Big Brother (TV Program)

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    That’s a Great Reality TV Set. Let’s Use It Again.

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    “The Circle” is one of many current shows using the same state-of-the-art production hub to shoot a variety of international versions.In “The Circle,” a reality competition show on Netflix, a group of strangers are sequestered for days inside a multistory apartment complex, angling to survive rounds of eliminations to win a cash prize, much like “Big Brother.” The twist is that the players can’t see or hear one another, and must communicate via text — people might not be what they seem, and anyone, at any time, could be catfishing.As it turns out, “The Circle” has been doing some impersonation of its own, with one sleek setting standing in for a local building across several international versions of the show.The neon-lit compound — which was initially a housing block in Salford, England, before moving, in 2023, to a complex in Atlanta, Georgia — has not only been the set for the series’ flagship American edition, which returns to Netflix for a seventh season on Sept. 11. It has also been used for “The Circle Brazil,” France’s “The Circle Game,” the British version of “The Circle” and its 2020 spinoff “The Celebrity Circle.” With minimal adjustments, the show can look like it’s located virtually anywhere in the world.“We need a building with 10 rooms, without noise bleed, that looks great, is in a cool location, and that can house a team of 200 people in the basement,” Jack Burgess, an executive producer on “The Circle,” said in a recent interview. “That’s a hard thing to find, so of course you want to make the most of it.”“The Circle” is one of many current reality programs taking advance of international production hubs: state-of-the-art bases where multiple production companies can pool resources to make versions of a show tailored to a variety of global markets.The “Circle” building for the upcoming seventh season of the U.S. show. via NetflixWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Big Brother’ Expels Luke Valentine For Using Racial Slur

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      “Well, I’m in trouble now,” Luke Valentine said after using a slur for Black people in a conversation on the reality show.“Big Brother,” CBS’s long-running reality competition, has kicked off a contestant for using a racial slur.The contestant, Luke Valentine, used a slur for Black people this week while chatting with other men in the compound where houseguests are filmed 24 hours a day as they compete for a large cash prize. Valentine is white, and one of the other men in the conversation is Black.The incident, broadcast during the show’s live online feed, was addressed on Thursday night’s episode, in which highlights from the feed are interspersed with contestants’ reflections on recent events in the house.“It’s been an emotional 24 hours in the ‘Big Brother’ house as the houseguests learned that one of their own broke the ‘Big Brother’ code of conduct and was removed from the game,” the show’s longtime host, Julie Chen Moonves, said during the episode.After Valentine, an illustrator from Florida, used the slur, he immediately apologized to the three other men in the room and tried to backtrack. Clearly shocked, two of the men quickly left. Jared Fields, who is Black, mostly stayed quiet but responded to Valentine by saying that the slur can make white people more uncomfortable than Black people.“Well, I’m in trouble now,” Valentine said to Fields.In an interview aired on Thursday’s episode, Fields said: “My nonreaction in the moment, being the only Black male in this house, I don’t know what to say. Anything I say or do can come across wrong or aggressive.”“I don’t associate ignorance with malice,” he later added.On an Instagram account that is followed by verified accounts of other “Big Brother” contestants, Valentine posted an apology to his story, along with a photo of himself and a prayer hands emoji. “Luke made a big mistake,” it read, “please forgive him.”Andy Herren, the show’s Season 15 winner, said CBS did the right thing by expelling Valentine. “YEARS of problematic behavior and language in the Big Brother house going unpunished led to fans and former houseguests speaking up,” Herren posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. He added, “This is huge and will change things moving forward!”“Big Brother,” now in its 25th season, has a history of racism among its contestants.In 2019, shortly before winning Season 21, Jackson Michie was asked on live television to answer for accusations that some of his behavior during the season had been racist and sexist. He defended himself in the moment but later apologized, admitting blame. Aaryn Gries, a Season 15 contestant, was questioned by Chen Moonves after being filmed making racist and homophobic remarks.Black contestants have also struggled to advance on “Big Brother,” often getting voted out early. The show’s first Black winner, Xavier Prather, was not crowned until Season 23. The next season featured the show’s first Black female winner, Taylor Hale.“It was something I was cognizant of,” Prather told The New York Times this year. “I am a 6-2, 200-pound athletic Black man — I can’t approach the game the same way that a slim, 5-10 white man can, because we’re perceived differently.”“To assume that I could approach the game the same way would be to assume that I could approach life the same way,” he continued. “‘Big Brother’ is literally a reflection of our society.”Calum Marsh More