Kate Lawler has hit back at critics after the Big Brother reboot was branded ‘woke’.
The series has long had a history of championing all aspects of society and placing together people of all ages, cultures and backgrounds in a social experiment.
This year’s lineup is one of its most diverse, with housemates including a dancing doctor, Miss Universe, amputee DJ and a Muslim make-up artist.
But taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday viewers were left divided with some claiming the series was ‘ticking boxes’ with it’s choice of participants.
Speaking about the show on Monday’s This Morning, season three winner Kate Lawler revealed: ‘I absolutely loved last night show. ITV have got their hands on the ultimate reality show. The OG Big Brother. I watched it with a smile on my face.’
Loving it: Kate Lawler has hit back at critics after the Big Brother reboot was branded ‘woke’ as she praised the diversity shown on the programme
Meet the housemates: This year’s lineup includes a dancing doctor, Miss Universe, amputee DJ and a Muslim make-up artist (L-R Paul, Tom, Jenkin, Matthew, Zak, Hallie, Noky, Farida, Dylan, Olivia, Trish, Jordan, Yinrun, Chanelle, Henry and Kerry)
Kate continued: ‘The length of breadth of the country is being celebrated. It’s the most diverse housemates yet. Gay, straight, a woman with MS, a man who has lost his foot.’
‘I think it’s gonna make some really great viewing. I was highly entertained. It’s predominantly young housemates but it’s my favourite so far.’
She went on to laud the decision to prerecord the launch show, explaining: ‘Gone are the launch nights which were three hours long, which I think makes for better viewing.
‘We have shorter attention spans now. It was snappy it was sharp.’
Praising the new hosts, she continued: ‘What a great duo AJ [Odudu] and Will [Best] are – 10 out of 10!That catsuit was trending on X. She looked phenomenal.
‘I think we’re in for a fantastic series. Series 20 is not gonna disappoint.’
Kate won the third series of Big Brother in 2002 and previously revealed she wanted to host the reboot.
Her series was the most watched, with its average audience hitting 5.3 million and a peak of 10 million viewers and a 51 percent share tuning in to see Kate win the show.
In comparison, the reboot pulled in 2.6 million viewers across its channels on Sunday night.
Iconic: Kate won the third series of Big Brother in 2002 and previously revealed she wanted to host the reboot
The prerecorded show was aired simultaneously on ITVX and ITV2, with the programme dominating the 9pm slot and becoming the most streamed episode across ITVX.
It dwarfed the launch of the last civilian version of the show in 2018 – which only drew in 0.9 million – and marked the highest viewing figures in a decade.
Yet it couldn’t compete with the highest-rated show of the day, with the Strictly Come Dancing launch show bringing in 6.6M viewers on BBC One earlier in the evening.
It also failed to make a dent on Big Brother’s Channel 4 heyday, where the show aired from 2000 until 2010.
BIG BROTHER 2023: MEET THE CONTESTANTS!
JENKIN
AGE: 25
PROFESSION: Barman
FROM: Bridgend
HOW WOULD YOUR FRIENDS DESCRIBE YOU? ‘Loud and messy and irritating probably.’
TOM
AGE: 21
PROFESSION: Butcher
FROM: Somerset
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LIKELY TO GET NOMINATED FOR? ‘I think I might potentially offend some people. My mouth moves faster than my brain.’
TRISH
AGE: 33
PROFESSION: Mum
FROM: Luton
WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH THE PRIZE MONEY IF YOU WON? ‘I think my first priority is to sort out my housing situation. The housing crisis is just ridiculous and my housing situation has been unstable. It brings me a lot of mum guilt because I’ve got a young child. It’s my biggest incentive and motivation to win.’
JORDAN
AGE: 25
PROFESSION: Lawyer
FROM: Scunthorpe
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LIKELY TO GET NOMINATED FOR? ‘Being cantankerous and acting as if I don’t want to be there even if I do in my heart. They might nominate me for being disengaged perhaps or not paying everyone an equal amount of attention. They may feel left out but I can’t help that.’
DYLAN
AGE: 39
PROFESSION: DJ
FROM: Coventry
TELL US AN INTERESTING FACT ABOUT YOURSELF: ‘I appeared on a TV show called The Last Leg about amputees – two years before I lost my leg!’
NOKY
AGE: 26
PROFESSION: Banker
FROM: Derby
WHAT MADE YOU APPLY TO BECOME A BIG BROTHER HOUSEMATE? ‘I love challenges. I’ve had so many amazing times in my life, like going to Miss Universe as Miss Great Britain. I like to do something different and I think this is the next challenge I want to conquer. I want to show people what pageant girls are really like and disprove a lot of stereotypes around them. I also show what it’s like being a woman who’s worked in male- dominated fields. I want to show that women are capable of doing anything they want.’
PAUL
AGE: 23
PROFESSION: Security Officer
FROM: Liverpool
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LIKELY TO GET NOMINATED FOR? ‘Being the biggest wind up, eating all the food and being the loudest housemate.’
OLIVIA
AGE: 23
PROFESSION: Dancer
FROM: Glasgow
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LIKELY TO GET NOMINATED FOR? ‘I think when people are in that hangry state, that’s when I’ll wind people up and grind their gears. I think they’ll nominate me for being full on, and for my brutal honesty and oversharing of opinions.’
FARIDA
AGE: 50
PROFESSION: Make-up artist
FROM: Wolverhampton
TELL US AN INTERESTING FACT ABOUT YOURSELF: ‘People are always surprised when I say I got married at 43. Or also that I’m an ex-holiday rep in Gran Canaria and Menorca.’
HAILLE
AGE: 18
PROFESSION: Youth Worker
FROM: London
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LIKELY TO GET NOMINATED FOR? ‘Being lazy and having an opinion. I’m quite opinionated, I like speaking my mind and not many people like that. I’m quite real.’
YINRUN
AGE: 25
PROFESSION: Customer Support Agent
FROM: Harrogate
WHAT PART OF THE EXPERIENCE ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? ‘I’m most excited about being surrounded by so many people from different walks of life. I don’t think I will ever live in a house again with so many different kinds of people. I’m from China and I think it will help me be more immersed in British culture..’
CHANELLE
AGE: 29
PROFESSION: Dental Therapist
FROM: Llanelli
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LIKELY TO BE NOMINATED FOR? ‘Probably just for being annoying. In Wales, we have this saying ‘I’ll do it now in a minute’. So like, if I went to make food and I left a dish on the side, I have all good intentions of washing it but I’d be like, ‘I’ll do it now in a minute,’ and it might be three hours later before I do it. So probably for silly stuff like that.’
ZAK
AGE: 28
PROFESSION: Model
FROM: Manchester
WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH THE PRIZE MONEY IF YOU WON? ‘Pay off my debts and help my family out. I’ve also been saving up to build a park in my village back at home in Thailand because where I grew up, there’s no parks or playgrounds.’
MATTY
AGE: 25
PROFESSION: Doctor
FROM: Isle Of Man
HOW WOULD YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY DESCRIBE YOU? ‘They would say I’m quite like a lucky person or someone who really wants to experience life to its fullest and do everything that it has to offer. Someone who is kind and fun and doesn’t take life too seriously.’
HENRY
AGE: 25
PROFESSION: Food Writer
FROM: Cotswolds
HOW WOULD YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY DESCRIBE YOU? ‘I think they would say I’m particularly sociable and very chatty. I mean, I’ll be honest, my parents would definitely say I’m a bit of a snob but I take it as a compliment. I think it means you’ve got high standards and good taste. They’d say I was quite a peculiar child.’
KERRY
AGE: 40
PROFESSION: NHS Manager
FROM: Essex
WHAT MADE YOU APPLY TO BE A BIG BROTHER HOUSEMATE? ‘I love the programme. It is, for me, the ultimate reality TV show ever. I’ve got multiple sclerosis and so the reason why I never applied before is because I always saw those whacking great big stairs to get into the house. It just felt a little bit unachievable because for the first three years of my illness I was in a wheelchair. When I saw it was coming back and searching for real people from all walks of life, I thought, this is my year.’
