The tenth season of the Australian reality television series, Big Brother, also known as Big Brother 2013, began on 28 July 2013, with a pre-recorded launch show airing on 29 July 2013 on the Nine Network. On 6 November 2013, after 101 days of competition, Tim Dormer won the competition and the $250,000 prize. It is the second season of the show to air on the network after it picked up the series in 2012, following a four-year absence. Sonia Kruger continued to host the show, with Mike Goldman continuing as narrator.
This season ran during the 2013 Australian Federal Election. As Australia has compulsory voting for elections, the housemates (except Jade, as she was not on the electoral roll) had to vote for this election while in the house. The Houseguest also received campaign messages recorded by each leader from the major political parties.
Nathan Little was the first housemate in the Big Brother franchise worldwide to evict himself and give his spot to another player.
Dormer later won a public vote to compete in the fourth season of Big Brother Canada. After 77 Days, he placed third. Dormer, Drew and Smyth later competed in the fourteenth season of Big Brother Australia as a part of Big Brother Royalty.
Production Development The renewal of Big Brother was predicted before the finale of the previous season due to the success the reboot had in ratings. The renewal was confirmed when it was included in Nine's 2013 programming advertisements from 23 November 2012. Open auditions for the new season took place in April 2013. That year, the capital cities of Darwin and Hobart were not visited, however, Newcastle was. For the first time since moving to Nine, the show accepted video auditions provided the auditionee lived more than 500 km away from the closest audition venue. In mid-July, an announcement on the official Facebook page confirmed that the tenth season of Big Brother Australia would feature more housemates to enter the house than in previous seasons. On 21 July 2013, after the housemates had entered lockdown, it was confirmed that a weekly live games task would take place in the first four weeks of the season; it was known as the 'Saturday Showdown' and was hosted by Shelley Craft, with commentary from Mike Goldman and 2012 housemate Michael Beveridge (although the 'Saturday Showdown' was later revealed on the official website to be a pre-recorded showing of the previous night when the games took place and that no live recording would be done). This was similar to the Friday Night Live games format used in previous seasons. Later that same day, it was revealed that "the biggest twist in Big Brother history" would involve the possibility of a separation within the house, hinted at in cryptic announcements from Big Brother and in advertisements showing sneak peeks of the new season. It was suspected that the twist would somehow affect the running and outcome of the Saturday Showdown. On 25 July 2013, speculations surfaced on whether the eviction shows would be moving to Monday nights due to the returning of Australia's Got Talent. These rumours were later confirmed by Nine before the show began with a pre-recorded launch on 29 July 2013.
On 24 October 2013, it was announced that Big Brother Australia would be returning to New Zealand on TV3, after a seven-year absence following the conclusion of the 2005 series. The series aired on an almost four-month delay, a departure from when the series previously aired on TV2 and Prime less than 24 hours after airing in Australia. The premiere was on 25 November 2013.
Housemates Twelve housemates entered on Day 0. Two more housemates (Drew and Jade) entered on Day 1 as a fake married couple. On Day 8, Rohan and sisters Katie & Lucy (playing together as one housemate) entered the house. On Day 58, two male intruders, Justynn and Nathan, entered the house. Finally, on Day 64, Madaline and Boog entered as the female intruders.
Name Age on entry Hometown Day entered Day exited Result Tim Dormer 29 Sydney 0 101 Jade Albany Pietrantonio 22 Ballina 1 101 Tahan Lew-Fatt 24 Darwin / Melbourne 0 1012nd Runner-up Anthony Drew 24 Victoria 1 99 Alexandra "Boog" Roe 23 Melbourne 64 99 Ed Lower 26 Adelaide, South Australia / Melbourne 0 94 Madaline Cogar 24 Sydney 64 87 Mikkayla Mossop 24 Newcastle 0 80 Ben Zabel 30 Brisbane 0 73 Nathan Little 35 Victoria 58 70 Katie & Lucy Mercer 22 and 21 Perth 8 66 Justynn Harcourt 33 New South Wales 58 61 Tully Smyth 25 Sydney 0 57 Matthew Filippi 27 Sunshine Coast 0 50 Heidi Anderson 29 Newcastle 0 43 Caleb Geppert 33 Melbourne 0 36 Jasmin Bell 24 Victoria 0 29 Xavier Holland 28 Victoria 0 22 Rohan Mirchandaney 25 Melbourne 8 22 Sharon Smith 41 Victoria 0 15
Halfway and Safe House On Day 0, Big Brother announced that half of the housemates will move to the Safe House or the Halfway House. The Safe House was luxuriously decorated, while the Halfway House expressed simplicity and discomfort. The two houses were separated by a single glass wall. Housemates in either house were forbidden from crossing the divide. Every Tuesday, housemates with the most nomination points that week moved to or stayed in the Halfway House. On Day 24, the two houses made one house, with the divides between them removed. Day 0–1 Day 1–8 Day 8–9 Day 9–10 Day 10–16 Day 16–17 Day 17–23 Day 23–24 Ben Safe House Safe House Halfway House Safe House Caleb Halfway House Safe House Safe House Safe House Drew Not in house Safe House Halfway House Safe House Safe House Ed Safe House Safe House Safe House Safe House Heidi Safe House Safe House Halfway House Safe House Safe House Jade Not in house Safe House Halfway House Safe House Halfway House Jasmin Safe House Halfway House Safe House Halfway House Katie and Lucy Not in house Safe House Safe House Safe House Halfway House Matthew Halfway House Safe House Safe House Halfway House Halfway House Mikkayla Halfway House Halfway House Safe House Halfway House Safe House Halfway House Tahan Halfway House Safe House Halfway House Halfway House Tim Safe House Halfway House Safe House Safe House Tully Halfway House Safe House Halfway House Safe House Xavier Halfway House Safe House Halfway House Evicted Rohan Not in house Safe House Safe House Halfway House Evicted Sharon Safe House Halfway House Evicted
Halfway House summary
Weekly summary Entrances Mikkayla, Xavier, Tahan, Tully, Matthew and Caleb entered the Halfway House on Day 0. Ben, Tim, Sharon, Ed, Heidi and Jasmin entered the Safe House on Day 0. Drew and Jade entered the Safe House on Day 1. Punishments On Day 0 Tahan crossed the divide between the two houses, and had to return her clothes to Big Brother (where they were kept for 24 hours). Since Caleb crossed half the divide, he had to return half of his clothes to Big Brother (where they were also kept for 24 hours). Their suitcases were returned empty. On Day 3, their clothes were returned when Heidi performed her secret task. Tasks On Day 2, the housemates began their first weekly task: "Find Your Other Half", where they had to find the housemate with whom they would most like to be stranded on a deserted island and learn as much as possible about them. Drew and Jade were paired as a "Married Couple", and Halfway Housemates were allowed to enter the Safe House for the task. On Day 3, the housemates took a quiz about their other half. Later that Day, they completed the task and won a shopping budget of $425 for the week. On Day 3, Ben and Jasmin had to correctly predict whether certain items would float or sink in water. Although completing the task would have given them luxury ingredients for the week's Family Dinner, they failed and received basic ingredients. That Day, Heidi received a secret task from Surly: to wear a shirt saying "Nominate me, I dare you", pretending the shirt was her own. After she succeeded, Caleb and Tahan received their clothes back. On Day 5, the housemates took part in their first Showdown. Matthew, the winner, received $5,000, the first nomination superpower, and a night in the Presidential Suite with Caleb (the housemate he chose). Twists On Day 0, before the mates entered the house they had to choose one of twelve keys which would determine where they would live; half the keys unlocked the Safe House, and the other half unlocked the Halfway House. Unlike the housemates in the Halfway House, those in the Safe House received luxurious accommodations and privileges. On Day 1, new housemates Drew and Jade discovered that they must pretend to be married for the first week of the season. If they fooled their fellow housemates for a week, they would be immune from the first eviction; if not, they would face eviction. Entrances Rohan, Katie and Lucy entered the Safe House on Day 8. Punishments On Day 9, as punishment for passing food over the divide Tahan had to paint a bucket of coal white. On Day 10, Rohan received a canned chicken dinner after getting out of the ice bath before the first question was asked during the weekly family-dinner task. Tasks On Day 9 the housemates began an Ashes Test, their second weekly shopping task. With the garden converted into a cricket pitch, each Safe Housemate took turns to protect their stumps from a bowling machine and the Halfway Housemates were required to keep a fire burning in the garden. That night, Xavier and Tully had to be watchmen and sleep on the pitch. By Day 10, the housemates had lost 19 of a maximum 20 wickets and completed the task. On Day 9 Ben had to impress Big Brother in an interview to become his personal assistant, and completed the task. Day 10 was his first Day as Big Brother's assistant. On Day 10, Tahan and Rohan received a Diary Room challenge to win luxury ingredients for the weekly family dinner, and were required to answer questions while sitting in a cold bath. Tahan passed the task, but Rohan got out of the bath within seconds. On Day 12, the housemates participated in their second Showdown. Ed, the winner, received $5,000, the nomination superpower and a night in the Presidential Suite with Sharon (his choice of housemate). On Day 15, after the eviction, each contestant had to predict the future of their fellow housemates. Twists On Day 7, Drew and Jade's secret task was revealed to the other housemates. They failed; only Ben and Matthew believed that they were married, and they were nominated for eviction. On Day 8, since Katie and Lucy are competing as one housemate Big Brother told them that they have to stay within three metres of each other during their stay in the house. On Day 9, after the nomination results were announced the nominees were sent to the Halfway House. On Day 10 Tahan volunteered to answer a question from Big Brother, unaware that he wanted her to save a nominated housemate from eviction (replacing them with someone else). She swapped Mikkayla for Heidi; they changed sides, and Mikkayla no longer faced eviction. Nominations On Day 7, Drew and Jade were nominated for eviction. On Day 9, the housemates submitted their first nominations. Mikkayla, Sharon, Jasmin and Tim received the most nominations, joining Drew and Jade as this week's housemates nominated for eviction. The nominated housemates had to move into the Halfway House later that Day.