Former Big Brother winner Brian Dowling has accused certain people of airbrushing him out of the show’s presenting history.
Brian won the second series of Channel 4′s Big Brother in 2001, later triumphing in the all-stars series Ultimate Big Brother in 2010.
Following this, he succeeded original host Davina McCall when the franchise moved to Channel 5 a year later. Brian then hosted two regular series and four celebrity versions of the reality show, before he was replaced by Emma Willis in 2014.
With Big Brother now back on our screens after five years off air, Brian reflected on his time as host in an Instagram post, in which he said he “always feels some people like to change history and try and erase the fact I hosted the show directly after Davina and then it went to Emma”.
Posting a picture of himself on set while filming the pilot for Celebrity Big Brother in 2011, he wrote: “From crowning Luke Anderson the winner to ICONS like Denise Welch, Julian Clary, Heidi and Spencer and of course Rylan.
“I was only 33 years old when I was offered the job of hosting the main show. I, of course, said yes, even though it was the spin-off show I wanted and not the main show. But I would have been a fool to turn it down.
“Speaking honestly, I always feel some people like to change history and try and erase the fact I hosted the show directly after Davina and then it went to Emma.”
He continued: “Just recently, on Friday’s This Morning, for example. The new hosts of Big Brother, AJ and Will, were being interviewed and they were asked if they had spoken to ‘Emmaand Davina’ obviously as the ex hosts and then their pics were brought up on screen.
“Yet again, there wasn’t even a mention of my time hosting, or even anyone on the production team that would have at least flagged that I was also an ex-presenter.
“It would have been so lovely to have been included, or to even get a thumbs up from my peers would be INCREDIBLE. I find it so odd that this keeps happening.”
Brian added that he would be going into much more detail surrounding “this time of my life as the host of Big Brother and the aftermath and the impact it had on my life” in a forthcoming book with his husband Arthur.
The new series of Big Brother is being hosted by AJ Odudu and Will Best, who have both previously spoken of the support they’d received from Davina and Emma in the lead up to the launch show.
Brian also praised them as the choice of hosts, adding: “I think AJ is a FABULOUS choice as a host. I don’t know Will, but he seems like a lot of fun. I would like to wish them both the best of luck as the new hosts.”
Brian previously let his feelings known back in 2020, when he claimed highlights series Big Brother: Best Shows Ever had tried to erase him from the show’s history, noting how his tenure as host was not mentioned during a conversation between BB presenters Davina, Emma and Rylan Clark.
This led to a back-and-forth exchange with Davina on social media at the time.
Big Brother airs Sunday to Friday at 9pm on ITV2.