The new BBAU House is giving “liminal spaces”, and not just because there are no ceilings
The first thing our new Housemates will see this Saturday – once they step through the shiny, ITV-style corridor – is an enormous, open-plan living area with a comfy-looking sitting room.
Maybe it’s these grainy, low-resolution images (they’re taken from portrait-orientation Instagram videos, which isn’t ideal). Maybe it’s the saturated, neon-heavy colour scheme. Maybe it’s the mottled carpets. Whatever the reason, this House is giving me “liminal space” vibes – I feel like that living room could be tucked away in the corner of a decaying arcade somewhere.
That vibe continues in the dining area, which I think has 14 chairs – enough for 12 Housemates and two Intruders or late-entrants, perhaps?
There are two cosy nooks in the main living space. This one, with its pink and teal colour scheme, looks like it could be the lobby of a trendy, 1990s hotel.
And this red nook, with its wood panelling and in-wall goldfish tank (the show’s official TikTok describes it as a “fish cam”), is my favourite part of the new House by far.
The kitchen is a little more modern, but I don't really have anything to say about it besides that. Moving on!
Let’s get the bathroom out of the way next because, for some reason, Big Brother decided to go all moody with the lighting. And it makes for some pretty terrible pictures.
I quite like the bathroom – I like how everything’s softly glowing (we may have left the Channel 7 era behind, but Big Brother’s love of LED lighting strips is as strong as ever), and I like that there’s a sauna. This House feels lower-budget than previous BBAU Houses, so it helps add a touch of luxury.
The bedroom is our next stop, and it seems to be the only part of the House that actually has ceilings. Enjoy them while you can. Unlike the bathroom, the LED lights in the bedroom look really cheap – perhaps it’s because of how flat and untextured everything is.
And our final stop – for now – is the Diary Room, whose seat looks like a pouting, sulky mouth.
But… wait! What’s that, reflected in the fish tank?! It kinda looks like…
It’s the living room again, but it’s been picked up and dropped in the middle of an IKEA warehouse.
This is so, so disappointing. It’s not actually a new thing: the House for the final two Channel 7 series, at Sydney’s Olympic Park, was built in a glorified circus tent and also lacked ceilings. But it’s a shame this new House hasn’t been built to a higher standard.
Admittedly, this year’s BBAU is going to run for less than six weeks, so Channel 10 might see this as a pilot House for a pilot series – it’ll be interesting to see if they build something more permanent if the show gets a longer run next year.
Big Brother Australia returns this Sunday, 9th November, at 7:00pm AEDT (8:00am GMT / 12:00am PST / 3:00am EST) on Channel 10.
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