AJ Odudu says the new ‘Big Brother’ will be the “most diverse” series yet as the show returns after a five year hiatus with its biggest a house yet.
The ex ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ and T4 star – who is the show’s first Black presenter – has teased the ITV reboot of the revolutionary reality show will feature the most varied set of housemates that has ever been on the programme.
The 35-year-old TV presenter – who is co-hosting ‘Big Brother’ with Will Best, 38 – told Politicalite last night: “I hear on the grapevine that it’s the most diverse set of housemates ever.”
AJ doesn’t think the show – which first debuted on Channel 4 in 2000 with presenter Davina McCall, 55, before moving to Channel 5 in 2011, with host and former winner Brian Dowling, 45, who was replaced by Emma Willis, 47, until its 2018 end – has received enough credit for its diverse line ups over the years.
She added: “That’s what’s always been so beautiful about ‘Big Brother’, and actually something that’s not been credited to the show enough.
“I don’t feel like ‘Big Brother’ has had its flowers for all of the diverse storylines and the openness and how we and learned about one another.
“This is the one and only show where you don’t need to do anything or be anything but interesting and how amazing is that, really.”
The former ‘The Voice UK’ presenter cited the example of trailblazing transgender housemates, such as winners Nadia Almada, 46, and Luke Anderson, 42, and how the public accepted them.
AJ said: “It’s interesting, because when we look back at the trans winners, we look back as a society, and we were really celebrating those trans people on screen, so why isn’t that being replicated in our day-to-day life now?
“I think everyone, as a society, are only just starting to have these conversations thoroughly within their own communities but also sometimes it’s easy to lose sight – progressive change takes such a long time to happen.
“You can’t just have a couple of trans winners on Big Brother and go, ‘Our work is done, we’re all at one, peace and love.’ Sadly, as we’ve experienced, that is not the case.”
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