I know in the past production has said they receive around 5k-10k applications per cycle. How many of these do you think are actually quality / considered? Ie: someone who just sends in a tiktok dance or a terrible quality video would be automatically not considered
In the BB2-BB8 days they got up to 30,000 applicants. It was insanely competitive. If you ever wondered why those seasons were so good, that's part of the answer. They had a very long list of good people for the show.
I remember some interview with Robyn Kass where she stated its more like 18,000 submissions in the modern era.
As for quality of submission? A lot of them absolutely suck. However, if you are 9 or 10 in terms of looks and have some sort of personality, you'll likely get a call back. They do try to lock down a lot of good looking people FIRST and then try to find some oddball people to fill in the gaps.
So I should apply towards the end, got it….
I got to semis twice off of VHS submissions. Both times, I submitted two weeks before the deadline. However I was the prime age of what they were looking for: 26-27, single and in shape.
Good looking people are normally given a longer evaluation. But if you are zany and crazy they put you as a priority too.
How was the time line for you and for what seasons were you in the semi finals??
I was in semis for 8 and 9.
I submitted my tapes and they called a week later or maybe a week and half. It did not take long.
I absolutely hate pretty privilege 😭
And it’s absolutely subjective as well cause 90% of the people they cast are not attractive
Looks are fleeting and overrated.
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30K of people who weren't chasing social media influencer fame. Those submissions were probably easier to filter out versus social media awareness applications, because the former were probably more authentic.
A LOT of the people in the early days were going on Big Brother for Hollywood though. Many of them had agents who sent them applications for Big Brother, were recruited themselves, or wanted an easier way into acting. People went on there for fame back then, and still do so, so to say that people in the past were “more authentic” can’t really be measured.
I bet 99% of people who apply spend the entire video talking about what they'd play like as opposed to talking about who they are
I think a massive number of applicants sound like theyre rehearsing lines as opposed to being authentic, as well
Omg I think I just realized what I've done wrong I will take this and change my approach for S29 application
I'm guessing the number of applications they receive is much lower than we think it is - every year they talk about trying to find recruits, and some HGs talk about how they were headhunted specifically to be on the show that they knew nothing about before watching a few seasons in sequester.
I'm not sure you do that if you have a massive pool of applicants itching to get on the show.
Like the last 4-5 cast had half of the hg be recruits. I think they only pick the few standouts from applicants and go recruiting for people that might fit with what they have so far.
23 was most applicants tho. I think only Travis, DX and Whitney were recruits. The rest all had applied
I wonder how that split normally goes every season
Is not as bad as they make it to be here. My guess is around half and half. Also just because they are recruit doesnt mean they dont watch the show. Leah was a recruit but was fairly familiar with the show. You also have the cases of Taylor or Kat (BB21) where they actually try to inform themselves about the show too.
For 26 recruits were Matt, MJ, Cam, Leah, Rubina, Tucker and i thunk someone else?. For 24 i know that Taylor, Indy (duh) Pooch, Daniel, Allysa and Kyle were recruits. I think Nicole too?. Idk about 27.
Point is if they, on average, are filling the cast with at least half non-applicants, thats pretty telling
At the end of the day, its a TV show more than anything, and BB speciallly. Not all the people that apply are that interesting (and honestly, you can even see it when they are cast. BB23 was nice as a historic season but no one would watch another BB23) and also recruits help them give them more promotion. Plus, having people wuth 0 idea of how to play helps producers's favs advance. BB14 and BB19 are the best examples
Yeah i do agree with that.
I will say that if they are going so heavily with recruits though, part of the reason is bevause they just dont have tens upon tens of thousands of applications like some suggest they get every year.
I know not everyone is going to be interesting/ fascinating, but you would imagine that if they had that many applicants every year they wouldn't really have any issues filling up a house with 16-18 HGs every year - keeping in mind they occasionally bring old ones back AND bring alts & finalists from casting on previous years forward as well
Not sure, but I've heard that the applicant pool skews "old" (30+ maybe), which I believe, and male, which I'm more skeptical of since I think BB viewers are pretty even between genders, maybe slightly skewing female-dominated.
I can imagine fewer 30+ women applying than men, because it often means leaving your kids for up to three months, and men generally still do that more readily than women
This is exactly why I’m not currently applying lol. I can’t leave my one year old for a few months, I will miss so much in that time! He will literally be an entirely new toddler by then.
Makes sense that it skew older. I imagine most of the audience is 30+. How's a young'un going to find out about the game and be interested enough to apply?
Interesting , what % do you think are 20s?
I'd assume way more female viewers than male.
I’ve tried to research audition vids as best as I could….and as far as the ones who violated the rules and posted them publicly, I’ve not seen a single good one.
I really think your odds applying aren’t as slim as you’d think. I mean….they wouldn’t have to put in so much effort to recruit if they just had good applicants. I’m not anti-recruit in the slightest because frankly, I think you gotta be built a lil different to be able to stomach an experience like BB
I went to an open casting and let me tell ya
Not a lot.
Dammm that seems like it's very easy to get on the show
That probably makes it worse imo. Like the trade off is that they're recruiting more and more from social media and that gets us a house full of pseudo famous people with no personality and not a drop of hard ship in their lives
I genuinely don’t understand, with how many applications they must receive, how they end up with flat players like Rylie, Katherine, and Lauren. Surely they’re getting better apps, right??
There is such a lack of personalities.
They go for all the stereotypes and 'good looking' people.
When I look back at one of my favourite season (season 10) the personalities, especially the woman in the house were so full of fire, it was amazing entertainment.
Now it's all about influencers.
The closest we got recently was Angela.
Wow seriously that number seems small,I thought everyone in America wanted to be on big brother,big brother was literally a dream of mine
I've done a lot of research. Thinking back to Dan Geeslings book and the hours of videos I've watched, they might watch 25 videos and find one person to call back. I've heard that callbacks range from 500-800 people (this could be super inaccurate now, I'd guess less) and finals get narrowed down to like 30-60. I'm gonna assume a lot of application vids are flops, but even if you make a good one u might not hear a call back for a long time. If you want someone to look over ur audition vid I can!