The fourth season of the reality game show Pinoy Big Brother, subtitled Unlimited aired on ABS-CBN for 155 days from October 29, 2011, to March 31, 2012. This was the last and separate civilian season to air after the three editions were merged into one season, starting from All In. This season is currently the longest civilian season to date and broke the previous civilian season's record for the longest duration by three more weeks and also ranked as one of the show's longest seasons worldwide as of that time, only surpassed by a number of seasons held in Germany, until this season's duration was later beaten by Lucky 7 on 2016 and later on Otso which currently holds the record, with 268 days.
It is the only regular season with a male winner: Slater Young. Pamu Pamorada was the runner-up, while Joseph Biggel, and Paco Evangelista were the finalists.
Overview
Auditions Auditions for the season started in Metro Manila on March 4, 2011, at the SM Mall of Asia where around 10,000 people attended. Show director Lauren Dyogi said the turnout at the Mall of Asia audition was the largest in the show's history. Other auditions were held at several key cities in the Philippines from March to July 2011, plus overseas auditions in Tokyo and Los Angeles. The total number of aspirants for the season, as claimed by the show, was 30,789. A total of 37 housemates entered for this season; fourteen on opening night, fifteen on Day 8, six on Day 15, and two on Days 23 and 25.
Primers & shows In the run-up to the premiere, a special weekday afternoon primer entitled Pinoy Big Brother: The Audition Stories started airing on October 24, 2011. It featured several participants whose audition stories caught the interest of the producers. The afternoon primer lasted until November 4, 2011. It eventually gave way to the new show, Pinoy Big Brother: UnliDay, the day main program. The said program shows the latest happenings of the Day Housemates from the Industrial House.
Hosts Toni Gonzaga and Bianca Gonzalez reprised their hosting stints for the show, together with Teen Edition Plus runner-up Robi Domingo.
House theme For the season, the exterior of the House was slightly tweaked to have slotted walls and minor modifications, but still keeping the yellow and blue color scheme. There are five areas for this season: four Houses and a special area. Two of the houses, the Industrial and Luxury Houses, are connected via a secret hallway first revealed on Day 22 and fully opened on Day 65. Slums: First occupied on opening night, the Slums was made to look like a typical squatters' area in many urban areas in the Philippines. This was done to let the housemates experience the same living conditions as 15 million Filipinos who live in such areas, based from a typical answer during auditions of experiencing typical Filipino life. This House was demolished on Day 22. Industrial House: The interior of the second House follows the regular House layout and its accompanying amenities. It is further given an "industrial" feel with steel, wooden, and brick walls. Unlike previous seasons, however, this House has no yard area. The house was opened on Day 8 and was closed down on Day 77. Luxury House: Also called the Mansion, the third House is exquisitely furnished and brightly lit. Like the Industrial House, this House also has no yard area, although sunlight somehow passes through a curtain. This house was opened on Day 22. Resort: Located adjacent to the Luxury House, this area is sophisticated with the inclusion of the pool and a Jacuzzi in the beach-themed Garden area. It is used as a venue for special occasions and tasks. This area was opened on Day 15 and the door to the resort (hidden under a curtain in the Luxury House) was opened on Day 65. Hacienda: Located at the activity area, the Hacienda is modelled after a typical plantation in the Philippines by featuring several plants. It contains a large hut where the housemates would live in. This House was opened on Day 128.
Unlimited twists Reserved housemates — short-listed auditionees are given another chance to become official housemates. Unli-Day/Unli-Night —The show features two houses, each containing a different set of housemates. To accommodate both, a second main program, Unli-Day, was aired in the afternoons to focus on the events in the Industrial House. The setup only applies to weekdays; on weekends, nomination and eviction nights, and special shows, the primetime program would cover both Houses. With the closure of the Industrial House on Week 11, Unli-Day was directed towards covering events in the active House(s) while the host has an interview session with former housemates. House Swaps — Housemates will be made to swap houses and group members as instructed by Big Brother. SE Voting System — The public votes to save or evict a housemate. The housemate with the lowest net votes, Save and Evict votes combined, is evicted. This voting system was stopped after the fourth eviction round. Head of Household — Housemates compete against each other to be granted immunity in the coming nomination. House Competitions — For ten weeks, the two Houses compete in weekly major competitions with PHP150,000 at stake in each. At the end of those ten weeks, the cash accumulated by each team would be shared among the final five housemates in each House. The teams would also compete in "mini-battles" wherein the winning team would be given minor rewards. Intensity 7 — On Day 71, the remaining 20 housemates, 11 from Team High-Voltage and nine from Team Wayuk, were put-up for 24-hour public voting. The top five housemates from each team will be safe from elimination on Day 78, where six housemates will be evicted from the house. A sequel twist, called the Aftershock, would test the remaining housemates further. Various Nominations – Various nomination processes were implemented as per Big Brother. See Nomination history for details. Overnight Voting - In some eviction nights, people will only be given 24 hours to vote for their favorite housemate. House Players - An evicted housemate will remain in the house to test the remaining official housemates through tasks set by Big Brother and the audience. Wildcard Housemate - An evicted housemate will have a chance to come back on the roster of housemates. Power of One - Starting the 13th eviction, the public may only vote once per day per mobile phone number. Big Shot for the Big Slot - The final five housemates are given the chance to have a fifth slot in the finale by completing a shooting task.
Housemates A total of fourteen housemates entered the House on Day 1, thirteen official housemates plus a sub-official housemate acting as a "mole" in a task to become the fourteenth official housemate. That sub-official housemate was chosen by lottery from a pool of 30 reserved housemates. These are the auditionees who were shortlisted for the show, but did not make the official cut.
All thirteen official housemates plus the sub-official "mole" housemate, chosen via random sampling, entered the House on Day 1 (October 29, 2011). A second batch of housemates entered the House on Day 8, although those assigned to the Industrial House were not physically inside until the next day. Eight reserved housemates entered on Days 15, 23 and 25. The ages indicated were the housemates' ages upon their entrance to the House.
A grand total of 37 housemates—the third most number of housemates in the Philippine franchise behind Otso season's 58 housemates and Kumunity 10's 46 housemates.
Name Age on entry Hometown Entered Exited Result Slater Young 23 Cebu City Day 1 Day 155 Pamu Pamorada 19 Lipa Day 1 Day 155 Joseph Biggel 19 Marinduque Day 1 Day 155 Paco Evangelista 26 General Santos Day 141 Day 155 Day 1 Day 106 Divine Maitland-Smith 20 Cebu City Day 1 Day 152 Tin Patrimonio 19 Cainta Day 1 Day 148 Carlo Romero 25 Chicago, U.S. Day 1 Day 141 Kevin Fowler 18 California, U.S. Day 1 Day 134 Seichang Ushimi 22 Tokyo, Japan Day 1 Day 127 Deniesse Joaquin 20 Nueva Ecija Day 15 Day 120 Eting Busarang 27 Cebu Day 8 Day 113 Wendy Tabusalla 22 Muntinlupa Day 8 Day 99 Jessica Connelly 19 Taguig Day 8 Day 93 Joya Genzola 24 Negros Occidental Day 8 Day 92 Naprey Almario 23 Davao City Day 8 Day 78 Unad Hernandez 24 Batangas Day 8 Day 78 Roy Gamboa 29 Pangasinan Day 1 Day 78 Ryan Tomas 19 Colorado, U.S. Day 23 Day 78 Jerico Redrico 24 Pampanga Day 8 Day 78 Steph Enage 23 Baybay Day 8 Day 78 Kim de Guzman 19 Olongapo Day 1 Day 71 Kigoy Abarico 32 Ormoc Day 1 Day 71 Anatoly "Tol" Chua 33 Surigao del Sur Day 8 Day 71 Luz McClinton 33 Muntinlupa Day 1 Day 71 Seth Cox 32 California, U.S. Day 25 Day 50 Erica Arlante 31 Bacolod Day 8 Day 50 Mark Luz 23 Quezon City Day 8 Day 43 Lyn Bagiosa 25 Surigao del Norte Day 8 Day 43 Casey Ann Austria 19 Albay Day 8 Day 36 Reg Pineda 19 Quezon City Day 15 Day 36 Jaz Manabat 24 Quezon City Day 1 Day 31 Diane Aquino 28 Quezon City Day 8 Day 29 Lordwin Claveria 23 Quezon Day 8 Day 29 Cindy Miranda 20 Nueva Ecija Day 15 Day 22 Rhea Lim 26 Pampanga Day 15 Day 22 RJ Padilla 22 Parañaque Day 15 Day 21 Kulas Alon 26 La Union Day 15 Day 20
Houseguests Similar to the franchise's previous seasons, Big Brother invited guests to his house for special purposes.
Notable houseguests for this season were ex-housemates from previous seasons such as Melai Cantiveros, Jason Francisco, Anthony Semerad and David Semerad. Franzen Fajardo, Baron Geisler, Beauty Gonzalez, Rica Paras returned as house players. Previous winners, Nene Tamayo, Beatriz Saw, and Keanna Reeves, who became Fairy Godmothers.
Chronology of notable events
House Competitions (Kontra Battles) On Day 30, Big Brother announced the start of House Competitions, where the two Houses will compete for ten weeks for P150,000 at stake every week. The accumulated pot money for each House will be divided among the remaining housemates of each House after ten weeks. Group immunity from nomination was also put at stake with the seventh and eighth challenges.
The Luxury House residents are known as Team High Voltage and the Industrial House denizens are codenamed Team Wayuk.