GenQ - For the not so straight individual

The countdown to the sixth season of Big Brother has finally begun. The final chosen applicants are awaiting their lockdown call, the finishing touches are being made on the house and camera runs, plus Network Ten are teasing us with mysterious preseason adds. We also introduce ?Little Brother? to the team at queerplanet as this years Big Brother correspondent to take us through the new series.

We managed to track him down for a quick interview about everything Big Brother ? and also to suss him out!

queerplanet: So give us some stats about you Little Brother!

Little Brother: Well I'm 24, I live with my boyfriend in Sydney, grew up in North Queensland, have a pet fish called 'Chuck' & I enjoy kickboxing... oh and did I mention I have a small obsession with Big Brother?

queerplanet: So tell us, what makes Big Brother so popular year after year?

Little Brother: It invented reality television, what started as a live psychological television experiment turned into the phenomenon of 2001. I think we've all seen some dodgy reality programs come and go over the years, shows like Popstars, The Hothouse & The Block disappear pretty fast. Even a program like Idol is getting tired now, how many Idols can Australia vote to the top only to be outsold by 2nd & 3rd place contestants? Big Brother has lasted so long because it still intrigues people, it is still interesting to watch. It also has a very loyal legion of fans. Each year the rules of Big Brother change, they cast very different personalities to the last and the whole theme changes. It's also the surprise element, of not knowing what will happen next. With Big Brother not only is there just the twists, the secret rooms and secret passage ways, but also the not-so-planned elements that develop and shock us.

queerplanet: So you're a pretty big fan then!

Little Brother: Yeah I love it. I don't really watch a lot of TV, so Big Brother is my annual tradition. Nothing beats ?Big Brother Day?, the day when the show starts. I dig around my old recorded episodes of previous years and run around the house listening to the Big Brother soundtrack. Last year I was at work during the day and I couldn't stop thinking about Big Brother, the anticipation got the better of me. This year I won't be working, I'll be at the Launch Show getting the rundown for you guys.

queerplanet: Do you have any gossip on the new series?

Little Brother: Well this year has been a strange one, nobody knows anything about the new series. It's almost been a complete media blackout. Usually in the build up to the series a few things here and there are leaked. But this year not much has been picked up, all I need to hear is that ?Yes there will be a house? or something? anything! The preseason adds are quite mysterious, very different to previous years. There's talk that the birds and the bees flying around in the add symbolize an ?Adam & Eve? theme. We might see couples in the house this year, or ex-girlfriends and ex-boyfriends put in the house without them knowing prior. The rainbow and love heart might mean there could be a gay couple in the house! I've also heard that the Triangle House (later named the Sky Lounge - the 2nd floor that was visible from wide shots on top of the roof during series 3) will be a luxury room given to housemates on special battle of sexes tasks. There are a few other ones wandering around the rumour mill, of coarse there is always the same old ones each year ? a housemate is evicted on the first night or a housemate from a previous series will enter the house, yadda, yadda, yadda. I'll be running through a few more rumours next week?

queerplanet: What's your favorite Big Brother moment?

Little Brother: Probably the movie task in the first series, where the housemates had to write, act, direct and film their own movie script. Jemma's character had landed a hot date with the pool cleaner (Ben), to which Sarah-Maries character storms out of the room in jealousy, slams the door and screams, ?I'm going to kill that BITCH!?. Amongst a thousand other fav moments, the Gretel entrance at last years Launch Show was awesome. There were images of all of her recantations over the years flashing up on the screens behind her as she walked out on stage, it was all very exciting.

queerplanet: What's the worst moment?

Little Brother: I got really annoyed with Carlo in Series 3 and the fact that Belinda left the house because of his bullying. And the whole mystery of her younger sibling committing a serious crime to a homosexual man. It caused a legal crisis for the show as the identification of a minor in a court trial is illegal in Queensland, which of coarse is where Big Brother is produced. An edited scene from that night was shown on Uncut, except in Queensland were the scene was cut entirely. Next worst moment was probably Paul from Series 4, in general just a big faker, no moment in particular!

queerplanet: Have you been to any eviction shows or visited the house?

Little Brother: Yeah I've been to quite a few over the years. The most memorable was the 2nd last eviction of the first series, when Sarah Marie was voted out, leaving Ben & Blair. When this was announced by Gretel, the crowd went ballistic in disbelief, people were shouting out, jumping up and down on chairs, running onto the stage. Then when she came on stage, everyone went crazy, she had so many fans. I don't think Sarah Marie was tipped to leave that night! That was my first eviction, so it was pretty exciting seeing the studios for the first time. The year after that I went to the launch show of the 2nd series which was pretty amazing because that show is filmed a day in advance, so for 24 hours I was among a select few that knew who the housemates were. When a series is finished, its good to visit the house and check it all out. It looks much different on TV, so its interesting to see where everything is and put it into perspective. The ability to watch it on TV, vote people out, go to an eviction show and then later visit the house afterwards is a great experience.

queerplanet: Have you met any housemates?

Little Brother: Yeah a few, Gordon, Sara Marie & Lisa from the first series. Lisa was having a few drinks at MPs in Surfers Paradise (a gay club), with her little entourage. She looked great and was really friendly. She was saying how when she's in public, everyone wants their little bit of gossip from the house. So I didn't dare ask her for any goss!

queerplanet: What do you think about the controversy surrounding Big Brother Uncut last year?

Little Brother: I was really surprised because it seemed to come out of nowhere. I mean this was the 5th season, so what was so different about that season compared to others. I remember all the scandal in the headlines when Big Brother first started, ?Car crash television?, etc, etc. There was Wendy Harmer bagging out the show, even though her own breakfast radio program resorted to shock tactics, then later axed. But after a few weeks, everything settled down and it became the hit of the year. Yes last years Uncut show had nudity and swearing but it's controlled and what made it different to any other year?. It doesn't make any sense that practically every show on SBS each night has sordid content & hardcore sex scenes, however a program declared as ?Uncut? at the same timeslot on another station is too much.

queerplanet: So where and how did Big Brother start? How does our version compare to others overseas?

Little Brother: Well it all started back in the Netherlands in 1999, inspired by George Orwell's 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. It is now in over 40 countries world wide. The UK quickly pumped one out, which was hugely successful. But just like our version, the first series was quite basic in terms of how the house was designed and housemates were given basic necessities. Housemate ?Nasty Nick? made headlines as the first ever contestant in the world to be disqualified. He was discovered trying to influence votes by writing peoples names on pieces of paper and hiding them in his suitcase. He was later thrown out of the house for cheating, with the story being featured on the front page of every national newspaper in the UK. The US also have their own version. The first season followed our basic format, but due to poor ratings and the successful ?Survivor? at the time, the format of the program was modified so the evictions were controlled by the housemates instead of the public. The version from Germany was the first in the world to have a season last 365 days, then most recently with no actual time limit. The Australian version was the first to introduce the Double Eviction and also the first to have all housemates nominated for a single eviction from Big Brother. Ours is regarded as one of the most successful amongst the Endemol family. After seeing versions from other countries, the Australian show is very well produced and very focused on the original format.

queerplanet: What do you think about the new adds on TV at the moment? any theories?

Little Brother: Well the first installment of the add drove me crazy, I remember watching it for the first time and thinking what the hell. The clouds, sky and rainbow symbolize peace and happiness which then might quickly turn into evil and destruction. Which I'm nervous about, because Big Brother says every year that he's going to be mean but it never really eventuates. The bird and the bees are interesting, which supports the rumour of a possible ?Adam & Eve? theme for the series. We'll just have to see!

?Little Brother? will be covering the 2006 series of Big Brother for queerplanet. To kick things off, he will be live at the Launch Show on the Gold Coast on 22nd April ? bringing you exclusive behind the scenes photos of the show, parties and much more.

In the meantime, enjoy the countdown to Big Brother Day! Tune into Network Ten on Sunday 23rd April at 7.30pm for the long awaited Launch Show of the sixth season. Meet the new housemates, check out the new house & discover this years big twist! Then log onto queerplanet to see what Little Brother makes of it all...

If you hear any Big Brother rumours or stories, hit Little Brother up and send him an email?