Big Brother Canada (season 1)

Development

The series first began airing in Canada in 2003 under the title Loft Story, and was aired solely in French. The series aired for a total of six seasons, officially ending in 2009. Much like the original format for the series, Loft Story featured a public voting system, with the viewers deciding which housemate was evicted each week. In 2010, the show began aired for one season under the title Big Brother. Though the series continued to feature the public voting system, it did include more aspects from the American format of the series. In 2012, it was officially confirmed that an English edition of the series would air in Canada in 2013, and would follow the format used in the American edition. Though all previous seasons of the American version had aired in the country, viewers living in Canada were not able to apply for the series. It was confirmed that casting for the series would begin later that year. Robyn Kass of Kassting Inc, who is the casting director for the American version of the show, confirmed via Twitter that she would also be casting the Canadian edition. Casting ran from July 2012 to January 2013. There were open casting calls in areas such as Vancouver, Calgary, Halifax, Montreal, and Toronto. Online applications for the series began in August, and ended on 12 October 2012. Applicants for the series were required to be over the age of 19 by the beginning of February. In total, an estimated 4,000 people sent in online applications, and more than 6,000 appeared at open casting calls.

It was confirmed in January 2013 that Arisa Cox would appear as the host for the series. Initially, only fourteen HouseGuests were set to appear on this season, though this number was increased due to the success of the casting calls and online applications. The fifteen HouseGuests were revealed on 20 February through Slice. The season featured a total of eight men and seven women. Andrew Monaghan was the oldest HouseGuest at age 38, while Danielle Alexander was the youngest HouseGuest at age 20. Alec Beall was a social psychology student prior to entering the house, while Aneal Ramkissoon hoped to write his thesis paper about his time spent in the house. HouseGuests Aneal, Anuj "AJ" Burman, Emerald "Topaz" Brady, Gary Levy, Kat Yee, and Liza Stinton were all from Ontario. HouseGuests Andrew, Emmett Blois, and Jillian MacLaughlin were all from Nova Scotia.

The series premiered on 27 February 2013, and aired a total of three episodes each week. The schedule used for Big Brother 1 was similar to that of many American editions of the series. On Thursday's episode, there was a live eviction, followed by the Head of Household competition. Arisa Cox was the host for these episodes, and interviewed the evicted HouseGuests each week. The Sunday episode shows the nomination ceremony, as well as any luxury or Have-Not competitions that took place that week. The Wednesday episode shows both the Power of Veto competition and the Power of Veto ceremony. These two episodes do not feature a host. Episodes premiered at 9 pm Eastern each night. It was later confirmed that the Big Brother spin-off series, Big Brother: After Dark, would air alongside Big Brother 1 on Slice. The series provided an uncensored live feed from the house, airing for three hours every night. Along with the televised series, Big Brother 1 featured live feed streaming from the house. The feeds were available for free on the official website, and were blocked solely for competitions and various production aspects.

The Canadian version of the series introduced the "Power Play" aspect to the show. In the online game, fans were able to make predictions on what events will occur during a week in the house, such as who will be nominated, win a competition, or be evicted. Players would receive a certain amount of points for correctly guessing a winner, and the players with the highest scores were able to have a larger impact on the game than those with smaller scores. Barbara Williams, SVP of Content for Shaw Media stated "Social engagement is a huge part of Big Brother's appeal for fans and we've created a completely integrated online experience that will resonate with audiences [...] We've developed a platform that gives our audience countless opportunities to engage and make decisions that will impact the series in real time."

House

Construction on the Big Brother house officially began in September 2012 at Orbiter Studios in Mississauga, Ontario. Much like other editions of the series, the house was announced to include both an indoor and outdoor area. There are 64 cameras and 50 microphones in the house, and the HouseGuests will also be required to wear microphones at all times. The backyard this season, where competitions will be held, is not actually outside, due to potential bad weather conditions. There are lights in this section of the house, however, that will mimic the rising and setting of the sun as the day goes on. This area features a "contemporary Canada" theme along the walls, with images of popular Canadian culture items being painted on. There is a pool in this area of the house, along with various work out equipment. There is, however, a secret room in the backyard that will lead to a hidden room that is actually outdoors, and features a hot tub. On the house, executive producer of Insight Productions stated, "It has to have working bathrooms, working showers, working kitchens, air conditioning, temperature control, swimming pools, hot tubs, you name it. And all of it has to be inside a studio." The house only features one main bedroom, which features seven double beds. There is also a Head of Household bedroom in the house, which features double doors at its entrance. During her tour of the house, host Arisa Cox described the living room and dining room as having a "mid-century modern" look. There is a hallway with bright greens walls that leads to both the bathroom and bedroom. There is only one toilet and two showers in the house, excluding the one in the HoH bedroom. There is a moose named Marsha in the hallway to the Diary Room, which can give the HouseGuests tasks.

Format

Big Brother was a game show in which a group of contestants, referred to as HouseGuests, lived in isolation from the outside world in a custom built "house", constantly under video surveillance. The HouseGuests were competing for a $100,000 grand prize. In addition, the winner would receive a 2013 Chevrolet Trax, as well as a $25,000 home makeover from The Brick. The runner-up would receive a $20,000 cash prize. The format of the series was mainly seen as a social experiment, and required HouseGuests to interact with others who may have differing ideals, beliefs, and prejudices. HouseGuests were also required to make visits to the Diary Room during their stay in the house, where they were able to share their thoughts and feelings on their fellow HouseGuests and the game. While in the house, the HouseGuests are given no information from the outside world. This includes the families and loved ones of the HouseGuests, whom they are not permitted to see or speak to. The house featured no telephones, televisions, or reading material other than for religious use. HouseGuests could voluntarily leave the house at any time, however, would not be able to return. In addition, a HouseGuest could be removed from the house at any time for breaking the rules. Each week in the house, the HouseGuests would participate in various competitions to win food, luxuries, and power. The HouseGuests could also be given tasks to complete in exchange for a reward, with tasks being given to HouseGuests through means of a telephone or various props in the house.

At the start of each week in the house, the HouseGuests would compete for the title of Head of Household. The Head of Household for each week would have luxuries such as their own personal bedroom and free laundry service, but was responsible for nominating two HouseGuests for eviction. The Head of Household would not be able to compete in the following week's Head of Household competition, meaning that a HouseGuest could not hold the title for two weeks in a row. The winner of the Power of Veto could choose to save one of the nominated HouseGuests, forcing the Head of Household to nominate someone in their place. All HouseGuests excluding the Head of Household and nominees later vote to determine which of the two nominees should be evicted, and the nominated HouseGuest who received the most votes was evicted during a live episode. If there is a tie in the voting, the reigning Head of Household is required to make the tie-breaker decision. Unlike other versions of Big Brother, the HouseGuests may discuss the nomination and eviction process openly and freely. The HouseGuests also competed in Have-Not competitions, in which the losers were required to solely eat slop for the rest of the week, as well as sleep in a special bedroom. The HouseGuests also participated in weekly luxury competitions, in which those competing could win prizes. When only two HouseGuests remained, the last seven evicted HouseGuests returned to decide which of the two should win the game.

Future Appearances

Peter Brown and Gary Levy returned for the Big Brother Canada Side Show along with Arisa Cox, Brown has covered seasons 2- but Levy covered seasons 2 and 3 and was replaced by season three champion Sarah Hanlon. Additionally, many of this season's houseguests went on to star in the Side Show as a guest star. Brown returned in the second season to host a veto competition. Emmett Blois and Jillian MacLaughlin also returned in the second season to have a special game talk with veto winner Neda Kalantar. Talla Rajaei also returned in the second season as a special guest. Blois returned once again in season four as a special guest. MacLaughlin and Blois competed in fourth season of The Amazing Race Canada and placed 2nd respectively.

Summary

On Day 1, the original fifteen HouseGuests entered the house. Immediately after the HouseGuests entered the house, it was revealed that a phone had been placed in the storage room of the house, which could ring at any time and would continue to ring until answered by a HouseGuest. The HouseGuest who answers the phone will be given a secret task or mission to complete; success meant reward, while failure meant punishment. By answering the Phone first, Suzette became the first Head of Household, and was given one hour to decide which two HouseGuests to nominate. She chose Emmett and Tom. Suzette, Tom, and Emmett, along with Peter, Aneal, and Gary, competed in the Power of Veto competition entitled "Power Popper". Wearing purple unitards with a belt with spikes, the competitors had to use the spikes to pop balloons that fell in the backyard. Inside some of the balloons contained puzzle pieces that they would use to complete a puzzle, while the rest contained nothing. The first person to complete their puzzle would win the Power of Veto. Tom won the competition. The other HouseGuests became annoyed with Gary and hoped to see him nominated, though Suzette began to feel that Kat was playing the game too hard. Tom later chose to remove himself from the block, with Kat being nominated in his place. The HouseGuests were later set a task in which they had to remain handcuffed in pairs for a total of twenty-four hours; they successfully completed the task and won alcohol. Alec, Emmett, Peter, and Tom later formed the "Quattro" alliance, while Alec and Peter formed "The Sheyld" alliance. On Day 8, Kat became the first HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a vote of eleven to one.

Following Kat's eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "Lumber Jack and Jill" endurance competition, in which each HouseGuest had a tree they had to hold onto in the backyard. Jillian was the eventual winner of the competition, thus making her the second Head of Household of the season. On Day 9, the HouseGuests competed in the "Batter Up" Have-Not competition. Suzette sat out of the competition, due to the uneven amount of players; she was automatically a Have for the week. In the competition, HouseGuests split up into three teams of four. One player from each team got into batter, and their other team members were required to squeeze the batter out of them. They would alternate who was in what position for the challenge. Once finished each group should have made a waffle. The team of Alec, Peter, Tom, and Talla lost the competition, and were Have-Nots for the week. Jillian initially hoped to target Danielle for eviction, however, Emmett and the Quattro alliance attempted to convince her to target Aneal for eviction. On Day 10, Jillian chose to nominate Aneal and Gary for eviction. That same night Peter, AJ, and Danielle were selected to play for the Power of Veto; Liza was selected to host the competition. Later on Day 10, the HouseGuests competed in the "Oh Snow You Didn't!" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, HouseGuests made snowballs from bins in front of them, travel across a spinning wheel and balance beams, and throw their snowball at the six snowmen located in their igloo. The first HouseGuest to knock over all six snowmen in their igloo would be the winner of the Power of Veto. Gary was the winner of the Power of Veto. Danielle, in an attempt to gain Jillian's trust, later offered to go up as a pawn to ensure Aneal's eviction from the house. On Day 11, Gary chose to use the Power of Veto on himself, with Danielle being nominated in his place. When rumors of a female alliance began to form around the house, the Quattro alliance attempted to gather the votes to evict Danielle from the house. On Day 15, Danielle became the second HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a vote of eight to three.

Following Danielle's eviction, the HouseGuests competed in the "Popular Vote" Head of Household competition. For this competition, the HouseGuests were asked a series of questions about which of two HouseGuests would adhere to certain situations. The object was not to base the answer on personal opinions, but how they thought the majority would answer. The minority of the voters were eliminated each round; if there was a tie, none of the HouseGuests would be eliminated. Tom was the winner of the competition. On Day 16, the HouseGuests competed in the "Dem Apples" Have-Not competition. For this competition, the HouseGuests split into three teams; one HouseGuests wore a bucket around their waist, while their team members had to fling apples into the bucket. The first two teams to get ten apples in their buckets were the winners, with the last team becoming the Have-Nots. Aneal, Topaz, Jillian and Alec were the Have-Nots for the week; this made it the second consecutive time for Alec to be a Have-Not. That same day, Tom chose to nominate Gary and Suzette for eviction, with Suzette being his main target. Aneal, Liza, and Topaz were selected to compete for the Power of Veto, while Talla was selected to host. On Day 17, HouseGuests competed in the "Puck Off" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, HouseGuests answered questions about their time in the house, and the HouseGuest who answers correctly will be able to attempt to break the image of one of the competing HouseGuests with a hockey puck. The last HouseGuest remaining whose picture had not been shattered would win the Power of Veto. Tom was the winner. On Day 18, Andrew answered the phone and was given the task of preparing a disgusting dinner, however, had to receive compliments on it from his fellow HouseGuests. Success would result in the house earning a pizza and beer party that night; Andrew successfully completed the task. That night, Tom chose to use the Power of Veto on Gary, choosing to nominate AJ in his place in an attempt to ensure Suzette's eviction. On Day 22, it was revealed that the viewers had been voting to save one of the two nominated HouseGuests, and that the nominated HouseGuest with the most votes would be removed from the block; Suzette received the most votes, thus was safe from eviction. Tom, as Head of Household, was required to nominate a HouseGuest in her place; he chose to nominate Aneal. Minutes later, Aneal became the third HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a vote of eight to two.

Following Aneal's eviction, the HouseGuests competed in the "Bees Knees" Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests dressed as bees and were required to collect various colored balls by placing them in mesh pockets around their knees; they then had to transfer the balls to their hive, and the first HouseGuest to fill up their hive would be the winner. Emmett was the winner. On Day 23, the HouseGuests learned that Alec, Emmett, Jillian, and Talla had all broke the rules during the Head of Household competition, and that they would all be Have-Nots for the week. In addition, Emmett's Head of Household title was taken away, and the four would not be able to compete in the new competition. That same night, the HouseGuests competed in the "Remember That" Head of Household competition, in which HouseGuests answered true or false questions about a parade that had occurred in the house earlier that day. Gary was the winner. On Day 24, Gary chose to nominate Liza and Tom for eviction, with Liza being his main target. Tom later discovered that the members of his Quattro alliance had pushed for his nomination in an attempt to ensure Liza's eviction, causing a rift in the alliance. When picking players for the Power of Veto competition, Alec, AJ, and Jillian were selected to compete for the Power of Veto; Andrew was selected to host. Later on Day 24, HouseGuests competed in the "Big Brother Bonspeil" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, HouseGuests participated in a game of curling, and had to play using their fellow HouseGuests on ice blocks. The HouseGuest who sends their partner further down the line each round would advance to the next round, with the last remaining HouseGuest being the winner. Alec was the winner. On Day 26, Alec chose not to use the Power of Veto on either nominee. Though Liza was initially the target, the HouseGuests feared Tom as a physical player and debated evicting him. On Day 29, the HouseGuests learned that it would be a special Double Eviction night. Tom then became the fourth HouseGuest to be evicted in a vote of eight to one. HouseGuests competed in the "Face Off" Head of Household competition, in which HouseGuests faced off against one another in an attempt to be the first to answer a question; the winner of each round would select the next two to face off, and the last HouseGuest remaining would be the winner. Andrew was the winner. Minutes later, he chose to nominate Liza and Suzette for eviction. Peter, AJ, and Emmett were selected to compete in the "Kid in a Candy Store" Power of Veto competition, which required them to place pictures of the first five HouseGuests who fell in the "Lumber Jack and Jill" in order on a wall using chewed gum. The first HouseGuest to do so would win the Power of Veto; Emmett was the winner. Emmett later chose not to use the Power of Veto on either nominee. Liza then became the fifth HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a unanimous vote of eight to zero.

Following Liza's eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "The Great Urban Adventure" Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests attempted to get through a maze in the fastest time while visiting various locations in the maze to obtain the numbers for a code; the HouseGuest to complete the maze and honk the horn of a car on display would win the competition. Alec was the winner. Alec also won a $10,000 prize for winning the competition, as well as a video message from home. Alec decided to target Suzette for eviction, as he had previously learned that Suzette saw Alec and Peter as the two people controlling the game. On Day 31, Alec chose to nominate AJ and Suzette for eviction, with Suzette being his main target. Gary, Jillian, and Emmett were selected to compete in the Power of Veto competition; Peter was selected to host. Late on Day 31, HouseGuests competed in the "Cabin Fever" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, HouseGuests attached a can to their head and had to fill it with water pouring from the top of a cabin, walk across the backyard, and pour the contents of the can into a large thermostat; the first HouseGuest to fill their thermostat would be the winner. Emmett won the Power of Veto, as well as a slop pass to use for the length of the season. On Day 32, AJ was given a secret task by Marsha the Moose to convince the others he hoped to make a fitness video, and he was required to convince two HouseGuests to participate with him; he was successful, and earned the HouseGuests a dinner. On Day 33, Emmett chose not to use the Power of Veto on either nominee. On Day 36, Suzette became the sixth HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a vote of six to one. Following this, Topaz learned in the Head of Household room that she had five minutes to nominate two HouseGuests for eviction; unbeknownst to Topaz, the other remaining HouseGuests watched her make her decision. Topaz chose to nominate AJ and Andrew for eviction, with Andrew being her target. Though Topaz believed she had the votes to evict Andrew, Alec and Peter later decided to turn against her and instead evict AJ from the house. Minutes later, AJ became the seventh HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a vote of four to two. He became the first member of the Jury of Seven.

Following AJ's eviction, the HouseGuests competed in the "Diary Room Confessions" Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests answered questions based on statements made by their fellow HouseGuests in the Diary Room. Andrew was the winner; he was required to name four Have-Nots for the week, and chose Emmett, Gary, Peter, and Topaz. Though he was upset with Topaz due to her nominations, Andrew later debated targeting Gary for eviction. Later that day, Andrew chose to nominate Gary and Topaz for eviction, with Gary being his main target. Emmett, feeling as though his allies Alec and Peter were closer to each other, later made an alliance with Andrew, Talla, and Jillian to make it to the end together; the four became known as the "East Coast" alliance. When picking players for the Power of Veto competition, Alec, Talla, and Peter were selected to compete for the Power of Veto; Jillian was selected to host. On Day 38, the HouseGuests competed in the "Build a Demon" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, HouseGuests were blind-folded and were required to search through the backyard to find various body parts. They then had to place the parts together to form a human body, and needed to place the head on last. Andrew was the winner of the Power of Veto, and also won the right to take two HouseGuests with him for an advanced screening of the horror film Evil Dead; he chose Jillian and Talla to watch the film with him. On Day 40, Andrew chose not to use the Power of Veto on either nominee. On Day 43, Gary became the eighth HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a unanimous vote of five to zero. He became the second member of the Jury of Seven.

Following Gary's eviction, the HouseGuests competed in the "Iceberg Alley" endurance Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests held onto a bar attached to a large "iceberg", and the last HouseGuest holding onto the bar would become the new Head of Household. When Jillian and Topaz were the only two remaining players, Jillian promised both Topaz and Alec safety, and Topaz promised Jillian and Emmett safety; Topaz later stepped down, making Jillian the new Head of Household. That night, Jillian told her new "East Coast" alliance that she would be breaking her word, and would not be keeping Alec safe that week. On Day 44, all of the food was removed from the house and the phone rang; the HouseGuests learned that they would be required to answer the phone every time it rang and perform a task, or they would be Have-Nots for the week. The HouseGuests completed this task, and earned food for the week. On Day 45, Jillian chose to nominate Alec and Peter for eviction, with Alec being her main target. When picking players for the Power of Veto competition, Talla, Topaz, and Andrew were selected to compete; Emmett was selected to host. That same night, the HouseGuests competed in the "Bridge to Veto" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, HouseGuests had to build a bridge using pieces of wood with various events on them; they were required to place the wood in the order of which the events happened, and the HouseGuest to correctly build their bridge in the shortest amount of time would win. Peter was the winner of the Power of Veto. On Day 46, Peter was given the task of convincing the other HouseGuests that Tom would be returning to the house; Peter was successful, and earned the house luxury foods. On Day 47, Peter chose to use the Power of Veto to remove himself from the block, with Topaz being nominated in his place. On Day 50, Alec became the ninth HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a vote of three to one. Following this, the HouseGuests participated in another Double Eviction. The HouseGuests then competed in the "Plead Your Case" Head of Household competition, in which they had to determine whether quotes from the previously evicted HouseGuests were true or false; Emmett was the winner. Emmett then chose to nominate Talla and Topaz for eviction. In the "You've Got Mail" Power of Veto competition, HouseGuests had to dig through boxes to find two letters with their name on them; the first HouseGuest to find their two letters would win. Peter was the winner of the Power of Veto. Minutes later, Topaz became the tenth HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a unanimous vote of three to zero. She became the fourth member of the Jury of Seven.

Following Topaz's eviction, the HouseGuests competed in the "Chicken Flew the Coop" Head of Household competition. For this competition, the HouseGuests had to reach through a wired fence and carry eggs to their correct slots. Jillian was the winner. Fearing that Andrew and Talla would turn against him, Emmett attempted to convince Jillian to nominate the two of them together. On Day 51, the HouseGuests competed in the "Rub a Dub Dub" Have-Not competition. For this competition, the HouseGuests split into pairs; one member of the pair had to rub a bar of soap on their partner to get to a key in the middle. The first team to get their key and unlock a box would be the Haves for the week; Emmett and Peter were the winners, meaning Andrew and Talla were the Have-Nots for the week. On Day 52, Jillian chose to nominate Andrew and Peter for eviction, with Peter being her main target. On Day 53, the HouseGuests competed in the "Sleep Tight with the PoV" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, the HouseGuests participated in an obstacle course themed after preparing for bed. Andrew was the winner of the Power of Veto, as well as a $10,000 shopping spree from The Brick. On Day 53, the HouseGuests were given the task of freezing on command, and succeeding in the task would earn the HouseGuest a reward from home; the group was successful, and earned a video chat with their families. On Day 54, Andrew chose to use the Power of Veto to remove himself from the block, with Talla being nominated in his place. On Day 57, Peter became the eleventh HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a unanimous vote of two to zero. He became the fifth member of the Jury of Seven. Following this, the HouseGuests learned that the viewers had been voting for one of the four Jury members to return to the house; Gary received the most votes, and returned to the house as an official HouseGuest that night.

Following Peter's eviction and Gary's return to the house, the HouseGuests competed in the "Brick by Brick" Head of Household competition. For this competition, the HouseGuests had to build a puzzle using magnetic pieces; the first HouseGuest to correctly put their puzzle together, making it form the house, would be the winner. Emmett was the winner, giving him his second Head of Household win of the season. On Day 58, Talla was given a secret task from Marsha the Moose to host an hour-long talk show in the living room; Talla passed the task, and earned the HouseGuests alcohol. Later that day, Emmett chose to nominate Andrew and Gary for eviction. On Day 59, former HouseGuest Dan Gheesling, who had appeared in two seasons of the American edition, entered the house to spend the night. Shortly after entering the house, Dan hosted the "The Price of Veto" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, HouseGuests accepted punishments in exchange for points; the HouseGuest with the most points would win the Power of Veto. Gary was the winner of the Power of Veto, while Emmett won a $1,000 prize and Talla won a slop pass. On Day 61, Gary chose to use the Power of Veto on himself, with Talla being nominated in his place. On Day 64, Andrew became the twelfth HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a unanimous vote of two to zero. He became the fifth member of the Jury of Seven.

Following Andrew's eviction, the HouseGuests competed in the "What the Dunk" Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests were asked true or false questions about images they had been shown prior to the competition; the HouseGuest who answered the most questions correctly would be the winner. Jillian was the winner, giving her her fourth Head of Household win of the season. On Day 65, the HouseGuests participated in the "And the Award Goes To..." event, in which they had to guess which of two moments the viewers had voted as their favorite for various categories. That night, Jillian chose to nominate Gary and Talla for eviction. On Day 66, the HouseGuests competed in the "Safe From Eviction" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, the HouseGuests had to solve mathematical equations that pertained to the days spent in the house; the first HouseGuest to solve their equations and open the safe using their answers would win the Power of Veto. Emmett was the winner of the final Power of Veto. On Day 67, Emmett chose to leave Jillian's nominations the same, and minutes later cast the sole vote to evict Talla from the house. She became the sixth member of the Jury of Seven. The final three HouseGuests later competed in the "No Blood on My Hands" first part of the final Head of Household competition. For this competition, the HouseGuests had to hold onto a pole which is holding up a platform with a bucket of "blood" on top; the HouseGuest to not let their bucket fall would be the winner. Emmett was the winner, advancing him to the third and final round. Gary and Jillian later faced off in the second round of the final Head of Household competition, in which they had to go through an obstacle course and throw rings with the HouseGuests names on them onto a designated area in the order of which they won Head of Household. Gary was the winner, advancing to the third and final round. On Day 71, Emmett and Gary competed in the final round of the Head of Household competition, in which they had to answer questions based on the evicted HouseGuests strategies prior to entering the game. Gary was the winner, making him the final Head of Household; he chose to evict Emmett from the house minutes later, making Gary and Jillian the Final Two. Ultimately, Jillian was crowned the winner of the series in a four to three vote, receiving the Jury votes of Andrew, Talla, Emmett and Topaz.

Notes

Ratings

Big Brother 1 began on 27 February 2013 and achieved immediate success. The premiere episode was viewed by an estimated 3.3 million viewers, making it the most viewed event of the night for both that timeslot and the night as a whole. In terms of the 18–49 age demographic, which is the main target audience for the series, the series had a total of 1.4 million for A2+ and 735,000 for 18–49. It placed second in this demographic, only behind the new episode of Survivor: Caramoan. The premiere aired on both Slice and Global, the latter of which airs the US version of the series. The premiere had an AMA of 340,000 on Slice (A2+) alone, giving it the highest ratings for any series to air on the channel at the time. The second episode, airing the following day, saw a dramatic increase in ratings. There was a 79% increase for A2+, 96% for A25-54 and 106% for W25-54 over the night. This episode is also the highest rated show to be broadcast by Shaw Media in 2013 thus far. This episode also had an AMA of 608,000, giving it the new record for the channel. The premiere had previously broken the record only the day before. On placing the series on Slice, Senior Vice President of Shaw Media stated "It was a bit of a gamble. But we also saw it as an opportunity to take a monster show and use it to drive growth to a smaller channel." The series was later referred to as the "biggest reality series of the year" due to its success with ratings.

Controversy and criticism

The season finale caused controversy due to the jury vote, which saw Jillian win over Gary. When Arisa was revealing how the members of the jury had voted, she announced that Topaz had cast her vote for Jillian to win. Topaz interrupted, claiming that she had voted for Gary, however camera footage revealed that she had indeed cast her vote for Jillian to win. Though Topaz pleaded for the producers to allow her to change her vote, the rules stated that this was not possible, thus Topaz's vote officially went to Jillian. Due to Topaz's vote, Jillian became the winner of the season in a vote of four to three. Gary later stated, "I'm happy for Jillian. She won fair and square if you think about the rules of the game."