Why ‘Big Brother Canada’ was unique in reality TV: Revisiting 10 iconic moments

The show had a unique appeal compared to others in the reality television landscape. In 10 out of the 12 seasons, viewers could tune into the live feeds that monitored house guests nearly 24/7. Controversially, the feeds were replaced with edited cuts of just a few hours in the 11th and 12th seasons.

Yet, from dramatic strategic blindsides to visceral screaming matches, such moments helped “Big Brother Canada” become a staple in Canadian reality TV.

The Star spoke to Cox, producer Erin Brock and several former house guests about 10 of the show’s most memorable moments.

In the opening season, house guest Topaz Brady finished in seventh place and was sent to the jury.

She had formed a close friendship with Gary Levy, who was in the final two chairs alongside competition beast Jillian MacLaughlin.

The final vote seemed to favour Levy with Brady, especially, make her voting intentions clear throughout the finale night.

“My vote is 150 per cent secure,” Brady exclaimed as she cast her vote.

“In my head, I’m like, ‘Oh, no. No, no, no. What? This makes no sense. Gary is her best friend, Jillian is her sworn enemy,’” Cox said.

After reviewing the footage, it was confirmed that Brady had placed the wrong card in the voting wheel, and producers and showrunners decided not to allow her to change it. The mishap proved costly, giving MacLaughlin a 4-3 victory.

“It was one of the wildest moments of my career that I will never forget,” Brock said. 

“I feel like that put our show on the map,” Cox added. “You see clips of that moment and on lists all around the world for Big Brother fans.”

During the fourth week, producers dropped plastic balls from the indoor backyard ceiling. The first house guest to correctly answer how many balls were dropped would win a prize. 

Ika Wong was facing eviction that week. With nothing to lose and everything to gain, she was the last to leave the yard, counting the balls while the others gave up in frustration.

She won the prize, either a letter from home for every house guest or a $5,000 cheque for herself. The other guests watched her make her decision without her knowledge.

After a long deliberation, Wong decided to shred the letters and keep the money. The other house guests were full of tears and expletives, and she was evicted that week.

“Sometimes the reality TV gods shine down on you,” Brock said. “To me, this is our most iconic moment.”

“I’ve told people, if you’ve never seen an episode of ‘Big Brother,’ watch this, then talk to me about this human experiment,” Cox said.

Contestants Adel Elseri and Sabrina Abbate never saw eye-to-eye during their time on the show.

When Elseri won his first head of household competition in the final six, he put Abbate and her close friend Rachelle Diamond up for eviction.

During his nomination speech, Elseri didn’t pull any punches as he explained his desire to see one of them leave that week.

Abbate let loose: “There’s making good TV, and then there is crossing lines,” she said. “Good TV? Really? You want f—-ing good TV? … I’ll f—-ing show you good f—-ing TV,” she later screamed.

“Everything you could want in a TV character, that was Sabrina,” Cox said. “That moment of frustration was so real and what makes it so iconic is because we want good TV.”

Throughout the season, Jon Pardy and Neda Kalantar had a budding friendship that later became a romance, with Kalantar, a massive fan of the show, guiding Pardy, who was unfamiliar with the game’s strategy.

Pardy won the final head of household, giving him the sole vote to evict at the game’s penultimate stage. Unbeknownst to him, Kalantar had already said she would evict him at the end.

When Pardy was called to the Diary Room to tell producers his decision, he said he would evict Kalantar.

“We grabbed each other’s hands and were like, ‘Holy s—t,’” Brock said.

“It was like the student had surpassed the master. It was the most hardcore betrayal,” Cox said. 

Pardy eventually won in a near-unanimous decision. 

Others attempted the same move in future seasons, but none met similar success.

Blindsides were common in “Big Brother Canada,” yet probably none bigger than when Godfrey Mangwiza won a reprieve over Jordan Parhar.

In a wild turn of events, head of household Zach Oleynik nominated his closest ally, Parhar, for eviction alongside his target, Mangwiza.

After winning the power of veto, Oleynik planned to use it to save Parhar, but previously evicted houseguest Sindy Nguyen returned to the game shortly before the power of veto competition. Wanting to play it safe, Oleynik elected to keep his nominations the same, thinking he had the votes secured to keep Parhar safe.

“If you have any sense in your head at all, I strongly urge you not to use the veto on me because if I get off this block, it’s you I’m coming after,” he told Oleynik. “I want your blood on these hands!”

Once the votes were revealed on eviction night, 5-4 in favour of Mangwiza staying, he proceeded to fly into the air. His celebration created one of the most legendary photos in “Big Brother Canada” history.

“They say a picture’s worth 1,000 words, and you look at that picture, you can just tell that something went down that night,” Mangwiza said in an interview.

“When people say blindside, you think of that picture,” added Cox. 

Producers had eight former players, including Ika Wong, Neda Kalantar and Sindy Nguyen, compete against eight new contestants for the show’s landmark fifth season. 

With returnees dictating strategy in the first half of the game, Kalantar was granted immunity for five weeks straight following a public vote.

Wong wanted to strike as soon as Kalantar was eligible to be sent home.

Nguyen won the second head of household during a double eviction and planned to evict Jackie McCurrach, who then won the power of veto, so Wong persuaded Nguyen to move against Kalantar, who tried to plead her case. The move caused an epic argument in the storage room, in which Wong repeatedly promised Kalantar her fate was sealed.

“I promise you are going home,” she yelled countless times.

Kalantar became the first member of the jury after being evicted in a 7-1 vote; Nguyen was evicted a week later and Wong finished the season in fourth place.

“You look up any list of best double evictions in ‘Big Brother’ history anywhere in the world, this is on that list,” Cox said. 

Locked away in a house and isolated from the outside world, Season 8 house guests initially had no information about the COVID-19 pandemic.

“They were probably the safest people in Canada,” Brock said. “If there’s ever a show you can do during COVID, it’s that show.”

The videos of the COVID-19 updates are three of the top four most watched on Global TV’s YouTube channel.

Season 8 house guest Hira Deol, the first turban-wearing contestant in the show’s history, was heartbroken.

“It hurt so much,” he said. “I (had) been watching the show from the U.S. seasons for 15-plus years. It was a dream to be on it … I was just crushed at that point.”

No house guest from Season 8 has had a second chance in the game.

“To have that cut short was devastating,” Cox said. “To this day, it feels like a book they’ve left open on their nightstand.”

The show returned for its ninth edition filled with chaotic gameplay and brutal blindsides.

The “Sunsetters” alliance, consisting of Beth Bieda, Tychon Carter-Newman, Kiefer Collison, Jedson Tavernier and Tina Thistle, mostly controlled the season. Carter-Newman, Bieda and Tavernier were part of another alliance dubbed “The Sauce,” with the latter two in a showmance.

Despite pledging loyalty, the “Sunsetters” questioned each other late in the game. Thistle was evicted in week seven after Tavernier tried to move against Collison, and relationships were strained.

The following week, Tera Gillen-Petrozzi won head of household and nominated Bieda and Tavernier for eviction, but Tavernier won the power of veto, putting ally Carter-Newman in a vulnerable position.

“I just had to accept that I’m probably going to go on the block,” Carter-Newman said. “To me, Jed was her real target. But if she didn’t want to get him out, I was the next best thing.”

“The trap door” was put in motion, with Collison hatching a plan to have Tavernier use his veto on Bieda and to get Gillen-Petrozzi to nominate another player for eviction.

Collison and Carter-Newman convinced Tavernier they would keep him safe. Trusting his allies, he put his neck on the line and was evicted.

“Had it worked, Jed would be a hero,” Cox said.

“I was heartbroken. As much as it’s a game, it’s so personal,” Carter-Newman said. “It was like a breakup. I felt like a snake. But I knew that as much as it didn’t feel right, it was the right game move.”

Rarely did an item become a “Big Brother Canada” symbol. Typically, it was a player or a strategic move. But it was a red gummy bear in Season 10.

“Everywhere I went, there were gummy bears after the show,” said Kevin Jacobs, the season’s winner. “I even had someone leave a giant red gummy bear at my doorstep.”

This stemmed from a random draw of gummy bears, organized by head of household Martin Frenette to pick a replacement nominee for eviction in the final eight after his target, Betty Yirsaw, won the power of veto and Summer Sayles won safety through a public vote. 

Frenette thought a random draw would be fair. He told his allies the rules: whoever pulled the red gummy bear out of a cup would be put on the block.

“I immediately knew this was an iconic moment, not only in Canadian television but in reality television history,” said Jacobs. 

Steven “Gino” Giannopoulos pulled the red gummy bear. He was named the replacement, giving Jacobs and Haleena Gill their ideal outcome heading into the week.

They blindsided the alliance and evicted Giannopoulos, which put them in a position to control the rest of the game.

And, despite the season wrapping more than two years ago, the contestants never heard the end of the red gummy bear.

“Let it be known. In this house, I fear nobody.”

Neilson, alongside eventual winner Ty McDonald, accused Hope Agbolosoo of cheating by bringing a letter from his girlfriend into the house. The two knew of the unauthorized item for a week before production became aware.

The chaos of the accusation sparked several heated arguments among house guests; none had a larger impact than the one between Mujakachi and Neilson.

“I had it on autoplay in my house for a good hour,” Cox said. “My daughter can do a complete lip sync of that entire fight.”

Agbolosoo was punished for the letter. His vote was taken away and he was not allowed to compete in the following head of household competition. The other house guests got letters from home to make up for the incident.

Neilson walked from the game, upset by production’s decision, and McDonald nearly followed suit.

“We had a lot of conflict in Season 11. I think that was maybe the headline,” Cox said.