page_title: Big Brother (British series 1)
section_title: Controversy and criticism
hierarchical_section_title: Big Brother (British series 1) / Controversy and criticism
caption_attribution_description: English: George Michael performing at Antwerps Sportpaleis (Belgium) in 2006, for the 25 Live tour. Français&#160;: George Michael au Palais des sports d'Anvers (Belgique) en 2006, pour la tournée 25 Live.
context_page_description: Big Brother, also retrospectively known as Big Brother 1, was the first series of the British reality television series Big Brother. The show followed eleven contestants, known as housemates, who were isolated from the outside world for an extended period of time in a custom built House. Each week, one or more of the housemates were evicted by a public vote. The last remaining housemate, Craig Phillips, was declared the winner, winning a cash prize of £70,000.
  The series lasted 64 days and was presented by Davina McCall. It launched on Channel 4 on 18 July 2000 and ended on 15 September 2000. Ten housemates entered on the first day, with one additional housemate being introduced in the sixth week. The series was watched by an average of 4.5 million viewers. It became the subject of intense press attention throughout its broadcast, and gained particular notoriety after one housemate, Nick Bateman, was ejected from the House for breaking the rules.
context_section_description: The series quickly became a source of controversy following its launch, with the show's format being noted as physically and mentally straining. Housemate Nick Bateman was the source of much controversy during his stay in the house. It was later reported that Nick had smuggled a mobile phone into the House, and was using it to receive information from the outside world. Production later searched the House, including Nick's belongings, though no mobile phone was found. On Day 24, a model helicopter was flown over the garden and dropped approximately forty leaflets into the House requesting that Nick be nominated for eviction; the leaflets were removed before the housemates discovered them. On Day 35, it was revealed that Nick had attempted to manipulate the nomination process, which is strictly forbidden in the rules, and Nick was subsequently removed from the house for his actions. Following the revelation that Nick had manipulated the voting, a pen and paper were found in his belongings. Nick's ejection from the house garnered much media attention.
  During the eighth week in the House, housemates Craig, Darren, and Melanie were nominated for eviction. Following the announcement, a rogue e-mail was sent out to random e-mail addresses promising a holiday vacation to anyone who dialed the listed number; in actuality, the number was the line to evict Melanie from the House. Despite some controversy over the vote, it was confirmed that the e-mail had had only a small effect on the voting process as Melanie had received nearly 1.8 million more votes than Darren, who came in second in the vote. Upon exiting the House, numerous housemates expressed their disappointment with the series. Housemate Sada criticized the show following her eviction, and claimed that she had been portrayed as a "dippy hippy" rather than her true self. Melanie expressed similar displeasure with the way she was depicted on the show, and later criticized the series for "making storylines that weren't happening." She elaborated by stating "When I watched the tapes I understood that stories and storylines were made to fit any piece of footage into the storyboard and or the caricature that we were portrayed or playing. [...] It was foolish of me to think that they would give a fair portrayal of every single person." Housemate Nick Bateman later criticized Endemol for "leaving them high and dry", and later stated that they were unprepared for the way that the series affected their personal lives. He later commented that they only received one visit from the show's psychiatrist.
caption: British singer George Michael was one of many to criticise Bateman's actions.
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