Celebrity Big Brother fans love old-school vibe
It's no secret that there's A LOT riding on the success on the new series of Celebrity Big Brother - but so far it looks like Channel 5 can rest assured that fans are happy with the Eye of the Storm.
Emma Willis welcomed fans back to Borehamwood on Thursday night (August 16) for what may be the final series on Channel 5, and viewers were immediately struck by some familiar elements that fans haven't seen in years.
For starters, producers have brought back the enclosed staircase leading to the house entrance - meaning that the other housemates will no longer be able to see each other enter on launch, or, as it were, leave on eviction nights.
This brought back some serious nostalgia from the off:
my white wine when I saw the concealed staircase #CBB pic.twitter.com/VoE7gpyDl5
- luan 🌻 (@luanleer) August 16, 2018
So happy they brought back the closed off staircase #CBB
- Amy x (@Tessflocker) August 16, 2018
OMG @ omg the old school concealed eviction staircase I’m DED AND OBSESSED #CBB
- Sam Lane (@sambloodylane) August 16, 2018
The narrow staircase got the better of Emma, who was huffing and puffing as she admitted to viewers that she was out of breath after climbing down them.
"I'll tell you what. Those stairs take it out of ya," she quipped.
The nostalgia continued when the night's famous housemates were driven up to the house in a hired car, just like in the Channel 4 years. It was another old-school touch that fans loved:
they ARRIVE IN CARS TOO? What is this channel 4?????? #CBB #CBBUK
- James (@jamesliam_) August 16, 2018
Yasss theyre arriving in cars!!! I’m loving this old big brother 😍😍😍 #Cbb
- Chloe (@ChloeGunn17) August 16, 2018
The black cars are back, the mad man actually did it @probationboy #CBB
- Ben King (@BenKingNTU) August 16, 2018
OMG THE CARS ARE BACK #CBB
- AJ (@alexander_ajo) August 16, 2018
THE CARS ARE AMAZING! Very classic big brother😍 #cbb #cbbstorm #CBBUK
- philip❤️ (@BBTribe) August 16, 2018
Overall, viewers were just loving the old-school flourishes that the designers added to the house. All that's missing is Nikki Grahame (actually, even she was included in the wraparound adverts):
So @NikkiGrahame really doesn't want to get pie'd in our new sponsorship idents, but, YOU decide! Vote via #YouDecideNikki #CBB pic.twitter.com/6Gutv6MP78
- Pink Casino (@PinkCasino_) August 16, 2018
The Nikki Grahame commercial yess #cbb
- coop (@conradcoop) August 16, 2018
This series has won my heart already!
The house.
The show layout.
Housemates getting out of the car like they did in the ye olden days of C4.
ITS GORGEOUS!! 😍 #CBB @bbuk- A.R. Wilcock (@AlexRWilcock) August 16, 2018
A concealed entrance staircase, a separate living room in the garden, the celebrities being dropped off in cars - we’re truly being taken back to the Big Brother glory days! #CBB
- Joe Gunn (@joegunn) August 16, 2018
So far, very old school. The seperate lounge (YAS), the black car arriving with the HM's and the music! I like it. For now... #cbb
- Corey Terrett (@terrettcorey) August 16, 2018
Loving that the diary room is downstairs, there’s a walkway in to the house, the celebs arrive by car and not through a big eye and also that the living room is separate. Really bringing the nostalgia back to #CBB. @bbuk
- Ben L Maden (@blmaden) August 16, 2018
Prior to the series launching, creative director Paul Osborne - who worked on Big Brother during its glory years - promised that his team were looking for ways to make CBB feel "fresh" again.
Who knew "fresh" meant going old-school? Celebrity Big Brother continues on Friday (August 17) at 9pm on Channel 5, followed by Rylan Clark-Neal presenting Celebrity Big Brother's Bit on the Side at 11pm.
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