Big Brother 2011, also known as Big Brother 12, was the twelfth series of the British reality television series Big Brother and the first not to be broadcast on Channel 4. It was broadcast on Channel 5 for the first time since the show's transfer from Channel 4. It launched on 9 September 2011 with an hour and a half-long special launch show, the day after the final of Celebrity Big Brother 8. It was hosted by Brian Dowling, the winner of Big Brother 2 and Ultimate Big Brother. The series ran for 64 days, ending on 11 November 2011 when the winner, Aaron Allard-Morgan, won half of the £100,000 prize fund, with the remainder split between the five finalists. The runner up was Jay McKray.
The series differed from the Channel 4 version in having the celebrity edition before the main series, with the latter running in the autumn rather than the traditional summer-long run. The series reverted to its traditional pattern a year later when Big Brother 13 aired in the summer of 2012. In 2018 the series reverted to the 2011 format again with Celebrity Big Brother 22 airing before Big Brother 19.
There were 14 original housemates, seven men and seven women all aged between 18 and 30. Much of the series concentrated on the romantic relationships that developed between the housemates during their time in the house.
The series was sponsored by skincare brand Freederm and was the first to use online voting via Facebook credits.
Production
History and build-up
After Richard Desmond bought Channel 5, he said he was keen to acquire Big Brother. Meanwhile, Endemol UK had been granted permission to keep the Big Brother House at the Elstree Studios, Hertfordshire, until 30 September 2013. On 6 April 2011, Channel 5 formally confirmed that they had signed a £200 million two-year contract with Endemol to screen Big Brother from 18 August 2011.
Auditions
On 3 May 2011, Endemol and Channel 5 officially opened the process for people to apply to be on the show. Open auditions for the Channel 5 series were held at Old Trafford in Greater Manchester on 10 and 11 June 2011. Auditions were also held in London on 18 and 19 June 2011 at the Emirates Stadium. All applicants had to attend the open auditions with identification to be considered for the series and had to be a legal resident of the UK or Ireland aged 18 or over by 31 July 2011 to audition for the show. Big Brother 2010 winner Josie Gibson took part in filming at the London auditions meeting potential housemates.
Trailers
From 23 July 2011, trailers announcing the imminent return of the celebrity version of the series were aired using Marcus Bentley's voice. Former housemates that featured in one of the trailers included Josie Gibson, Brian Dowling and Alex Reid. This coincided with the launch of the new eye logo for 2011. In the run-up to Celebrity Big Brother, the channel featured a promotional campaign under the slogan "When Bruv takes over" based on the David Guetta and Kelly Rowland song "When Love Takes Over". It featured a large cast of past housemates dancing and miming in the streets, finally meeting up in a park with CGI effects adding a fly-past with coloured smoke overhead. Break bumpers announcing the series were broadcast in the week running up to the launch along with a countdown to the launch day voiced by Bentley. Channel 5 took out commercials on other channels, including ITV1 promoting the launch of the new series. The launch was also trailed heavily in the printed media, including an advertising blitz in the Desmond-owned newspapers and magazines and posters in town centres. In the second week of the celebrity version, trailers heralded the return of the main series on 9 September 2011.
Format
The format remained largely unchanged from previous seasons. The housemates are incarcerated in the Big Brother House with a strict rule of no contact with the outside world. Each week, the housemates take part in a major task that determines the size of the shopping budget, enables them to win luxuries and in some tasks, immunity from that week's eviction or power in the House. Nominations are normally carried out in the privacy of the diary room and are compulsory. Each housemate must nominate two of their fellow housemates to face the public vote and provide Big Brother with a justifiable reason for the nomination. "Voting to save" has been used for the public vote as opposed to the "vote to evict" method generally used in previous series. On eviction night, the housemate with the fewest votes to save will be evicted. The last housemate remaining in the house will be the winner of the series.