The importance of referring to Big Brother in the third person.

Inside the house Big Brother is real to housemates, and so it is for executive producers to give him high status. Tonight 10 unveils its new cast and new house for Big Brother 2026, hosted by Mel Tracina. Ahead of the season launch exec producers Amelia Fisk from Endemol Shine Australia and Sarah Thornton from Network 10 spoke to TV Tonight : Tell me about the new location?

Amelia Fisk: We are thrilled to be with Screen Queensland Studios embedded in their world class facility. It’s an exceptional space, from a logistic point of view, to run a production where feature films have been filmed. It is ticking all boxes for us in terms for running a huge show like Big Brother, and then from the aesthetics in the house, nothing changes.

We have built the most gorgeous house within the precinct this year. We have control for a huge amount of audience numbers coming in for the Sunday and Monday live show – already in two hours we gave out 1300 audience tickets. So in terms of a functioning facility, we’re thrilled to be part of Screen Queensland, working with the studios here, and collaborating with them on every level.

We’re working closely with their Pathways programmes to bring in students and university people that are now employed on our show. I think we’ve employed 92 local industry personnel to work with us, so we’re loving it. Sarah Thornton: I think that the winner with the house move is the viewer and the audience.

I think that our ability as producers to deliver a world-class show from this location has been really enhanced, and I would say the ability to be creative with the house and what Big Brother can do, is incredible as well. So ultimately the audience wins, which is the most important thing, right?

So I’m presuming you have the interior of the house, some sort of backyard, which hopefully has a pool / spa situation, your eviction area for your live nights and then you’ve got all your production hub. Have I left anything out? AF: And full post production facility.

We’ve got 16 edit suites running out of here as well. We have one sound stage that will run the house and the live set, and then back of house is another one of their warehouses that’s adjoining. The main hub is the house and live set, and then back of house in another area.

They just shot a movie with Kevin Costner and Jake Gyllenhaal. When we were just about to bump in, they were bumping out. So it’s really fantastic.

Like Sarah says, the house that we’ve built here for the fans is exceptional. At Dream World the backdrop was roller coasters, but do you have the privacy this time? AF: (We have) a massive privacy.

We are actually still making it like an event location. We are bringing in local suppliers as well for the live stage and audience members that will come up. It’s a Big Brother precinct.

So whilst we don’t have the backdrop of rides, it’s not unlike where Big Brother UK was filmed out in Borehamwood and Elstree, for years of their production. For live audiences, there’s a kind of VIP behind-the-scenes tours that we’re operating. There’ll be picture experiences.

We’ve got the fishbowl, so nothing has changed. It’s still a place for audiences to be interactive out here on set. I think the roof has changed?

AF: The bloody roof! Going back to doing it on 10, back to its DNA, what learnings did you take out of last year’s season? ST: So many.

The first thing I would say is the format is the format, and it’s excellent. Leaning into original principles of the format really worked for us.. I think it does show, just from a broader TV perspective, that when a format is good and robust it can survive a long, happy life.

So that’s the number one learning. You will probably notice Big Brother has made some changes to his schedule across the week. So eagle-eyed viewers will notice that there are some little differences to what happens on what day, but that’s really just to make sure we have the best content every day for viewers.

Apart from that, there’s a lot that did work, and we will be bringing all of that back, especially the really purest casting that worked for us last year. AF: I second that. It is a granddaddy format and it works.

And to be pure to that, we don’t want to change things too much. I think we got it quite right, but I guess what we have learnt is that the viewer interactivity is key. People want to watch this show on two screens, and so you’ll see from night one, allowing the audience to be sitting behind the steering wheel and controlling certain elements is going to be key, and we want that.

We’re kind of really amplifying it this year, which is exciting. You mentioned scheduling changes, and I noticed you didn’t want to say what they are. But we’re Monday to Friday first week?

ST: There’s not massive scheduling changes. It will be the same pattern as last year. After week one, Sunday becomes evictions, Mondays nominations.

Then there’ll be the odd surprise live with some exciting Big Brother antics, as there were last year. The big change is across the way we run the task in the house and some other production minutiae. Probably not everyone will notice, but I’m sure you will.

It’s really to optimise the content and make sure that the experience for the housemates and viewers is the best we can deliver. And you’ve got a longer season, I presume? ST: Yes!

So let’s talk about who’s in the house. You’re obviously not going to tell me names, but what do you want to hint at? ST: The brilliance of Big Brother is that if we take a bunch of really ‘extraordinary, ordinary people’ that represent a real cross section of Australia, and put them in the ultimate social experiment that we get a great show.

So we’ve obviously, in our opinion, delivered them again. I think the cast this year equals last year’s cast. I’m super excited and a little bit apprehensive to see what they all get up to in the house.

We’ve got some real firecrackers in there. I think. AF: There’s big, big, personalities, big opinions.

There’s someone for everyone to get behind. ST: The age ranges from 22 to 61... people with real jobs in the real world, real dreams, a proper slice of Australia. What did you do for casting?

Did you do a similar rollout this year? ST: Yes. We had a great response this year, the same process as last year.

I think what’s great is that viewers saw that we really were casting real people last year, so we had a great deal of interest from the types of people that we want to cast on the show. AF: I think because of the live stream as well, we educated a whole new audience that actually thought Big Brother was a new format.

All these younger audience were like, ‘Oh, have you seen this show called Big Brother ?’ It’s like, ‘Yes, been around for 20 years.’ We had a lot more interest from a generation that just weren’t familiar with Big Brother , which was key. So you might see more of those types.... or you may not.

Was there anything you wanted to inject in this season that you didn’t do last year? ST: There are definitely some things Big Brother has up his sleeve that he had up his sleeve last year, and for whatever reason he decided not to execute. We’re hoping that he gets the chance this year.

AF: With a longer run, there’s more opportunities for things to happen. Is that important to refer to Big Brother in the third person ...that he’s this mystery person pulling the strings when it’s obviously you guys, or under your guise at least? ST: David!

It’s the magic of the social experiment ! The housemates deal with Big Brother . You know, Big Brother becomes quite real for them.

Big Brother is controlling what happens. Big Brother speaks to them. That relationship is really key within the environment of the house, and I think it’s good for us to be respectful of that on the outside as well.

AF: I agree. I think that’s the key to this whole format: that there is this being, this Big Brother that is the voice of authority. It’s not the hand of the producer, and we have to lean into that because it gives us something different that normal shows don’t offer.

ST: Having Big Brother as the interface between production and the housemates that gives us you the entertainment that we come for. So I think we’re all really respectful of it because that purity is key to the format. And we’ve got the live stream as well happening again.

Any change to that? AF: No, same / same. It’s out there.

Although you might notice there’s a little play along, potentially. Probably our two stars that weren’t housemates last year, on the live stream. ..... I’ll just let everyone watch vicariously as it plays out.

See if you can pick it up. ST: Obviously, the storyline will be different... if you an tell us after night one who you think is going to hook up you’re you’re a better man than me. We should finish with Mel Tracina.

She did a great job last year. AF: She did an awesome job. She’s so invested in this series.

She’s an absolute pro out there on stage. The way she can handle live television is extraordinary, and she’s got a real likability and humour that I think is beautifully paired with Big Brother. We know what works with Mel, and we’re leaning right into it.

She’s going to have some fun out there on Monday night. Big Brother screens 7:30pm Monday – Friday, 7pm Sunday on 10.