Big Brother Australia: Weekly schedule released

   

Big Brother Australia has announced the regular schedule for its upcoming premiere on NINE.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the weekly schedule looks set to include:

Live Nomination Show - 7.00pm Mondays on NINE

The Daily Show - 7.00pm Tuesday-Fridays on NINE

Big Brother Confidential - 9.30pm Wednesdays on NINE

An unnamed show - 6.00pm Sundays on GO!

Live Eviction Show - 7.00pm Sundays on NINE

The Daily Show will be repeated on GO! each day after its original broadcast, at 5.00pm.

Big Brother Confidential appears to be a re-hashing of Big Brother Uncut, which was controversially axed in 2006 due to breaching coding regulations, before making a soft return in 2008 called Big Brother's Big Mouth.

There has been no indication that the previously announced Up-Late show will be airing anytime soon. NINE may have pulled this one off its schedules, or are waiting to see whether the show rates before it launches this component.

Big Brother Australia premieres Monday August 13 on NINE.

Big Brother Australia: 'Secrets' format confirmed

 

You have to hand it to NINE and the Big Brother Australia production crew.

As housemates have been officially placed in lockdown, NINE have revealed the twist of the season is that every housemate has a 'secret'.

The 'secret' format was revealed a year ago when it was announced that Big Brother Australia was making a return. However, NINE and the production crew quickly dropped the 'secrets' title and claimed that Big Brother was returning to the original format seen in its early years.

The format has been borrowed from Big Brother France, where housemates added money to the overall prize by correctly guessing each others' secrets throughout the series. Secrets have included housemates being bisexual, transvestites, criminals, homeless, married to each other and a millionaire.

The new commercial was released last night during the London 2012 Olympics coverage.

Big Brother Australia premieres Monday August 13 on NINE.

Big Brother Australia: Tabloid sensation Ruby Jacenko a rumoured housemate

The Daily Telegraph have revealed that Ruby Jacenko looks set to become a housemate for Big Brother Australia.

The 22 year old has made a name for herself in Australia since briefly dating Westlife's Brian McFadden (former Big Brother UK Kerry Katona's ex-husband), pole-dancing for former Big Brother Australia host Kyle Sandilands, and playing for the Lingerie Football League in the US.

With a D-grade celebrity in the house, such a move would put into question Big Brother Australia's claims that it is searching for 'real people' for the upcoming series.

Both Big Brother Australia production and Jacenko have remained coy when pressed by The Daily Telegraph.

As it has been revealed that 25 potential housemates are currently in lockdown with 14 set to enter, the rumour will remain to be unconfirmed until launch night.

Big Brother Australia premieres Monday August 13 on NINE.

Big Brother Australia: Website launches, 14 housemates, tickets for sale

It's starting to kick off at Dreamworld.

The official Big Brother Australia website has launched, revealing scarcely any new information about the new series except that this year will see a vote to SAVE, rather than evict. This again follows the UK structure. Evictions are to be held Sunday nights, as per usual. It is unknown whether the earlier announcement that the show will air 5 nights a week is no longer valid.

Host Sonia Kruger also hinted at a possible return of a live nominations show. 

14 housemates will be entering the house on Sunday 12 August, with 25 currently in lockdown. But with only 13 visible beds in the house, one housemate may be secretly living alone in a 'bedsit' area, as seen in the blueprints.

The official website will be posting updates about the housemates as soon as they enter on Sunday night, but will not be revealing names or profiles until Monday night.

Tickets are currently for sale at Ticketek for Sunday shows, with a Tuesday live show to be filmed on August 14. It is not known what the premise of this show will entail.

Big Brother Australia premieres Monday August 13 on NINE.

Big Brother Australia: New ad goes all the way to the Prime Minister

Big Brother Australia has premiered their latest ad.

The commercial, which premiered during the 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony, features notable NINE news staff reporting on the Big Brother shuffling 'pandemonium', as they hunt for who could be the next housemate.

A humourous actress posing as Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard also features, as she shuffles across newspaper headlines.

The new ad deviates from that of its UK counterpart, which will no doubt please Big Brother fans who have criticised Australia's dependency on the UK format.

But the new commercial has many Big Brother fans wondering - since when did Big Brother Australia become a dance show? The 'Big Brother Shuffle' has featured heavily in the latest series of commercials and across the Official Big Brother Australia Facebook page, with the show asking fans to send in videos of their shuffling, set to feature in an upcoming commercial.

Big Brother Australia premieres Monday August 13 on NINE.

Big Brother Australia: Ex-housemate Wes Dening to host show on US Disney Channel

Former Big Brother Australia housemate Wesley Dening has announced that he will be fronting a new kids show on the Disney Channel (US). 

Code:9 is a hidden camera reality series where kids pull pranks on their unsuspecting parents. The show sounds similar to Australia's Prank Patrol, which gained a cult following on ABC3.

The show will be executive-produced by reality television veterans including Mark Herwick (Kitchen Nightmares) and Douglas Ross (Big Brother USA). The production company, Evolution Media, also produces reality series The Real Housewives of Orange County. 

Dening was controversially evicted from the Big Brother house in 2004 when a telephone voting error incorrectly declared fellow housemate Bree Amer as the evictee. Amer re-entered the house and Dening was promptly evicted. Amer was the eventual runner-up of the series.

Dening, who got his big break as a presenter on TEN's kids show Totally Wild, also has plans to shoot another season of  FOX8's reality series The Stafford Brothers, which has screened internationally.

All the best of luck for the former housemate!

Code:9 premieres Thursday July 26 at 8PM ET on the Disney Channel (US).