Big Brother (British TV series) series 19

Big Brother
Series 19
Series nineteen logo
Hosted by	Emma Willis
No. of days	53
No. of housemates	16
Winner	Cameron Cole
Runner-up	Akeem Griffiths
Companion show	Big Brother's Bit on the Side
No. of episodes	45
Release
Original network	Channel 5
Original release	14 September (2018-09-14) – 5 November 2018 (2018-11-05)
Series chronology
← Previous Series 18 Next → Series 20

Big Brother 2018, also known as Big Brother 19 was the nineteenth series of Big Brother, and the final series to air on Channel 5. The series launched four days after the final of Celebrity Big Brother 22 on 14 September 2018 and lasted for 53 days with the final episode airing on 5 November 2018. The series is the eighth regular and twenty-third series of Big Brother to air on Channel 5 since 2011; it was also the final series of Big Brother in the three-year contract that was announced on 19 March 2015, which guaranteed that the show would air on Channel 5 until 2018.^[1]

On 14 September 2018, it was confirmed that this series would be the final series to air on Channel 5.^[2]

On 5 November 2018, Cameron Cole was announced as the winner of the series, beating Akeem Griffiths who finished as runner-up.^[3] At 19 years old, Cole is the youngest winner of Big Brother in the UK series' eighteen-year history. Much like Ultimate Big Brother, the final Channel 4 series, the series ended with the words "Big Brother will get back to you".^[4]

Following Channel 5's decision in 2018 not to renew their contract with Endemol/Initial TV to show the series, ITV2 bought the rights to Big Brother in the United Kingdom, where it was broadcast from 8 October 2023.

This marked the last regular appearance of Emma Willis as presenter after six series.

Endemol confirmed that a new creative team had been formed ahead of the series. Paul Osborne, executive producer of Big Brother 7, returns to overlook the new series as Creative Director.^[5] Trevor Boris was also later hired as a senior producer after co-producing Big Brother Canada since its inception.^[6]

On several occasions in the run-up to Celebrity Big Brother 22, various news reports and Big Brother alumni hinted at the series going back to its roots, with less producer manipulation and a focus on the show as a social experiment.^[7]

The shows' producers also met with several fansites to discuss the direction of the show, with it being heavily reported that the show will bring back weekly shopping tasks and a consistent nominations format.^[8][9][10]

It was confirmed by creative director Paul Osborne that the series would have a "separate identity" from the Celebrity Big Brother 22.^[7]

The eye was revealed on 4 September 2018, with Osborne commenting on its look of "a vast luminous orb of colours".^[11]

On 24 August 2018 while speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival Channel 5 controller Ben Frow announced that he was planning for a year without the Big Brother franchise on Channel 5 in 2019, confirming that the current three-year contract expires at Christmas 2018.^[12] Frow had previously stated at the 2017 event that he'd be much happier with a channel without Big Brother on it.^[13] On 14 September 2018, Channel 5 confirmed that both Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother had been axed and that this series would be "the end of the game".

In an interview with fansite "BBSpy", creative director Paul Osborne stated that the team were actively trying to find "totally unknown" housemates for the series. In the past, some housemates had previously appeared on reality shows such as The Valleys, Ibiza Weekender and Ex on the Beach.^[7]

On 10 September 2018, during the final of Celebrity Big Brother 22, a trailer was released showing close-ups of each of the fourteen housemates with their occupation, age and home town, and the public were granted the power to give one of them an early advantage in the series by voting in a poll.^[14]

For this series, Big Coins were introduced to the housemates as house currency. Throughout the series, housemates were able to earn, steal and collect Big Coins in a number of tasks, which would ultimately give them power and the right to buy privileges.

• Ahead of the launch, the viewers were able to give one housemate an early advantage in the game by voting in a public vote for their favourite housemate based on just their occupation, age and home town. They chose "The Waitress" Sîan, who began the game with 100 Big Coins. On launch night, the housemates were told that they'd be competing against each other to collect Big Coins with the three poorest housemates ultimately facing the first eviction. Zoe, the occupant of Bed 13, was also given the secret power of swapping coin totals with another housemate of her choice, and chose Lewis G.^[15] At the end of the week, Anamélia, Kay and Sîan faced eviction.^[16] Following Anamélia's eviction, she decided to donate her coins to Tomasz.

• The second week featured housemates taking part in an auction, where they could bid for luxuries with their coins. With Akeem being the richest housemate at the time of nominations, he was able to take part in the Gamechanger task alongside the nominees and two housemates of his choice. As punishment for discussing nominations, Lewis F was deducted 100 Big Coins. Tomasz was also given the opportunity to secretly earn himself more coins by putting the luxury shopping task at risk. Following Lewis G's eviction, he decided to donate his coins to Isaac.

• The third week featured housemates going into the task room one by one where each housemate's stack of coins were shown. Each housemate had 90-seconds to decide where to distribute the coins by taking some from coins from a housemate's stack and placing them somewhere else. Another auction then took place where housemates could spend their coins. With Cian the richest housemate at the time, he was able to play the Gamechanger alongside the nominees. Following Isaac's eviction, he decided to donate his coins to Tomasz.

• The fourth week featured another auction where immunity from the next set of nominations was on offer. As punishment for discussing nominations, Lewis F was deducted 100 coins from his total. The housemates were told that they could give a 250 Big Coin advantage to one of the new housemates; Hussain or Isabella, who were currently bankrupt. They chose Isabella. However, Isabella was then asked which housemate she'd like to take the coins from, choosing Tomasz, the richest housemate at the time. With Cian being the richest housemate at the time of nominations, he was able to play the Gamechanger alongside the nominees. Following Kenaley's eviction, she decided to donate her coins to Hussain.

The main events in the Big Brother 19 house are summarised in the table below. A typical week begins with nominations, followed by the shopping task, and then the eviction of a Housemate during the live Friday episode. Evictions, tasks, and other events for a particular week are noted in order of sequence.

Official ratings are taken from BARB.^[19]

• Official website
• Big Brother at IMDb