[Kai Anders]

I've just seen that the new series of Secret Story has kicked off in France.. however I was wondering a few things about the similarity of shows.

Last year, more than 10 Big Brother's across the globe copied the Secrets and Lies format, which we actually got from Secret Story, it also turned out to be a success almost everywhere with global ratings increasing (if taking on the theme)

This year however, it seems as though Secret Story, as with our own version, is looking for those with big ego's.. perhaps this is representative of the rest of the Big Brothers to come in the world..

Secret Story is a massive show in France, it regularly hits 2.5 million viewers and a 20-30%.. compared with our own BB, which hits somewhere around 1.3 million viewers and a measly 6-10% in comparison.

Why is it that our year has been poorly rated compared to our previous series.. yet in France, this 'ego' format for HMs continues to be so popular? If anything, Secret Story contains far more twists and is by far more controlling.. a lot of the things we hate in a series. for example, in this series, they made two HMs marry in Las Vegas to give them an advantage over the other HMs..

Is it purely to do with the age of the show.. BB is in it's 15th series, Secret Story is in its 8th (however Loft Story, its predecessor had several runs too) It can't be due to a wash of reality.. if anything France has certainly a lot more reality TV shows based on the BB format than we do.. Or is it just a difference of nationalities.. both countries look for something different?