Davina McCall to host 'Big Brother' anniversary highlights show
Davina McCall is returning to host Big Brother for a special show celebrating the reality series’ 20th anniversary.
The 52-year-old presenter will join Rylan Clark-Neal to present Big Brother’s Best Shows Ever Show on Channel 4, looking back at the most memorable moments from the reality show, which launched in the UK in July 2000.
McCall told The Sun: “I lived and breathed Big Brother for 11 years.
"Not one week goes by when I don’t quote Big Brother in some form.
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"It made me laugh, it made me cry and it taught me to never judge a book by its cover.
“I love the show and can’t wait to share it with a whole new audience.”
Clark-Neal added: “I’m so excited to be bringing Big Brother back to our lives.
“There will be laughs, tears and drama, but most of all we get to relive some of Big Brother’s greatest episodes.”
Big Brother was a reality show created in the Netherlands. Originally billed as a psychological experiment, it saw a group of strangers living in a house together, completely cut off from the outside world and watched by cameras 24 hours, 7 days a week.
The housemates nominated each other to face the public vote, with housemates evicted on a weekly basis until finally a winner was chosen to receive a cash prize. The housemates were also given tasks to complete in return for food and luxury items.
The UK show ran on Channel 4 for 11 series between 2000 and 2010 before moving to Channel 5 for eight seasons, finally ending in 2018. There have also been 22 celebrity editions.
McCall hosted the show for its Channel 4 run, earning the nickname “Big Mother” for presenting it while pregnant with all three of her children. She was replaced by 2001 winner Brian Dowling when the show moved to Channel 5, and Emma Willis took over as presenter in 2013.
Former X Factor contestant Clark-Neal, 31, won the celebrity version of Big Brother in 2013 and went on to host spinoff show Big Brother’s Bit On The Side.
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Big Brother created celebrities of its own in the UK, most famously Jade Goody, who appeared in the third series in 2002 and returned in 2007 for Celebrity Big Brother. Goody died in 2009 aged just 27 after battling cervical cancer.
During her time in the Celebrity Big Brother house Goody famously became embroiled in a race row with Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty.
Other memorable moments over the years include when “Nasty” Nick Bateman tried to cheat in the very first series by influencing the votes of his fellow housemates.
Vanessa Feltz had a memorable breakdown during her time in the first series of Celebrity Big Brother, while the fake eviction of Emma Greenwood and Michelle Bass in the fifth series sparked a fight, prompting security to enter the house.