Finalists for this year’s Big Brother are being asked to provide producers with full access to their Facebook profiles as part of the show selection process.
In an email sent to potential housemates last week, contestants were first told to lock down their profiles to private:
You will need to set your Facebook onto full PRIVATE (friends only). This is mandatory. If you are having trouble please email [email protected] or call 02 9202 8593.
However in a following paragraph the contestants are then told they must send a friend request to the ‘Little Sis’ Facebook account (a personal profile rather than a fan page). Little Sis was used during the housemate hunt tour to post bland ‘insider goss’, but soon became an obvious monitoring tool for the housemate selection panel. Since the housemate hunt the Little Sis profile has been locked down.
Once your profile is set on private your (sic) must request LITTLE SIS as a friend on Facebook. Please be careful of fake pages and only friend request the correct one. This is mandatory.
The Little Sis profile can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/LittleSisterAU
Once friended the show producers, through the Little Sis account, can then view all of the contestant’s private information and activity on Facebook.
It is also speculated the requirement of having a Facebook account to get to the final stages of the audition process means the production crew are sticking with the generic 18-25 age bracket seen in previous seasons.
The producers are also not shy about dictating their total authority over contestant applications:
Many people have already been disqualified for breaching their confidentiality agreement. We have no problem removing you from the shortlist if this happens. The Audition Release and Confidentiality Undertaking you signed on your Housemate Hunt Registration Form is still binding. This also covers ANY discussion of the Big Brother audition process on social media sites, forums, websites or any other outlet and/or person.
Did you get through to the final stages of the audition process? Lets us know what you experienced – we’ll keep you completely anonymous.