The launch date for the long-awaited Big Brother reunion has been confirmed – with less than two weeks to go until the show returns.
On Monday morning, it was revealed that the new series will begin on Sunday 8 October at 9pm on ITV2.
It was previously revealed that the show will be fronted by AJ Odudu, who previously co-hosted spin-off show Big Brother’s Bit On The Side for one series on Channel 5, and Will Best, whose credits include Dance Dance Dance and the annual compilation show Most Shocking Celebrity Moments.
The pair will also host the nightly companion show Big Brother: Late & Live, which will air on ITV2 immediately after the main highlights of the previous day.
Big Brother originally ran for 11 series on Channel 4, after which it made the jump to Channel 5, airing for eight seasons before ending in 2018.
When ITV’s revival was first announced just over a year ago, ITV2’s controller Paul Mortimer promised a “refreshed, contemporary new series” that retained “all the familiar format points that kept viewers engaged and entertained the first time round”.
He also promised “a brand new look and some additional twists that speak to today’s audience”.
More recently, ITV’s director Kevin Lygo insisted that the new incarnation of Big Brother would be an “intelligent” and “upmarket” take on the format, noting: “The key to Big Brother is to keep it like it was in its golden period, to have it more interesting, intelligent, upmarket, et cetera, than other reality shows.”
For more information about the Big Brother reboot, click here.