Teen Big Brother: The Experiment

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

Featuring eight 18-year-olds, it was broadcast between 13–17 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 between 30 July to 8 August, 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).

Teen Big Brother was different from the original Big Brother UK series 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 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.

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.

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. A programme about the tour was mentioned on the final episode, and was to be broadcast on E4 a few months later, but never was due to lack of interest. In addition he won a period of work experience selected for his interests, with a New York City fashion designer.

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