Big Brother (Australian TV series) season 9

The ninth season of the Australian reality television series Big Brother, also known as Big Brother 2012, was the first to air on the Nine Network who signed a deal with Southern Star Group in September 2011 to broadcast the show.^[1] The season began with a pre-recorded launch show on 13 August 2012.^[2][3][4] Benjamin Norris was announced the winner of the ninth season on 7 November 2012, making him the first openly gay person to win the Australian version of Big Brother. Benjamin proposed to his boyfriend, also named Ben, during the show's finale.^[5]

This season introduced Sonia Kruger as the new host of Big Brother. Mike Goldman continued his role of providing voice over narration for the show.^[6] The production was based at the same compound, located within the Dreamworld theme park, that had been used in all previous Australian seasons. This season also use some of the game mechanics from the Secret Story franchise. In this season, Big Brother was voiced by Leon Murray. Unlike the stricter and more authoritarian tones of previous voice actors such as Nick Colquhoun, Murray adopted a friendly and jokey style, often interacting with housemates in a more lighthearted manner. He maintained this approachable and humorous style throughout the 2013 and 2014 seasons, continuing the shift away from the more punitive tone of earlier years.

After four years off air, the Nine Network confirmed on 9 September 2011 that they had signed a contract with Southern Star Group to air the series in 2012; the first time a broadcaster other than Network Ten has broadcast the show in Australia.^[1] In September 2011, when the location of the Big Brother compound had not yet been officially confirmed, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh stated that she would do everything possible to see the show return to the Gold Coast.^[7] A spokesperson from Dreamworld, the original home of Big Brother, stated on 21 September 2011 that nothing was locked in but that the theme park would welcome the return of the show.^[8] In December 2011, The Daily Telegraph reported that Fox Studios Australia and Warner Bros. Movie World had also expressed interest.^[9][10] In an interview ahead of the season launch, Kruger suggested that Big Brother would be family friendly and air at 7.00 pm.^[11]

Several days after the news Big Brother was to return, Southern Star Group announced on their casting website that they would be accepting pre-audition applications for people who were interested in participating on the season.^[12] The official Facebook page for the show, as directed to by the Southern Star website, was opened on 15 September 2011.^[13] On 22 February 2012, it was officially announced that Big Brother would return to Dreamworld in 2012.^[14] Auditions began on 15 March, and took place in all major capital cities, as well as Gold Coast, in April and May 2012.^[15] More than twenty thousand people applied to be on the ninth season.^[16] The Official Big Brother Australia website reported that 14 housemates would be entering the house after going into lockdown on 4 August.^[17]

This season each of the original fourteen housemates entered with a secret. The task in the first week was for the female housemates to match up the male housemates with their secrets.^[1][3][18] The secrets were that: one has the IQ of a genius (Michael), one became scared of birds after an emu attack (Bradley), one has been fired from every job he's ever had (Benjamin), one hasn't had a girlfriend since he was 11 (Ryan), one was a juvenile offender (Ray), one has dated more than 100 women (Josh), and one is a multimillionaire (George).^[19] The following week the girl's secrets were revealed for the male members of the house to solve. The secrets were that: one had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (Charne), one was a champion weightlifter (Angie), one is a high school dropout (Estelle), one was a nude protester (Sarah), one used to be an emo (Zoe), one was a hand model (Stacey) and that one is a member of a royal family (Layla).^[20]

On launch night, ten housemates (seven women and three men) entered the house on Day 0. The seven women first entered through a room called the parlour for a secret task, but later entered the house. Two more male housemates entered the house on Day 2, two via a live special, and two more revealed on the next day's show. After Week 5's and Week 6's nominations, a female and male intruder entered the house. Ava entered on Day 29, and Sam entered on Day 36. Unlike the original fourteen housemates, no intruders are keeping a secret in the house.

The Nominations Super Power is a weekly twist to nominations. It is a special secret power given to a housemate. The Nominations Super Power gives an advantage to that housemate for nominations in that given week.

This series, housemates were allowed to distribute five nomination points between their two nominations, with a maximum of four points to be allocated to one housemate. The three or more housemates with the most votes face the public vote to save. In addition, nominations are now held in a sound-proof chamber inside a Nominations Room, as opposed to the Diary Room.

Color key:

On Day 59, Josh was called to the Captains Quarters, where he was taken out of the house to see his parents. They told him of the sudden death of his only sibling, Toby. Josh spent the night outside of the house, where he made the decision to stay with his family and not return to the house. On Day 60, housemates were informed of the situation, and said their goodbyes in the early hours of Day 60. Out of respect for Josh and his family, Big Brother turned the cameras off for these goodbyes. As a result of Josh leaving, voting lines for eviction were closed—with any votes cast prior being invalidated—and the funds donated to the Salvation Army; a choice by Josh and his family. Also, the weekly challenge was ended prematurely and live feeds from the official website were paused. The upcoming eviction was also canceled, instead replaced with Josh's return to say thank you to the public for their support which was followed by the routinely used 'highlights' show.

A number of special episodes aired during the original run of the season. These included:

"Live Special" was a live daily show that was broadcast on Day 2 in which the final four male housemates entered the House. Two were revealed live (George and Ryan), and two were revealed on the next day's daily show.

A second Live Special was broadcast on Day 63 to replace what was supposed to be the eighth eviction of the season, but was cancelled due to the sudden departure of housemate Josh on Day 60. Along with the regular highlights from the past few days, there was also clips reminiscing about Josh's time in the house.

"The New Housemates" was a live daily show that was broadcast on Day 3

"Secrets Revealed Live" was a live show that was broadcast on Day 7. The parlour twist was revealed to all the housemates, and the female housemates had to correctly match all the males' secrets without failing four times. The females failed to match the final secrets belonging to Benjamin and George, and so the females were to risk being nominated for Week 2. After the task, the male housemates were set the same task for the new week, and began to evaluate the females' secrets in the renovated parlour called the man cave.

The "4th Live Nominations" was the nomination and intruder special that was broadcast on Day 29.

"Intruder Incoming" was a live daily show that was broadcast on Day 37

"Live Josh Special" was a live special where instead of an eviction that was broadcast on Day 63.

  "Big Brother's Little Sister" were two special episodes broadcast on Day 65 and 79 where Big Brother's "Little Sister" asked the housemates questions sent in by the viewers.^[21]

  "Big Secrets" was a live daily show that was broadcast on Day 78

The launch ratings for this season were up significantly from 2008 as the opening night show reached 2.1 million viewers at its peak and averaged at 1.6 million viewers, the franchise's highest ratings since the 2003 series.^[22]

Ratings are rounded to the nearest ten thousand. Shows on GO! are not included in official averages. Figures in bold include consolidated viewing figures.

Estelle Landy alleged that Ben Norris engaged in bullying behaviour toward her during their time in the Big Brother house. Norris acknowledged interpersonal conflict between them but rejected the characterisation of his behaviour as bullying. Landy and Big Brother 2013 winner Tim Dormer publicly criticised Norris in the years following this season, based on their belief that he had mistreated her during filming.^[23] In response to accusations of bullying, Norris stated that his outspoken behaviour was frequently misrepresented in the televised edit and argued that his interactions with Landy were interpreted unfairly. Norris suggested that the program's portrayal framed Landy as a victim, which he believed exaggerated the extent and intent of his behaviour toward her.^[24] Norris further stated that describing his behaviour as "bullying" was inaccurate and, in his view, undermined the seriousness of genuine bullying. He maintained that his actions amounted to speaking frankly rather than engaging in harassment.^[25]

It was claimed that Landy later stated she had ceased contact with Norris due to her belief that he had bullied her, and suggested that similar allegations were also made by Landy regarding fellow housemate and runner-up Layla Subritzky. Despite these allegations, Landy and Norris maintained a close friendship following the conclusion of Big Brother 2012. It was alleged that Norris provided Landy with personal support during this period, including assistance with travel and accommodation, and remained supportive during times when she was struggling. After competing alongside Landy on Big Brother 2022, Dormer later publicly distanced himself from her, stating that he had supported her claims for many years before reconsidering his position. Dormer indicated that he had come to believe others were unfairly cast as antagonists and rejected the idea that he and Norris should be portrayed as villains in her narrative.^[23]

• Official website Archived 4 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine