If BBUK was in its peak today...

[Eddie.]

Would some of the housemates have had the same fates as Caroline, Mike and Sophie? I know their deaths aren't really related to their time on the show but with tabloids and now social media, would some of the housemates have taken their own lives as well? BBUK was also known to not be so thorough with their aftercare.

Sorry if this topic is a bit morbid, I'm just trying to see what people would think based on recent events...

[Morgan.]

I’m sure BB12 had a few suicide attempts reported, so I’m sure that eventually it probably would have been the case.

[Dogeatdog]

I reckon so. Not sure if anyone watched the Jade Goody documentary on CH4 a few months back but that really highlighted how awful the press were and this was before all the racism row controversy. Imagine if social media was around during this time as well?

[Strictly Jake]

Yeah I do as social media wasnt as rampant back then it was non existent actually until the channel 5 days I dont think, it wasnt as powerful then anyway. Hence why as you say it was some of the bb12 lot. Social media along with press has a lot to answer for as does reality tv. That said the articles wont stop being written, trolls will get worse and reality tv will still continue for as long as we are watching

[Mystic Mock]

Would some of the housemates have had the same fates as Caroline, Mike and Sophie? I know their deaths aren't really related to their time on the show but with tabloids and now social media, would some of the housemates have taken their own lives as well? BBUK was also known to not be so thorough with their aftercare.

Sorry if this topic is a bit morbid, I'm just trying to see what people would think based on recent events...

I think it's a good question personally, and one that Reality TV Producers and the owners of these Social Media platforms need to have imo.

I've got to be honest and say that I would've feared for Craig Coates wellbeing if he came on BB nowadays behaving like he did during BB6.

I also from that year wonder if Lesley and Sam would've struggled to cope with Social Media comments about their stints on Big Brother.

[LukeB]

I think it's a good question personally, and one that Reality TV Producers and the owners of these Social Media platforms need to have imo.

I've got to be honest and say that I would've feared for Craig Coates wellbeing if he came on BB nowadays behaving like he did during BB6.

I also from that year wonder if Lesley and Sam would've struggled to cope with Social Media comments about their stints on Big Brother.

Don’t forget Shahbaz, he did threaten to commit suicide live on tv. He was mentally and emotionally unstable. it was a very bad idea to cast him(few others on that series too even though i’m a fan). You can imagine the memes and stuff if BB7 was shown now and was popular.

[Kazanne]

Some of us were bloody awful about the contestants on BB which is bad enough but imagine thier feelings when the tabloids and social media are also having a pop, personally speaking I learnt a lesson from all that and try now not to be cruel about people, but it was rife during BB, I hope another lesson is learnt now in the wake of Carolines death, something needs to change and we can start with ourselves,just my opinion.

[Mystic Mock]

Don’t forget Shahbaz, he did threaten to commit suicide live on tv. He was mentally and emotionally unstable. it was a very bad idea to cast him(few others on that series too even though i’m a fan). You can imagine the memes and stuff if BB7 was shown now and was popular.

Yeah I somehow forgot about Shahbaz.:joker:

Tbh him, Nikki, Lea, and Grace (just for her sheer unpopularity at the time) would concern me on if they could've coped with today's level of scrutiny that Reality TV contestants receive from the BB7 lineup.

[Shaun]

I'm sure I recall Sree from BB10 attempting suicide as well, in addition to the names mentioned above.

It's possible. Most of the housemates during the boom of Twitter and Facebook were lucky enough for there only to be, like, 1-2m viewers at best and the show served its "crowd backlash" element on-air, with eviction chants and booing and what not. There was a sense of closure once a housemate was out, I think.

The only strong, intense social-media reaction against a housemate would have been Jade Goody in CBB, I think, but she got the media vilification in spadeloads. Even all of the other ejections would've been ignored.

But then maybe I'm being too optimistic. Maybe Makosi would've got death threats for faking a pregnancy from some nutjob who knows someone who miscarried. Maybe Nikki would've had 10,000% more hate pouring in on Twitter (which'd crazy in hindsight, since she's now pretty much a cult figure on Twitter :laugh:) and, with her mental health struggles, it could've been destructive. Maybe Nick would've been #cancelled because he made up a fake death. It's hard to say.

[Tony Montana]

The housemates from BB5 - 7 would've been ripped to shreds for their actions and behaviour. 7 had quite a few vulnerable people too.

Social Media would've had a field day with BBUK at its peak.

[Mystic Mock]

Some of us were bloody awful about the contestants on BB which is bad enough but imagine thier feelings when the tabloids and social media are also having a pop, personally speaking I learnt a lesson from all that and try now not to be cruel about people, but it was rife during BB, I hope another lesson is learnt now in the wake of Carolines death, something needs to change and we can start with ourselves,just my opinion.

Tbh I've been trying over the last few months to be more polite about Reality TV contestants because like you I could say some horrible things about them (I feel really ashamed about my Steve and Mario comments from BB11 in particular) and I personally would never want to feel responsible as to why someone killed themselves.

Plus I don't think that I would like being abused online like some of these Reality contestants have been in the past, so I've tried to put myself in their shoes.

It's natural to dislike Reality contestants (the shows imo design themselves in a way where they want the viewer to dislike some contestants) but there definitely is a way to conduct your dislike of someone without mocking everything about them.

And like you Kazanne I hope that there is a lesson learned from this.

[Cal.]

Yeah I agree with Shaun in the sense that with Big Brother there seemed to be an element of closure once a housemate got evicted even on the C4 days when it was huge. The likes of Grace and Charley got boos and ‘GET THEM OUT’ chants but then as soon as the series was over the magazines and tabloids would just lap them up for being them. And then in C5 when social media was around the show wasn’t big enough for the housemates to face anything significantly bad.

[Amy Jade]

The channel 5 BB facebook page was vile it was always full of hateful people wishing the worst on housemates I think the show just wasnt big enough for a fuss to be made.

I remember when Lateysha was in BB the comments were awful on the facebook page, she was being called horrific things and grown women saying they wanted her child taken off her or to physically assault her and the racism was very prominent.

[Kazanne]

Tbh I've been trying over the last few months to be more polite about Reality TV contestants because like you I could say some horrible things about them (I feel really ashamed about my Steve and Mario comments from BB11 in particular) and I personally would never want to feel responsible as to why someone killed themselves.

Plus I don't think that I would like being abused online like some of these Reality contestants have been in the past, so I've tried to put myself in their shoes.

It's natural to dislike Reality contestants (the shows imo design themselves in a way where they want the viewer to dislike some contestants) but there definitely is a way to conduct your dislike of someone without mocking everything about them.

And like you Kazanne I hope that there is a lesson learned from this.

Well said Mocky,as long as we keep learning from these things, hopefully things might change,but some people I fear are inherently nasty.

[caprimint]

If it happened in Love Island then very possibly

[Eddie.]

Bump for more opinions on this topic.

[Ammi]

Would some of the housemates have had the same fates as Caroline, Mike and Sophie? I know their deaths aren't really related to their time on the show but with tabloids and now social media, would some of the housemates have taken their own lives as well? BBUK was also known to not be so thorough with their aftercare.

Sorry if this topic is a bit morbid, I'm just trying to see what people would think based on recent events...

....hmmmm, I’m not sure, Eddie...I’ve just seen your thread so I’m going to give it some thought...an initial thought though..?...would be that if it was in its peak now, nothing would change...just because it’s peak involved a time of reality tv that has since evolved into something that doesn’t resemble so much anymore..?...something like BB could never peak now, I don’t think.../..if that makes sense...because it’s going back to a time when reality TV was more in its infancy...it’s now evolved into something more contrived and I think that started to happen very much with BB...when it created ‘heroes and villains’ type situations...that hero/villain thing became so drama fuelled and popular viewing that the media ran with it to try to create ‘real villains’ of housemates...

[Ammi]

...not sure though, I’m going to have to think more...:laugh:..