The upcoming season of Big Brother Australia may be its last on Channel 7 with rumours circulating that the network may want to move on from the show.
The Daily Mail reported on Sunday that the show’s future is in doubt after Channel 7 bosses saw production issues and low ratings last year. The upcoming season is the final one that Seven is contractually required to produce, leaving the show’s license free game for other networks to bid on.
The upcoming season was originally titled ‘Big Brother: House of Love’, which would have featured a cast with single contestants in a nod to the more popular show Love Island. However, none of the cast gelled well together romantically, which forced producers to scrap the House of Love theme after filming.
“In the end, it just felt like more of the same Big Brother,” a source told the tabloid.
The show has not aired yet and those who made the cast for the upcoming season have not been told when the show will air this year.
“We’ve been left in the dark,” one cast member said. “We were originally told the show would be in April and we still don’t know when the series has been scheduled to premiere!’”
The season was filmed over 27 days, making it one of the shortest seasons in show history.
Show bosses do not appear confident about the future of the show, with the standalone house having already been demolished.
The 2022 season saw 582,000 people tune in to watch Reggie Bird win again. Fan favourites such as Tim Dormer and Tully Smyth also returned in an effort to boost ratings.
Big Brother Australia will return later this year on Channel Seven.