AJ Odudu and Will Best on Big Brother’s grand return: ‘We want a real cross section of the UK’

As Big Brother prepares to return this Sunday (October 8), hosts AJ Odudu and Will Best have told Rolling Stone UK about the show’s revival, and why it still holds an important place in 2023.

Some 23 years after eleven regular Britons walked into a purpose-built house in East London, the show’s ITV revival promises the same for a new batch of housemates who will, as ever, be watched by the all-seeing eye of Big Brother, 24/7.

Odudu and Best also say that the show promises a return to its social experiment roots. In contrast, some of the show’s later series, particularly after a move to Channel 5, faced dwindling viewing and were criticised for both lacking focus and the same appeal as early offerings.

“I think Big Brother has actually got a much more important place than it ever has before. It does feel like society was a lot more innocent and naïve then,” says Odudu.

“People are yearning for diversity more than ever, not just on screen, but they want to see themselves reflected back. I think it’s got a really important place, and that’s the special thing about Big Brother – you don’t have to have any sort of singing talent or be able to cook or be single or be young and hot, or looking for love.”

Ahead of this Sunday’s launch, you can read our whole Q&A with Odudu and Best below.

So we’re talking just over a week before Big Brother makes its grand return. Are you nervous? Excited?

AJ: Can I just say, me and Will saw the Big Brother house for the first time yesterday and I LOST IT. I ran around like an excited little girl. I took photos, I took videos and I’m gonna send them to you for an exclusive. But only if the price is right!

Will: It is amazing that we’ve been talking about it for ages and now it’s almost here. Bam! We’re in the thick of it now. I think we’re not speaking out of turn when we say this is the best house yet. As fans, we’ve loved every single BB and all the houses, but no-one’s held back at all on this series.

The thing is, when you watch back some of the old clips you can see that the house wobbles when someone leans on a wall. It had that feel to it, they were even in bunk beds at one point and it just felt rough and ready. I think with this series, the house is showing us that it can be a social experiment, but aspirational too. I’m going to use the word premium!

What are your own personal histories with the show? When did you start watching it?

Will: For me, maybe it’s because of my age, [but] the third series was the one that I really connected with. I was fully obsessed and watching the live feed all night. It was a vintage year too, we had Alison Hammond in there. We had Adele Roberts. We had Lee the bodybuilder. I’d never seen someone with so much muscle!

There have been so many other little storylines that have stayed with me too throughout the years. Anthony and Craig’s bromance in Big Brother 6 – I loved that and it really resonated with me. There’s so much… 18 years of top quality stuff to delve into.

AJ: I remember watching the first ever [series], not knowing what to expect, and just being absolutely glued to it 24/7. It’s funny looking back at the storylines there, too. We had Nasty Nick as the original villain, who did the very criminal thing of writing notes on a bit of paper and giving them to housemates.

Will: He smuggled in a pencil! I’m surprised he wasn’t arrested!

AJ: I loved Darren in Big Brother 1 too and his relationship with the plastic baby he was looking after called Juanita, to the extent that I swore that if I have a baby girl, I’ve got to call her Juanita. It’s because of Darren.

Socially and technologically, we’re in a very different place to when Big Brother first aired. What is the show’s place in 2023?

AJ: I think it’s actually got a much more important place than it ever has before. It does feel like society was a lot more innocent and naïve then. People are yearning for diversity more than ever, not just on screen, but they want to see themselves reflected back. I think it’s got a really important place, and that’s the special thing about Big Brother – you don’t have to have any sort of singing talent or be able to cook or be single or be young and hot, or looking for love. All you need to do is be interested and interesting. We all get to learn from the people we get to know over those months and weeks.

Will: We’ve had people asking us about how much of it is going to be a social experiment and how much drama is there going to be? Now what we’re trying to do is put together real people from all walks of life to present a real cross section of UK culture and society that’s totally representative of every facet of what makes the population of this country amazing, and putting those people in a house together. People who would never meet, let alone live together, being forced to be in that situation in close proximity for six weeks.

But all of that is against the backdrop of 2023, when discourse has changed and people are a lot more defined by their opinions and their beliefs and things are a lot more tribal in many ways.

There’s going to be people in that house who have very different beliefs, and topics will be raised that challenge preconceptions and challenge prejudices. The things we all talk about behind closed doors are suddenly going to be on our TV screens and that’s really interesting. It will still be an entertainment show though, so of course we’re going to have tasks and all that kind of stuff as well.

There’s gonna be light and shade, there’s gonna be levity, there’s gonna be drama, there’s gonna be serious stuff. There’s gonna be tears, there’s gonna be laughter. And it’s all gonna be great.

So at a time when everything is so polarised, we’re going to see if putting people in a house together and making them get on with it could be the answer to our divisions?

Will: It’s a good point. That’s what is going to be really, really interesting and that’s where we get that social experiment box ticked, which is a big part of what makes Big Brother good.

So we’re going to have real characters like classic BB and not people seeking a quick route to fame?

AJ: That’s what we’re hoping for. We want it to be interesting people with interesting stories. You look back at the originals and it’s easy to forget how pioneering and groundbreaking it was. You think about Nadia being the first trans person that we ever saw on screens. In 2023 we’re only just starting to have those proper conversations about gender in society and it’s a bit like, look, Nadia was there all along in Big Brother.

At a time where conversations about the trans community seem quite heated and tribal, it’s easy to forget that Nadia’s win was celebrated.

Will: Yeah, exactly. She won because she was a great housemate. That is why she won it and that’s a real leveller. They say at the start you do well in there if you’re interesting and that’s what they cast for.

AJ: Whatever happens, these people are going to be stripped of their mobile phones, cut off from the outside world and in this very unique experience together. Whatever happens, there are a bunch of strangers that have to figure it out over the coming weeks, and there’s nothing more fascinating to watch in my opinion.

Davina McCall, famously, had catchphrases like ‘I’m coming to get you!’ Any plans to put your stamp on it like her?

AJ: I don’t think Davina set out to have a catchphrase, people just gave that to her. I think we’ll just have to see what happens, but we’re very different people. We’ve all got our own presenting style, which is just based on our personalities anyway. I just can’t wait to say ‘Please do not swear’ in my broad northern accent.

Finally, to put you both on the spot: favourite Big Brother contestants?

AJ: Oh, WOW. That is too hard. I’m gonna say Darren because he made me fall in love with the show, but the list could go on. From Nikki Grahame, to Alison Hammond, to Adele Roberts.

Will: I would just [have to say] that series three was pivotal for me to the extent where it feels like everyone who has in the house then are my mates. I spent so much time watching them and they were the first cohort that I was really obsessed with. So it’s got to be the BB3 house. All of them!

 Big Brother: The Launch airs Sunday 8th October at 9pm on ITV1, ITV2 and ITVX

Grooming credits.

AJ: 
Hair: Remi Laid
Make up: Laura Gibbs
Styling: Thomas George Wulbern

Will: 
Grooming: Enya Sullivan 
Styling: Tobi Rose