[oopsimawesome]

Living in the states, I'd been a diehard fan of BBUS since series one. In 2010 I stumbled upon BBUK via the internet. I googled the show and realized there was mere weeks left in the series as C4 had given it the ax. With that knowledge I decided to finish the main show of BB11 but not UBB and went from BB11 to BB1. I literally DEVOURED the entire series, including CBB series, in 8 months. (I can't remember what they said on the series finale as far as how many hours that was, but it was A LOT in 8 months). Watching the C4 series finale I was in tatters. I felt like I was losing a trusted friend. Not only with Davina (who is EVERYTHING) but with Big Brother himself. The montage for Davina had me sobbing and the final fade out with all the houses and quotes that came from them sent me over the edge. (Who is she? Who IS SHE?!?!) Fading out with "Big Brother will get back to you..." gave me goosebumps and made me hopeful...
Then C5 picked it up and BB12 was upon us. I waited with baited breath for it to be uploaded online and still do to this very day.
I've been a mainly quiet forum member since I joined but having watched the launch of BBUS last night I felt I had to proclaim my love for BBUK.
I see a lot of people complaining about how C5 has ruined the series and I could not disagree more. It still has more heart, character and sass than BBUS could ever even hope to achieve. Marcus' voice went from dullsville to AMPED and I find the cheekiness of "Preeeeeeviously" to be endearing. (My roomies and I often talk in his voice to be silly) Name tags flashing? Who cares?! Clouds in the titles? Really? It's something to complain about?!
I am so thrilled it's still on the air. The task of them all trying to hide from the twins last night just reaffirmed my deep love for this show. It's everything the American version isn't; someone had to have seen Davina and then subsequently Julie Chen to proclaim Julie as Chenbot, as Davina (and now Emma) puts the US presenter to complete and utter shame; it's full of character, you get to know the housemates as people rather than them being strategists forming alliances and playing a game within seconds of walking in the house; and Big Brother himself is why I love it so much more. He's a character all to himself, often taking the piss with irony on his side, whereas the US version BB is rarely even heard unless it's to tell someone to stop singing.
I find it hard to watch the US version now and I'm so thankful I found BBUK. It has been such a thrill to watch in such a short period of time, but what I take away from it is my deep affinity for British culture. I love the show and even more so British culture, that I'm planning a trip for next year.
It goes without saying it'll be in the summer and I hope to be a member of the braying crowd on eviction night and hope to join Emma on the set of BOTS.
Cheers!
(Emma is doing a bang up job, isn't she?!)

[Ramsay]

that was...beautiful
glad to see someone can still enjoy it for what it is instead of complaining over the smallest things

[Valdora]

Great post. Yeah, I did it the other way around. I do enjoy the US version but there is this aura of fakeness to it with the casting that puts me off. At least since 05.

[Scream]

You are cute. I like you.

[oopsimawesome]

Originally Posted by Valdora

Great post. Yeah, I did it the other way around. I do enjoy the US version but there is this aura of fakeness to it with the casting that puts me off. At least since 05.

I can still enjoy the US version but after watching the launch last night I decided I can't watch it in tandem with the UK version. So, I'll soldier on through this great cast we've got on UK, let the US episodes build up, and I'll watch the US once the UK has wrapped.
The UK version just seems far too organic to watch alongside a house full of schemers, liars and backstabbers, which is what we have in the US.

[iRyan]

I'm from the US too! I first learned about BBUK in 2006 before I had even ever payed attention to BBUS. I had an online friend from Liverpool who told me about this crazy girl named Nikki and watched endless YT videos with her in it, and ended up following the series. This was before BBUK got uploaded to YT, so I had to resort to clips and articles on the website to keep up - I never got to really watch full episodes except for an occasional few that were randomly uploaded. Anyway, because of this I ended up getting into BBUS (which was airing BB7 All Stars) at the time. It wasn't until BB8 (US) that I got fully engrossed and became a big fan, buying the feeds and everything. By this point I guess I had just forgotten about BBUK or wasn't interested in watching a whole series because it seemed too long to me.

However, in 2009 I decided to watch BB7 UK in it's entirety on YouTube. And that's when I became hooked. It was the summer of 2009 when BB10 was airing but I was too involved in BB7 to start BB10 as well. And I had originally planned to just watch BB7 because of Nikki. But I ended up falling in love with the show, so from there I watched BB9, then BB10, then BB8, then BB5, then BB6 all in the span of a few months. And BB11 was the first series I watched live in full, and obviously I was gutted because I thought it was the last. Then it as announced obviously that C5 took over and I was beyond thrilled.

I too don't understand why people complain about the littlest things in the show. I, for one, am just happy BBUK is still on air.

[daniel-lewis-1985]

We all love the show and im glad you watched all the way from BB1 That's dedication but we have no live feed and you do which will make my entire conversing sessions with you filled with bitter jealousy

[Withano]

I like u 2

[daniel-lewis-1985]

Originally Posted by iRyan

I'm from the US too! I first learned about BBUK in 2006 before I had even ever payed attention to BBUS. I had an online friend from Liverpool who told me about this crazy girl named Nikki and watched endless YT videos with her in it, and ended up following the series. This was before BBUK got uploaded to YT, so I had to resort to clips and articles on the website to keep up - I never got to really watch full episodes except for an occasional few that were randomly uploaded. Anyway, because of this I ended up getting into BBUS (which was airing BB7 All Stars) at the time. It wasn't until BB8 (US) that I got fully engrossed and became a big fan, buying the feeds and everything. By this point I guess I had just forgotten about BBUK or wasn't interested in watching a whole series because it seemed too long to me.

However, in 2009 I decided to watch BB7 UK in it's entirety on YouTube. And that's when I became hooked. It was the summer of 2009 when BB10 was airing but I was too involved in BB7 to start BB10 as well. And I had originally planned to just watch BB7 because of Nikki. But I ended up falling in love with the show, so from there I watched BB9, then BB10, then BB8, then BB5, then BB6 all in the span of a few months. And BB11 was the first series I watched live in full, and obviously I was gutted because I thought it was the last. Then it as announced obviously that C5 took over and I was beyond thrilled.

I too don't understand why people complain about the littlest things in the show. I, for one, am just happy BBUK is still on air.

You seriously need to watch BB3.

It was massive.

[Gillian-73]

What a lovely post! Nice to read