Teen Big Brother

Teen Big Brother was a UK spin off of the popular television program Big Brother in which teenagers inhabited the house. The show was presented by Dermot O'Leary.

Related Topics:
UK - Spin off - Big Brother - Teenager - Dermot O'Leary

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Featuring eight 18-year-olds, it was broadcast in October 2003 on Channel 4 and E4. Trailed as 'The Experiment', Teen Big Brother was originally shot in advance over the course of ten days during July and August 2003, to air in 2003 as an educational item, screened as part of Channel 4's 4Learning programming. The tasks were created so as to promote such values as cooperation and team spirit, and topics like politics and religion were discussed. After editing, however, the footage was felt to be compelling enough for a more mass-market time slot, so the show was moved ahead to October 2003 and formatted to be shown over one week (five episodes).

Related Topics:
2003 - Channel 4 - E4 - 4Learning

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Teen Big Brother was different to the original UK version of the show in a number of ways. Since it was pre-recorded, the contestants themselves and not the audience decided which housemates were to be voted out. At the end, the eventual winner of a grand prize was decided by group decision (a cash prize, being seemingly unwholesome for teenagers, was replaced by a round-the-world trip). No alcohol or cigarettes were allowed. The basic premise of the show, however, remained the same, and no special treatment was made for the housemates.

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The eight contestants were:

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• Paul Brennan (winner)
• Caroline Cloke
• Shaneen Dawkins
• Jade Dyer
• Tracey Fowler
• James Kelly
• Hasan Shah
• Tommy Wright

On Day Six/Seven, Jade Dyer and Tommy Wright became the first Big Brother UK contestants to have sex on the show in its history. According to The Independent, this was the first real-life sexual act shown on British television (although nothing explicit was seen; the two were under bedcovers). This sparked controversy in the British media and comment on teenage safe sex education.

Related Topics:
Sex - The Independent - Safe sex

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Paul Brennan was voted the winner, and selected Caroline Cloke to accompany him in sharing the prize of a fully-paid three-month round-the-world tour. In addition he won a period of work experience selected for his interests, with a New York fashion designer.

Related Topics:
New York - Fashion designer

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An edited version of Teen Big Brother – The Experiment was eventually broadcast in January 2004 as part of 4Learning's morning schedule and was designed with formal curriculum teaching in mind. Curiously, the incident featuring Jade and Tommy did not feature in this edit despite the purpose of the project being the creation of an educational series. As of 2004 there are no immediate plans for further Teen Big Brother series.

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