Yahoo News Davina McCall explains how Fight Night completely changed Big Brother
For 10 years Davina McCall was the face of British reality TV as the host of Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother, and now the TV presenter has opened up about how Big Brother 5's infamous Fight Night encouraged the show to make lasting changes to the series.
For those who don't remember, BB5's Fight Night kicked off after contestants Emma and Michelle were returned to the House from a Bedsit after they'd been led to believe they were being evicted.
Following a party, complete with fancy dress and alcohol, to celebrate their return, a huge row kicked off between a few housemates, prompting Big Brother to send guards into the house to break it up.
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Speaking amid the current debate about the duty of care that reality TV shows have towards their contestants, Davina admitted that the incident sparked the production team to make huge permanent changes to Big Brother.
"It radically changed in series 5, any Big Brother fans out there will remember Fight Night," Davina explained on Sunday Brunch this morning (May 19).
"It kicked off and it went absolutely nuts, and from that night on we had two lawyers in every script meeting, the drinks cabinet was locked, everything changed.
"We realised that actually you have to be careful. You put people in a pot of boiling water, you keep them locked into this house for so long that in the end it does drive you quite stir crazy.
"Everything changed for us on that show, but they listened to the advice."
Davina also added that she doesn't think reality TV is coming to a natural end, citing her shows Long Last Family and This Time Next Year as examples, but explained that she thinks the duty of care that shows have towards their contestants is getting bigger.
"The duty of care has got to be massive," she said. "Contestants need to be supported and loved by the right people before and after the show.
"You need to make sure that somebody is emotionally robust enough to deal with going on the show in the first place, and then if they're struggling after the show then you give them a lot of help."
Sunday Brunch airs on Channel 4.
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