Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) is a Philippine television reality competition show produced by ABS-CBN Studios and based on the Dutch reality television franchise Big Brother. The series is owned and produced by ABS-CBN, which holds the exclusive Philippine franchise rights to the format.
The program originally aired on ABS-CBN from August 21, 2005, to August 4, 2019, with Willie Revillame, Toni Gonzaga, and Mariel Rodriguez as its first hosts. Following ABS-CBN’s broadcast shutdown in 2020, the show returned via Kapamilya Channel and Kapamilya Online Live on December 6, 2020, as part of its Primetime Bida and Yes Weekend lineup. It later expanded its reach through blocktime and content distribution arrangements, airing on TV5 and, beginning March 9, 2025, on GMA Network under ABS-CBN’s programming partnership.
The series is currently broadcast on GMA Network for free television viewers in the Philippines and is simultaneously streamed on Kapamilya Online Live and Kapuso Stream for online audiences. Internationally, it aired via The Filipino Channel and GMA Pinoy TV.
Despite being shown across multiple networks, Pinoy Big Brother remains an ABS-CBN intellectual property and continues to be produced by ABS-CBN Studios. Its latest season is co-produced with GMA Network, marking the first joint reality show collaboration between the two networks. The show stands as the longest-running reality television series in the Philippines, having aired 11 main seasons, 4 celebrity editions, and 4 teen editions over the past two decades. The latest season is hosted by Bianca Gonzalez, Luis Manzano, Robi Domingo, Kim Chiu, Melai Cantiveros, Enchong Dee, Alexa Ilacad, Gabbi Garcia, and Mavy Legaspi.
Contents
Overview
Format
It follows the same premise as its many foreign counterparts around the world wherein a number of Filipinos volunteered to live inside a house for a certain number of days.
The elimination process in the show is the reverse of the original Dutch format. At the start of the elimination process, the "housemates" (as the contestants are referred to) vote for which two (sometimes more if there are ties or if Big Brother hands out an automatic nomination) fellow housemates they should eliminate. Once these nominations are chosen, the viewer votes come into play. For a week, viewers are asked to vote, via SMS or voice messaging through PLDT's hotline (later abolished in favor of vote cards), or online, for whoever they wanted to stay longer in the house (using the vote-to-save format). In some cases, the Vote-to-Evict format is used, with the housemate garnering the most percentage of evict votes from the public is evicted from the house, or a combination of the two (Save-Evict) may be implemented. The housemate with the fewest viewer votes (or highest for vote-to-evict) is eliminated. At the final week, the one with the most viewer votes (using the vote-to-win voting format) will win the grand prize package. It usually includes house and lot, a car, a business franchise, home appliances, and a holiday, and is given the title of Big Winner.
Aside from the regular seasons involving civilian adults, the show has also aired three other special versions:
Celebrity editions: Commercial models, actors and actresses, radio and TV show hosts, musicians, sports and fashion personalities, and even politicians volunteer to reside in the house for a certain number of days, and the duration of this particular version of the show is lesser compared to the regular seasons. Celebrity housemates, like many counterparts abroad, play for charity, aside from themselves. Prizes given away from edition to edition can vary, but basically, the cash prize an edition's winner can receive is the same as the prize for that winner's chosen charity organization, i.e. the winner and his/her charity each win the same amount.
Teen editions: Adolescents aged 13 to 19 years old from different cities in the Philippines and sometimes even from certain overseas countries with sizable Filipino communities reside in the house. Other factors are disregarded; in-school and out-of-school youths, natural-born Filipinos and adolescents with a mixture of Filipino and foreign blood, those with intact and broken families, and even teenage single parents may be eligible as long one passes the age requirement and has a background worth exploring during the edition's run. This edition is usually done in the Philippine "summer" months of late March to early June. During this time, temperatures in the country are at their highest and most students are out of school; a regular school year in the Philippines runs from June of one year to March of the next.
The House
The location of the Pinoy Big Brother House used to occupy an old house; it was demolished in order to give way for the show. The house was built within 79 days in 2005 and was built by 50 men round-the-clock. The house is actually a large, fully air-conditioned studio with a facade made to look like an ideal middle-class house. It is located just in front of the ELJ Communications Center in Eugenio Lopez Jr. Drive, Diliman, Quezon City. The leftmost part of the facade was designed for another reality show franchise called Pinoy Dream Academy until 2011 when it was entirely removed in favor of Big Brother. The interior of the studio is designed to look like a real house with themes and interior design changing for every season of the show. The studio is also designed to capture every "housemate's" activities with state-of-the-art surveillance cameras and microphones. The house is surrounded by walls with two-way mirrors to allow cameramen to directly shoot from behind of the mirrors. The studio has backlots that are utilized for several purposes depending on the season's theme. Currently, the backlots are utilized as an activity area, swimming pool area, and multi-purpose hall. Previously, it was also used for a garden, a resort, a concert hall for Pinoy Dream Academy, an eviction hall, and even a slum. The multi-purpose hall, in particular, is used by the ABS-CBN Foundation as a relief goods storage facility during calamities. The house's set-up is that of a bungalow, even though the facade is obviously designed as a two-storey house. The second floor houses a state-of-the-art master control room and several amenities designed for the program's crew. Although any form of communication from the outside world is banned inside the house, there is a large flat-screen television set in the living room, used for only 2 purposes:
To show any video Big Brother wanted to show to any or all housemates, especially that of the TV Mass every Sunday (contrary to reports early in the first season that a priest would visit them; later on, a priest unseen by viewers would visit them), and
To announce the names of nominees for eviction directly to the housemates and the person evicted from the house. The housemates saw hosts talk to them during the nomination and eviction nights.
To complete the setup, 26 surveillance cameras are positioned all over the house to watch the housemates' every move, including the bathroom. For modesty's sake, images from the bathroom will be shown if the bathroom is used for any purpose other than bathing and using the toilet.
Primers
To prepare the viewers for the program's run, two primers were aired. The first was Eto na si Kuya! (Here Comes Big Brother), which talked about the essentials of the franchise and its success around the world. In the second primer, entitled Ang Bahay ni Kuya (Big Brother's House), Mariel and Toni indirectly gave the viewers a tour of the Big Brother house and its rooms, along with the control center and the confession booth. It also featured highlights a dry run where 12 of the network's talents stayed in the house for 24 hours and experienced the challenges and tests the housemates would experience at the start of the actual run.
Theme songs
Pinoy Ako
The show had its theme song called "Pinoy Ako" (English: I'm a Filipino) composed by Jonathan Manalo and Clem Castro, and performed by Orange and Lemons, in the album Strike Whilst The Iron Is Hot, which became the basis for much of the background music used in the show. Numerous versions of the theme song were used, including those of rock band Cebalo for Season 2, Toni Gonzaga for Unlimited, rock band Reo Brothers for All In, a rendition from OPM veteran Rico Blanco now entitled "Pinoy Tayo" (English: We are Filipino) for Kumunity Season 10's adult and Biga-10 batches, and a remixed version of the Orange and Lemons original for Gen 11.
Sikat ang Pinoy
"Sikat ang Pinoy" (English: Filipinos are Famous), composed by Jonathan Manalo, and performed by Toni Gonzaga and Season 1 ex-housemate Sam Milby, was mainly used for its celebrity editions. Another rendition of the song was sung by Pinoy Dream Academy winner Yeng Constantino and finalist Emman Abatayo, which was used during the run of the Celebrity Edition 2. A third rendition of the song by OPM band Agsunta with rap lyrics provided by Pinoy rapper Kritiko was introduced for Kumunity Season 10. The latest rendition was performed by Darren Espanto and Julie Anne San Jose for the Celebrity Collab Edition.
Kabataang Pinoy
"Kabataang Pinoy" (English: Filipino Teens), composed by Jonathan Manalo and Jazz Nicolas, and performed by the Itchyworms, was mainly used for teen editions since 2006. Another rendition was performed by Pinoy collective Nameless Kids, introduced in November 2021 for Kumunity Season 10, followed by a third version by a collaboration of P-pop groups Bini and SB19 in March 2022 and eventually became the season's teen edition theme song. The latest rendition was performed by P-pop groups BGYO and Cloud 7 that became the theme song of Celebrity Collab Edition 2.0, which featured teen celebrity housemates—the first and only standalone celebrity edition to do so.
Other theme songs
A new theme song was introduced in Otso entitled "Otso Na" (English: Otso Now), performed by Toni Gonzaga and Alex Gonzaga; worth noting is that the song includes a medley and the chorus of "Pinoy Ako". Composed in the same manner as "Otso Na", a new theme song written and performed by Otso ex-housemates Jem Macatuno, Shawntel Cruz, Lie Resposposa and Kiara Takahashi called "Connected Na Tayo" (English: We are Connected) was used for Connect.
Hosts
Originally, television personality and comedian Willie Revillame was the main eviction host of the show, along with young up-and-coming personalities Mariel Rodriguez and Toni Gonzaga. Gonzaga hosted the primetime telecast which chronicles the events of the day before (unless an episode is telecast live). Rodriguez, on the other hand, hosted the late night edition called Pinoy Big Brother: Uplate, which updates anything viewers missed in the primetime telecast, as well as what to look forward in the next one. Revillame hosted the live telecast of the eviction and the public revelation of the nomination for evictees, but only for the first season. He left the program after the inaugural season due to the ULTRA stampede.
Luis Manzano took over Revillame's place for the Celebrity Edition 1 and later returned in Teen Edition Plus in 2008.
In Teen Edition 1, TV host and Celebrity Edition 1 ex-housemate Bianca Gonzalez took over Rodriguez for Teen Edition: Update, and PBB: Uplate as the latter became primetime host, whilst Gonzaga only hosted the Big Night prior to other commitments.
Rodriguez left the show in 2010 prior to her transfer to TV5 and was replaced by former teen housemate and Teen Edition Plus runner-up Robi Domingo as co-presenter from Unlimited onwards.
Originally, Martin Concio, son of ABS-CBN president, CEO and COO Charo Santos-Concio, was slated to join the hosting lineup but later backed out. Later, former celebrity housemate and Celebrity Edition 1 runner-up John Prats joined Gonzaga, Gonzalez, and Domingo as hosts for Teen Edition 4.
In All In, Slater Young was introduced as one of the hosts, but was later moved to host that season's new online show, with Teen Edition 4's Joj and Jai Agpangan. He was then replaced by Toni's sister Alex Gonzaga, who only hosted the first night of the season (due to her surprise inclusion as a housemate and later houseguest). Once her time as houseguest came to an end, she continued to host PBB for its Uber show only.
In 737, Enchong Dee was introduced as a new host; however, as part of the tradition of the program, he had to stay in the House first and experience how the housemates are experiencing their stay inside the House. He later was allowed to exit the house; afterwards, he returned to his hosting stint as the show's hourly updater. On the other hand, Mariel Rodriguez returned to the show after five years to play as the last celebrity houseguest and later host the Big Nights marking her significant return as host, similar to that of what happened to Gonzaga in Teen Edition 1 Big Night.
Other hosts
Asia Agcaoili spearheaded the show for the viewers of Studio 23. Her show, called Pinoy Big Brother on Studio 23: Si Kuya, KaBarkada Mo (English: Pinoy Big Brother on Studio 23: Your Big Brother, Your Buddy), not only featured snippets from the primetime telecast the night before, but also featured opinion polls both from the man on the street and those sending SMS, spoof segments, unaired videos, and feed from inside the house (either live feed or footage taped earlier). Studio 23 has stopped the practice since the second Celebrity Edition and instead resorted to airing the delayed late morning/early afternoon feeds.
Talk show host Boy Abunda hosted the post-season documentaries, was often invited to conduct interviews, and appeared on the Big Night to which he last appeared in Otso. It featured issues and controversies about the housemates.
Series overview
The show has spawned eleven regular (or main) seasons, four celebrity seasons (including current), and four teen seasons since it began airing on 21 August 2005. In the entire 2,389 aggregate days of filming (including those days where the show did not air for any reason, such as the observance of the Holy Week and Election Day), 450 housemates entered the house, 22 of whom were crowned Big Winners. The most recent winners are Caprice Cayetano and Lella Ford from Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Collab Edition 2.0.
Legend
Notes
Other shows
Companion shows
The reality television show has, in total, three companion shows to date. The first one was Pinoy Big Brother UpLate, a late-night program of the reality show, and has been one of the most successful companion shows in the entire history of the franchise and it was replaced by Games Uplate Live. It was primarily hosted by Mariel Rodriguez, while Bianca Gonzalez took over the program once the first Teen Edition started, as the former became primetime host. This was aired as the final program of ABS-CBN from late at night to early morning, Monday to Friday, after the News & Public Affairs programs and before sign-off; and shows some updates, live feeds, and interviews. During the second regular season, the show was replaced by a late afternoon show called Pinoy Big Brother Über. The show would make its return in Pinoy Big Brother: Double Up under the name Pinoy Big Brother: Double UpLate with Bianca Gonzalez as host. After Pinoy Big Brother: Double Up, the show was not revived and was eventually replaced by Über.
The Pinoy Big Brother Über was also hosted by Mariel Rodriguez; and often Bianca Gonzalez, this is also the show's interactive portion wherein viewers can participate. The show was originally created as a replacement for UpLate as the show's main offshoot; the two programs would later become the show's co-main offshoots in third regular season. Über did not return for the Pinoy Big Brother: Unlimited season because of Mariel's departure from the show, and the new "UnliDay" edition of the show airing counterpart with its normal "UnliNight" edition. Über returned for the fourth teen season as Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Edition 4 Über 2012 onward with Bianca Gonzalez, Robi Domingo and John Prats. Also in the same Teen season, the show aired on Saturdays, known as SabadUber.
In every season of the local franchise, a short segment update show is aired every day from Mondays to Fridays. The show is called Pinoy Big Brother Update. The show provided daily happenings in the Big Brother house and introduces what will be shown in the primetime telecast. Mariel Rodriguez used to be the main Update host for the first season up to the first teen season. With the exception of second celebrity season to which Beatriz Saw was seen as the Update host, Bianca Gonzalez has been the Update host, replacing Mariel Rodriguez. Robi Domingo served as a guest host for one week during Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Clash 2010 as Bianca Gonzalez was then unavailable.
At this time, Pinoy Big Brother: 737 had an improved version as 737 Gold. On Lucky 7, 737 Gold was replaced by "PBB Vietnam: Mga Kwento ng Celebrity Housemates" during the celebrity housemates' stay in Vietnam, "PBB: Mga Kwento ng Teen Housemates" during the duration of the teens' entry, and lastly, it was replaced by "PBB: Mga Kwento ng mga Housemates ni Kuya" during the regular's entry in the house.
Game shows
Due to the show's popularity, a game show segment was launched by the network and was called Pinoy Big Brother: Yes or No. It was one which uses the board game format and uses questions related to the show as well as ABS-CBN's other primetime soap operas. The show was hosted by Mariel Rodriguez and it promised to give a daily studio contestant up to twenty-five thousand pesos. After a week as a segment of the show, it became a separate early afternoon game show on October 24, 2005. This show was terminated after the first season ended.
Another popular game show segment was launched during the first season of Pinoy Big Brother and was called What's the Word? That's the Word!. It was a raffle show hosted by Mariel Rodriguez and aired during commercial breaks at primetime telecast. At first, it started as a trivia game show for Pinoy Big Brother, and then later, it was extended as a trivia game show for the whole Primetime block. The show continued even after Pinoy Big Brother's first-year run ended. It later returned as the promotion What's the Word? Guess the Word! This time, however, the promotion is by Smart Communications and it is separate from Pinoy Big Brother.
Talk show
The popularity of the show and its former housemates spawned another show called Pinoy Big Brother Buzz, hosted by actress Anne Curtis, gossip reporter AJ Dee, and comedian Pokwang. Like its parent show The Buzz, the show tackles events and goings-on inside the house, the controversy surrounding the show, and the latest gossip about the housemates who were already evicted. The show was cancelled during the run of the Celebrity Edition to make way for the romantic anthology Your Song.
Online shows
In the first special season, a late-night online show called Pinoy Big Brother Uplate Online was introduced. It was hosted by Slater Young, and Joj and Jai Agpangan. In the second special season, Pinoy Big Brother: 737 Online was introduced. It was hosted by Robi Domingo and Bianca Gonzalez and unlike the previous season, it occurred every 7:37 pm.
Spin-off shows
After the first regular season, a spin-off drama adventure series featuring the former housemates was aired for two weeks after Christmas and was called The Final Task. Another spin-off was the romantic reality show, called Melason in Love, was aired after the end of Pinoy Big Brother: Double Up. It was the first reality spin-off show of the franchise. The show focused to Melai Cantiveros and Jason Francisco's love story which initially developed during the middle of the season. It features behind the scenes footage after the PBB Big Night, few of guesting programs in all ABS-CBN shows, and the struggles of the couple after the end of the season.
A spin-off program called PBB: Gen 11 Big 4Ever premiered on December 9, 2024, and ended on January 24, 2025, as the Gen 11 housemates come back to Big Brother's house and revisit some of their iconic moments during their stay.
Reunion specials
On June 4, 2006, a night after the finale of the Teen Edition, a live musical special called Pinoy Big Brother: the Big Reunion was held at the Aliw Theater in the CCP Grounds, Manila, with all the housemates for the first season, the Celebrity Edition, and the Teen Edition gathered in one spot. The show showcased and celebrated the success of the show, especially its greatest moments and accomplishments. This was done to cap off the show's first year on the air.
Two succeeding Big Reunions were held. The first was on June 9, 2008, wherein the housemates of the second Teen Edition, special housemates, and their Guardians took part. The second was on February 14, 2010, this time involving the Double Up housemates. Unlike the first Big Reunion, the gatherings only involved the housemates of each of the two seasons mentioned.
On June 27, 2010, another reunion special called High Five: The Big Five Years of Pinoy Big Brother gathered the Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Clash 2010 Big Six together with several notable housemates from editions past, many from the final group of their season, celebrate the memorable moments from the less than five years of the franchise.
Reception
ABS-CBN Studio Experience
In September 2018, ABS-CBN launched "ABS-CBN Studio Experience," an indoor theme park located in Trinoma, Quezon City. The said indoor theme park includes attractions that immerses its visitors to become a contestant, an actor, an audience or a production unit member of the network's different shows. One of the shows featured as an attraction in the theme park is Pinoy Big Brother where a visitor can experience to become a housemate and participate in various tasks to be given by Big Brother. The indoor theme park was closed in August 2020 due to ABS-CBN focusing more on their digital and cable businesses after its franchise was denied.
Controversies
Like other franchises around the world, the concept and implementation of Pinoy Big Brother has been the subject of numerous controversies as well as criticism from the Filipino public and news outlets. Both the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) and franchise holder Endemol have investigated incidents that occurred since the show's launch in 2005. The MTRCB, then headed by Consoliza Laguardia, questioned the show's content–in particular the risqué outfits worn by some of the housemates in the show's first season–and met with ABS-CBN executives where they discussed how “to make [the show] more wholesome” and thus palatable to conservative Filipino sensibilities; Series director Laurenti Dyogi was aware of the controversies generated by the British version of the franchise, and sought to tone down Pinoy Big Brother for Filipino audiences. The show also faced criticism over allegations of rigging and premediated scripting owing to how many of the series' winners went on to have notable careers in show business, to which Diogi vehemently denied.
The series theme song "Pinoy Ako" was also the subject of a plagiarism controversy, where it is alleged that the song's melody and musical arrangement was illicitly derived from the song "Chandeliers" by the 1980s English new wave band Care. In a 2021 interview, Clem Castro admitted that he did "subconsciously" apply the chord patterns to "Pinoy Ako" as they also covered songs from The Cure at the time, though he also maintained that the progression used for the song is widely used across genres such as blues and reggae.
Notable people
Several famous people auditioned for Pinoy Big Brother before they became well-known but did not make it to the final line-up including Vice Ganda, Nadine Lustre, Alden Richards, Maine Mendoza, Gabbi Garcia, Jerome Ponce, Ivana Alawi, Kris Bernal, RK Bagatsing, and Jackie Gonzaga.