house the housemates joked about whether the show had been cancelled.[53]

Ratings

	Viewers (millions) 5-City Metro
	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12	Week 13	Week 14
Sunday	1.55	1.10	1.02	1.06	1.00	0.98	1.01	1.03	1.09	1.01	1.01	1.13	1.07	1.09
		1.24	1.16	1.19	1.12	1.08	1.10	1.13	1.16	1.09	1.07	1.19	1.11	1.17
Monday	1.04	1.01	0.98	1.02	0.95	0.90	0.98	1.01	1.01	0.99	1.00	1.06	1.08	1.79
	1.12	1.10	1.07	1.13	1.05	0.99	1.06	1.07	1.09	1.04	1.06	1.10	1.13
Tuesday	0.96	0.98	0.93	0.97	1.10	0.89	1.13	0.96	0.91	0.87	0.89	0.94	0.97
Wednesday	1.00	1.08	1.10	1.00	0.97	0.94	1.04	1.03	1.07	1.01	1.00	1.06	1.09
Thursday	1.04	1.01	1.00	0.98	0.94	0.91	0.99	1.00	1.04	0.97	0.99	1.04	1.01
Friday	1.01	1.06	1.02	1.06	1.03	0.98	1.04	1.07	1.06	1.01	1.03	1.07	1.09
	1.09	1.12	1.07	1.11	1.08	1.03	1.09	1.10	1.11	1.07	1.07	1.17	1.23
Weekly average	1.10	1.08	1.04	1.06	1.03	0.97	1.05	1.04	1.06	1.01	1.01	1.08	1.09	1.35
Running average	1.10	1.09	1.07	1.07	1.06	1.05	1.05	1.05	1.05	1.04	1.04	1.04	1.05	1.07
Series average	1.07m

Ratings are rounded to the nearest ten thousand. Uplate shows are not included in official averages. Figures in bold include consolidated viewing figures.

Controversy

• The Daily Telegraph had reported on 21 April 2007 – the day before the show's launch – that an internet hacker claimed to have obtained the names of the 18 housemates from the official Three Mobile website: "Aleisha, Andrew, Brodie, Cruz, Demet, Emma, Harrison, Hayley, Jamie, Joel, Kara, Kate, Rebecca, Sussannah, Thomas, TJ, Travis, and Zoran".[54] A Three Mobile spokeswoman denied the claims and told the media that the names were not "hacked" or "leaked" from the Three Mobile site, refusing to confirm whether the housemates names' and photos were real.[55]
• Because of the pre-recorded nature of launch shows, members of different forums and websites decided to have live streams using mobile phones allowing people to listen to the show before it was broadcast on national television. Because of this, recording of the show stopped until the streaming was stopped. Eventually, production staff offered prizes if audience members would pick out people from the crowd using phones to broadcast the show.[56]
• The Daily Telegraph had reported that Big Brother producers had failed to censor offensive language when housemate Bodie told other housemates he was "dense cunt" during the PG-rated Daily Show on Tuesday 24 April 2007.[57]
• The Sunday Mail on 29 April 2007 had reported that the parents of Mormon housemate Rebecca, were upset that their daughter was under siege from fellow housemates over her decision not to join in their party antics.[58]
• The Daily Telegraph had reported on 4 May 2007 that housemate Kate's situation regarding her pregnancy and pre-eclampsia was known by Network Ten and producer Endemol Southern Star before her entry to the house. This subsequently led to her breakdown regarding the "Newborn Group Task".[59]
• The Courier-Mail, The Daily Telegraph and The Age had reported that backpackers, students and other young people were being paid as little as $50 a day cash-in-hand for stunt work for the Friday Night Live Games episodes of Big Brother. It is claimed that they were used to test the various stunts that the housemates would have to perform. The Office of Workplace Services and other government departments were investigating the claims to see if the producers Endemol Southern Star were in breach of any laws or regulations.[60][61]
• Week 8 of Friday Night Live had a "Mexican" theme where housemates had to throw liquid-filled balloons at a Mexican Flag, with the intention of drenching the fabric. This use of the Mexican flag provoked criticism from Mexican officials.[62][63] In a letter to the Australian Communications and Media Authority and production company Endemol Southern Star, Mexico's Foreign Ministry complained about the offensive use of the country's flag. "(We) demand they take adequate measures to avoid this type of incident in the future", the ministry said. The show's producers later issued an apology.[64]
• The Daily Telegraph reported on 3 July that host Gretel Killeen is being accused of being aggressive towards some housemates, in particular Jamie during his eviction interview after he suggested the video package shown of him crying and sitting alone was biased towards the negative.[65][66] Later she was criticised for being particularly aggressive towards Rebecca, Thomas and Jamie. Killeen was also criticised for hypocrisy having aggressively questioned why Jamie did not intervene when Michelle argued with Aleisha, and yet she was receptive towards Michelle herself on her eviction, and even rationalised Michelle's behaviour during the argument. Michelle was also named the most unpopular housemate ever to inhabit the Australian Big Brother House.[67]
• Former housemate Susannah had left her partner and started dating fellow housemate Thomas after leaving the BB house. It was reported that her ex, Anthony Murphy, had blamed the reality TV show for the demise of their relationship.[68]

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External links

• Big Brother Australia
• Big Brother 2007 – Daily Telegraph Feature