What Even Is the Point of Big Brother in 2025?
Twenty-four years ago, simple voyeurism was enough to draw massive audiences. The return of Big Brother now raises a question: can such a format still captivate viewers today?
“Are you ready to come home?”
This familiar line, spoken by Mike Goldman—the long-time narrator of Big Brother Australia—marked the show’s latest revival. Goldman's voice had previously guided audiences through both the original Channel 10 run and the later Channel 9 reboot.
The new season clearly aims to recreate the spirit of the early 2000s, when Big Brother was a genuine pop culture event that introduced Australians to personalities like Chrissie Swan, Sara-Marie’s “bunny dance,” the dancing doona, and the notorious turkey slap incident.
For a few years, Big Brother was more than just a reality show; it was a cultural mirror, a nightly dose of authorized voyeurism where ordinary viewers could watch people behave naturally—until they remembered the cameras were rolling.
“But can you ever really go home again?”
Big Brother first launched in Australia in 2001, following its successful debut in the Netherlands. Its title was inspired by the omnipresent, authoritarian figure from George Orwell’s classic novel 1984, symbolizing surveillance and control.
Author’s Summary
The 2025 return of Big Brother revisits its early 2000s roots, testing whether nostalgia and reality TV voyeurism can still engage audiences in a more self-aware era.