#bbau features

One of the most popular Big Brother Australia Housemates is about to be sent packing, after a last-minute change that smacks of producer meddling.

Allana, Jane, and Mia are all currently nominated, and it felt like we were going to get a pretty good eviction result, with all indications pointing to Jane as the likely loser. But on Wednesday night (AEDT), promos for a “shock double eviction” started airing on Channel 10.

One issue is that this immediately becomes a lose-lose eviction for many fans: at time of writing, Allana leads our Pop Poll with 27.94% of the vote, and Mia is in second place with 20.59% – a higher vote share than when she was crowned last week’s most popular Housemate. Jane is currently on 1.47%.

This happened frustratingly often in this year’s BBUK. A twist on Day 4 left Zelah and Gani – the series’ first and seventh-most popular Housemates – on the block for the first eviction. Another twist – and a poorly-timed double eviction like this one – led to Zelah being evicted on Day 34.

Even putting aside the issue of popularity, this should’ve been announced during Monday’s Live Nominations. We all knew double evictions were coming, with thirteen Housemates in a four-to-six week run, but viewers still deserve to know exactly what they’re voting for. It feels like free, web-based eviction voting is being used to excuse producer interventions that would’ve been more controversial with phone and SMS voting – like Day 1 evictee Emily being brought back in this year’s BBUK. (Expect to see Mitch again, too.)

Announcing it mid-week like this has a nasty reek of “we’ve decided to evict the person in second place too, just because we can”. And it flies in the face of the unscripted, unfiltered, “OG” BBAU experience we were all promised.

Other things are annoying me, too, like the Daily Show’s conspicuous failure to include any of Colin’s angry outbursts, and the fact Housemates are actively discouraged from doing anything interesting on weekends.

But this is the first thing that’s really irked me, in what has honestly been a refreshing and enjoyable series.

Update 20/11: There may be more to Sunday’s “shock twist” than we first thought.