When Big Brother Canada earlier this year stated that it was getting rid of its live feeds to something called the Digital dailies where fans could not watch Houseguests do anything in real time, this worried fans of the U.S. version of Big Brother.
Despite some concerns that the American version of Big Brother would follow suit, especially in light of some of the heated comments and actions that have quickly gone viral on social media after being filmed on the cameras, the CBS show is keeping its feeds for the next season 25.
However, when Entertainment Weekly interviewed four-time Big Brother veteran Janelle Pierzina and season 24 winner Taylor Hale, they both became extremely emotional when talking about the significance of live feeds on the program.
EW: Big Brother Canada recently got rid of their live feeds…You all have been on both sides of that, having cameras broadcast every second of your lives, and also having the opportunity as fans to watch unfiltered real-time coverage. So what do you make of that decision and whether the U.S. version should keep their live feeds up and running? Taylor, you had a big reaction, so we’ll let you go first.
Taylor: It’s no secret I was recruited for a handful of reality shows and Big Brother was among that list. Big Brother was the most enticing to me because of the live feeds. They felt like the ultimate safety net for me. Everything happens in real time. And so if I do something bad, I do something bad, and I have an opportunity to own it and apologize if necessary.
Or if something’s being manipulated, you can’t manipulate the live feeds. Other shows can completely change your character and you can have a reputation that you can’t solve coming out of the house. And that’s what I love about Big Brother. And ultimately, they were my safety net going into the house.
I can’t imagine… [starts to tear up]. I get a little emotional thinking about this. I can’t imagine what the perception of me would’ve been had I left the house within the first three weeks. I think it’s very easy to say, “There’s no way that an entire house bullied Taylor,” or “There’s no way that Taylor didn’t do something that deserved the treatment that she had.” But the live feeds proved over and over that I wasn’t doing anything to earn the hatred that I was getting.
So I’m a big, big proponent of live feeds. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: Sunlight is the best disinfectant. And to me, the live feeds are the sun.
EW: Janelle, what about you? What’s your take?
Janelle: So, I can understand from a business aspect why they don’t have the feeds, absolutely, in a corporate decision because they’re dealing with some things. I mean, it’s just crazy how the fans are, and what they deal with on a daily basis is absolutely bananas. I can tell from a business standpoint why they do not have feeds and why other shows also do not have feeds because they don’t want to deal with all of that. As far as me, I’m very much like Taylor. I wouldn’t want to be edited into something that I’m not either. And I want to have the fans see the real me and see what’s really being said about me, and what I’m saying. I think all of that’s incredibly important. So I see both sides of it.
According to this interview from Entertainment Weekly, with the former houseguests what are your thoughts on the “live feeds”?
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