What Big Brother Viewers Don't See About The House Contestants Live In

Summary

• The Big Brother house needed to be designed in a special way that allows for complete surveillance throughout.
• Contestants have no say in utilities used during their time in the Big Brother house.
• Big Brother's set has evolved over seasons, becoming more elaborate and less home-like, with new challenges and themes.

Big Brother is a reality competition show that follows a group of people living together in a house with 94 cameras and 113 microphones, recording their every move 24 hours a day. However, there's still a lot that viewers don't see about this "house" Big Brother houseguests live in during their time on the reality show.

Big Brother fans know a lot about how the game is played and how the houseguests are expected to behave, but details about the actual Big Brother house are less known... probably because production doesn't want these behind-the-scenes secrets to ruin the illusion of the Big Brother game.

As with twists throughout the Big Brother series, fans should "expect the unexpected" while we uncover the details behind the Big Brother house.

In the following, we explore behind-the-scenes details about the U.S. Big Brother house, including why it always seems so cold inside the Big Brother house and if there are really cameras everywhere.

The Big Brother House Is Not Actually A House

While the Big Brother house appears to be a real house, with a real backyard... it's not. The Big Brother house is actually a studio located within Stage 18 inside the Radford Studio Center, formerly known as the CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles, California. The soundstage / studio has a built-in backyard to provide Big Brother houseguests with some fresh air.

The front of the "house" where houseguests enter the Big Brother house for the first time and where they come out after being evicted, is just a large theater stage where a live audience can sit. This is how Big Brother host Julie Chen Moonves is able to do her eviction interviews.

The Big Brother production staff can be found right outside the "house." This is where they review footage, restock the pantry, conduct diary room interviews and build those backyard sets for competitions.

While the Big Brother set may look like a real house to viewers, it does not feel that way for contestants. Season four's Erika Landin shared with HuffPost, "It doesn't really feel like a house. It actually feels you're living on a set."

"The whole ceiling is television lights."

The Big Brother house set has nearly 100 cameras and over 100 microphones spread all throughout the house. In addition, there are speakers laid out in the house that allow production to speak to houseguests and play loud music over the system to wake up the houseguests. This kind of surveillance would be more difficult to achieve if the Big Brother house was a real neighborhood house.

Contrary to popular belief, there is actually a small fixed camera in the bathroom's toilet area too. The purpose of this camera, according to Big Brother producers, is to monitor the room, so contestants can't conspire in private. Footage from this area has only been aired one time, and that was in season 2, episode 9 when Shannon Shannon Dragoo decided to clean the toilet with fellow house guest, Hardy Ames-Hill's toothbrush.

Big Brother Houseguests Have No Control Over Utilities Inside The House (Including Temperature And Water Use!)

Have you ever watched an episode of Big Brother in the summer, knowing they are located in Southern California and knowing it's at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit at the time, and wondered why they're wearing sweatshirts and wrapped up in blankets?

Well, Big Brother houseguests have no control over their comfort inside the house, including the heating, cooling, or even the water. In fact, part of the Big Brother contract that houseguests must sign states that production has complete control over power and utilities and can even ration water usage. So, contestants do not get to take extra long showers or decide what temperature to set on the thermostat.

It is not clear what the reasoning behind this control may be - whether it's California's drought or extreme weather temperatures or if it's just another mind game against houseguests - it is overall a beneficial rule for Big Brother houseguests. There is a chance houseguests could begin fighting over the temperature in the home if it were up to them to set it.

Big Brother Rebuilt The Entire House After Season 5

The house viewers see in current Big Brother seasons is not the original house from the very first seasons of Big Brother. The Big Brother house was rebuilt after season 5. The original Big Brother house was much smaller; it was a basic one-story house with two bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, and one bathroom. This version of the Big Brother house even had windows overlooking the backyard.

In season 2 of Big Brother, the Head of Household was introduced to the game and rather than the lavish bedroom upstairs that viewers are used to seeing nowadays, the original HOH room was not as luxurious and was set downstairs next to the Diary Room.

The current Big Brother house was first introduced in season 6 and has been used ever since, although with obvious set design changes made from season to season. This was also the first year Big Brother "Themes" were introduced to the house designs, with the first being "House of Secrets."

The new Big Brother house was built to be a two-story living space and came with some new features and perks for houseguests, specifically the HOH who now had access to cameras from their upstairs room. There are no longer any windows in the Big Brother house, though, with only the patio door overlooking the backyard. This area is also closed off while production staff prepare for challenges and/or special events.

The original Big Brother house was built to look and feel more like an actual home. As set designs and themes became more and more extravagant with each new season, hitting an ultimate peak with Big Brother season 25's "Big Brother Multiverse," the Big Brother house feels less and less like a real home and more like an over-produced set. The competitions in Big Brother's recent seasons have also become more production-based with over-the-top sets and effects. In Big Brother season 25, houseguests were even "transferred" to a whole different neighborhood set for specific multiverse competitions.

Although the Big Brother "house" is a studio located on a sound stage, outside lurkers still find a way to contact houseguests. During season 10, a "fan" flew a banner in the sky over the Big Brother backyard and in other seasons, fans have attempted to yell over the wall. When instances like these happen, houseguests are instructed to return inside right away. Big Brother has since attempted to "beef up" the security to prevent these outside influences from impacting the game.