It is Day 41 in the Big Brother house, and only a handful of housemates remain.
After some dramatic moments, shock evictions, and one of the biggest mix ups on reality TV, one contestant is about to walk away with a huge cash prize.
One by one, castmates have been leaving the house and slowly returned to real life, but over the last six weeks, they’ve missed a lot.
Much like I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, contestants on the ITV programme have had no contact with their phones or the outside world, and only a few messages from their loved ones.
From a new President of the United States to the most shocking celebrity death of the year, here’s what’s happened that the Big Brother stars have no idea about.
Donald Trump wins US election (again)
One of the biggest global news stories of the year came a month into the Big Brother housemates’ stay, on Wednesday, November 6, when Donald Trump won the 2024 US election.
After an explosive Bonfire Night, around mid-morning in the UK, it was declared the Republican Party leader emerged victorious over Kamala Harris.
The Big Brother housemates not only missed her defeat, but the fallout with celebrities reacting, from Billie Eilish tearing up on stage to Cardi B saying she was ‘f**king sad and really f**king annoyed’.
It might be a bit of a shock for the Big Brother stars to walk out to, but looks like we’ll all have to settle in for four more years of his unpredictable presidency.
Liam Payne dies aged 31
One Direction fans are still in mourning over the tragic death of Liam Payne, who died aged 31 on October 16 after he fell from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires.
His former bandmates and X Factor stars including Simon Cowell have paid tribute, while Britain’s Got Talent temporarily paused auditions.
The news has been the most shocking celebrity death story of the year, with fans and friensd still devastated, and several tributes and vigils around the world being paid.
The star’s body arrived back in the UK last week as funeral preparations get underway.
Coleen Rooney is heading into the I’m A Celebrity jungle
As ITV shuts its doors to the Big Brother house, reality TV fans are gearing up for another huge show starting in just a few days: I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
After months of rumours and speculation over who could be heading into the jungle, the official line-up was confirmed this week.
Wagatha Christie star Coleen Rooney will be facing Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly’s grim bushtucker trials, alongside Oti Mabuse, Alan Halsall, Danny Jones, Dean McCullough and GK Barry.
Tulisa Contostavlos, Melvin Odoom, Barry McGuigan and Jane Moore complete the 2024 cast.
Several of the stars have already been spotted landing in Brisbane, Australia, while a rumoured few latecomers are expected to be jetting off in the next few days.
Changes in UK politics leaving Jeremy Clarkson fuming
Over on this side of the pond, we’ve had some major political changes.
Kemi Badenoch was announced as the new leader of the Conservative Party, replacing Rishi Sunak, while Rachel Reeves delivered the Autumn budget.
And it left the likes of Jeremy Clarkson fuming as the Labour Chancellor announced a move to apply inheritance tax to family farms, leaving the Clarkson’s Farm star raging over the and worrying the move would ‘be the last straw for farmers who are already struggling to cope’.
Other key takeaways from the budget included stamp duty on second homes, scrapping the VAT exemption on private school fees, an increase on the national living wage and a levy on vapes.
Comedian Janey Godley dies aged 63
Another tragic celebrity death the Big Brother finalists won’t have any idea about is that of Janey Godley.
The Scottish comedian – who found fame from her infamous Trump poster and parodies of Nicola Sturgeon’s Coronavirus news briefings during the pandemic – was receiving end of life care after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2021.
The BBC star has been remembered be fans for her outspoken comedy, her allyship to trans communities, and her courage, especially in the last months of her life.
Paying tribute, former first minister Sturgeon – whose predecessor Alex Salmond died just days earlier – wrote: ‘Janey Godley truly was a force of nature, and one of the funniest people I have ever known. I was able to visit her in the hospice a couple of weeks ago and though she was fragile, she still had me in stitches.’
Saoirse Ronan goes viral for shutting down Paul Mescal with a brutally honest comment
Saiorse Ronan went viral for all the right reasons after a brutally honest comment on the Graham Norton Show.
The actress silenced Eddie Redmayne, Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington during a story where Eddie was talking about learning self-defence for The Day of the Jackal and being told to use his phone as a weapon to jab into someone’s neck.
While the boys were laughing about it, Saoirse – the only woman on the stage – said: ‘That’s what girls have to think about all the time.’
The guests were stunned into silence, and Saoirse then spoke to the audience: ‘Am I right ladies?’ And was met with a round of applause.
She later spoke about how the reaction had been ‘wild’, saying: ‘It’s definitely not something that I had expected, and I didn’t necessarily set out to sort of make a splash. But I do think there’s something really telling about the society that we’re in right now and about how open women want to be with the men in their lives.’
All the lookalike contests – with one celebrity appearance and quite a few not-so-lookalikes
Somehow quite suddenly, X user’s feeds have been inundated with images from lookalike contests.
It first began with Wonka actor Timothée Chalamet making a surprise appearance at a New York contest, where hundreds of men were hoping to be crowned winner and branded identical to the Dune star.
Then, seven men with chains around their necks and short shorts attempted to convince us they looked like Normal People actor Paul Mescal.
Then fans moved on from actors to boybands – with a Harry Styles competition being held in London last weekend.
Though one winner was crowned, we’re not 100% sure any of them held the resemblance…
And it didn’t stop there. On Monday, a Dev Patel lookalike contest was also held in San Francisco, with hundreds of South Asian men turning up in the hopes of being branded the Slumdog Millionaire’s doppelganger.
Zoe Kravitz and Channing Tatum split
While romance was brewing in the Big Brother house between Nathan and Baked Potato, the same couldn’t be said for one of Hollywood’s biggest power couples.
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The day before Halloween, it was revealed Channing Tatum and Zoë Kravitz split after three years together.
Further details over the end of their relationship haven’t emerged, though the news of the Blink Twice actors parting ways came just eight weeks after Channing shared a sweet post about his fiancée on his social media saying ‘I got you forever’, with an image of Zoë asleep on his lap.
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Big Brother is available to watch on ITVX.
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