22 surprising things you didn't know near 'Big Brother'

big brother cbs most talked about shows

Host Julie Chen congratulating Josh Martinez, who wins the terminal HOH competition of the 19th season of "Big Blood brother."
Sonja Flemming/CBS
  • CBS's "Big Brother" has been on the air for xx years.
  • "Big Brother" besides has a "Celebrity Big Brother" spin-off in the Us and United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland.
  • At that place are about 100 cameras watching every houseguest, including a few cameras in the bath.
  • The longest competition lasted for more than than one-half a day.
  • Visit Insider'south homepage for more stories.

Ever since "Big Blood brother" first locked away a group of competitors — called houseguests — in a business firm for the summer and chosen information technology reality TV, people have been tuning in to run across all the drama unfold in real time.

Airing three times a week on Idiot box, the CBS show is on all of the time thanks to a gear up of cameras and microphones that option upward contestant behavior 24 hours a day, vii days a calendar week, and stream it alive to audiences online.

Fans can sentinel the houseguests eat, cook, and sleep — and strategize, of class. This is a competition prove, later all, and the prize is $500,000.

Only with xx years and over 20 seasons under its belt, fifty-fifty the biggest of superfans don't know everything at that place is to know most this bear witness.

Here are 21 surprising things yous probably didn't know about this reality-Boob tube staple:

It's actually based on a Dutch show.

The Dutch version isn't nearly every bit popular.
Monty Brinton/CBS ©2015 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

CBS adjusted the Dutch reality evidence's format when information technology started gathering big ratings in Federal republic of germany and Spain too, co-ordinate to SFGate.

"Large Brother" has been adapted for other countries, likewise.

Malika Haqq (left) and Host Emma Willis (right) at the launch nighttime of "Celebrity Big Brother" in 2018.
Mike Marsland/ WireImage /Getty Images

"Large Blood brother" has taken place in Bharat, Australia, Brazil, the UK, Africa, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Canada, and more, co-ordinate to ET Canada.

The houseguests get paid each week.

Information technology pays to stay in the game.
CBS

CBS pays its houseguests for taking the summer off for the show, which isn't the case with every reality show.

According to Reel Rundown, the weekly stipend for "Big Brother" houseguests is $1,000. This information was obtained during season 19 of the show when two contestants, Jessica Graf and Cody Nickson, were overheard discussing their finances.

In the by, a reported "Big Blood brother" contract obtained by Reality Blurred in 2011, said houseguests brand $750 per week for as long equally they're still in the game.

But two winners have ever won with a unanimous vote from the jury.

Cody Calafiore won season 22 of "Big Brother."
CBS

The evidence's about recent winner, Cody Calafiore, won the contest with a unanimous nine-to-zippo vote from the jury.

The simply other champion to win with a unanimous vote was season-1o winner Dan Gheesling.

The longest competition lasted for more than one-half a mean solar day.

The contest didn't stop until the next morning.
CBS

Tests of endurance are common on the show, but one competition stretched on for over fourteen hours.

The flavor-six Head of Household competition required contestants to concord downwards a button. If you permit go, you were out.

According to CBS, it went on for 14 hours and 37 minutes, and no one won until 9 a.yard. the side by side day.

The show wakes up the houseguests with music.

It'south certainly an interesting mode to kicking off the solar day.
CBS

"Big Blood brother" season-15 winner Andy Herren told HuffPost that production would "blare pop songs in the morning to wake y'all up. Information technology could be any time between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m."

The show has several nods to George Orwell's book "1984."

The owl pays homage to Orwell.
CBS

The show's name comes from the book's leader, Big Brother, who watches over citizens at all times via telescreens.

It's a fitting name, but it's non the only "1984" reference. The show likewise has a stuffed animal owl that chills in the firm named Orwell afterward the author.

The owl even has his own Twitter account.

There are almost 100 cameras watching every houseguest.

Large Brother is truly always watching.
CBS

Chen told Entertainment This night in 2016 that 87 cameras and 110 microphones are picking up what the contestants are doing and maxim at all times.

There'south no privacy in the "Large Brother" house.

Yous can become expelled from the show.

Chima was sent home for throwing her microphone pack into the swimming puddle and refusing to put a new pack on.
CBS

Unremarkably, the only way out the "Big Brother" door is if your boyfriend houseguests adios you lot — but CBS also doesn't tolerate violence or disobedience.

As CBS News reported, over the years, a handful of houseguests take been expelled from the bear witness.

This includes Justin Sebik from season two, who pulled a knife on a fellow contestant, and Chima Simone from season xi, who threw her mic in the pool after repeated requests from production to put it on.

Contestants aren't allowed to sing for the whole summer.

It's a copyright result.
CBS

If houseguests slip up, they'll be reminded with a stern, "Please. Stop. Singing."

This rule likely has to exercise with copyright concerns, since CBS would have to pay to air a segment that contained an creative person'south song.

According to some former contestants, yous may exist asked to say things "with more excitement" in the diary room.

Cody Nickson was known for his unemotional tone.
CBS

In the diary room, where contestants go to speak to cameras away from their swain houseguests, many secrets are revealed. Just sometimes producers want a bit more energy.

In a Reddit AMA, former flavour-19 contestant Cody Nickson said showrunners would ask "me to say something again 'simply with more than excitement this fourth dimension'".

He said he refused to do and so.

Michelle Meyer, who competed on season xviii of the show, replied to his comment saying, "I wish I did this".

Houseguests are cut off from all news while in the business firm, except in farthermost cases.

Houseguests were informed when Donald Trump was elected.
Associated Press/Evan Vucci

Entertainment Weekly reported that during season-two product told the houseguests about the 9/xi terror attacks since houseguest Monica Bailey's cousin was listed as ane of the missing World Trade Heart workers.

During the online season, "Big Brother Over the Top," the houseguests were informed of Donald Trump's presidential victory.

Squirrels are inside jokes from production.

They pop up in random competitions.
CBS

If you lot've always spotted a random simulated squirrel in a "Large Brother" contest, that'due south Benny. Keep an center out for him in the hereafter.

The "Big Brother" firm is not a real firm.

It looks like a fancy 1, though.
Monty Brinton/CBS

It'south an elaborately set up soundstage, according to Reality Blurred.

And although it may look real to those watching, season four'southward Erika Landin told HuffPost that it doesn't seem that real to those playing the game.

"It doesn't really feel like a house. It really feels you're living on a fix," she said. "The whole ceiling is telly lights."

Some houseguests are recruited.

James Rhine has been in movies since.
IMDb

Equally with many reality Goggle box shows, product doesn't rely on self-submissions solitary.

The show rounds out their bidder pool with people of their choosing. HuffPost reported that season six's James Rhine was one such recruit.

"They establish me on MySpace. They literally hitting me up because they liked the modeling picture I had every bit a profile picture, and my old job was as a corporate investigator," he said. "I had never watched the show, but they kept telling me they saw me equally the second coming of this Dr. Will person."

People practice have sex in the business firm, even though they know they're being filmed.

Sometimes they merely can't help themselves.
Monty Brinton/CBS

The first pair to do this was Amanda Craig and David Lane on flavour iv, co-ordinate to Vulture.

They may have pulled the covers over their heads, only they weren't that sneaky nearly what was going downwards underneath.

"I'm a grown man and grown men do grown-up things, " David told the cameras following the incident.

Slop wasn't always the punishment food.

Before slop, in that location were sandwiches.
bark/Flickr

Before season seven, when the oatmeal-y gooey slop was introduced, contestants were punished by being made to eat merely peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

The jury house is kind of a party.

It's less strict than the house.
Johnny Vy/CBS

If contestants arrive far enough in the game, they can get to the jury house. These eliminated houseguests later decide who wins between the final two players.

Merely until their important function comes upwardly, they just have a smashing fourth dimension. With no cameras, the pressure is off and contestants can finally permit loose and take fun.

Equally season 4'due south Jack Owens said to HuffPost, "Information technology was a vacation in a millionaire'due south home on the Pacific Ocean. We had all the beer we wanted. We had all the freedom we wanted … I was allowed to occasionally talk to my wife on the phone. The game was off. Nosotros partied together and enjoyed each other."

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