Big Brother’s new duty of care protocols have been revealed.
AJ Odudu and Will Best will host the highly anticipated reboot series, which will air on ITV2 and ITVX.
It was recently announced that the show will kick off on Sunday, October 8 at 9pm.
Prior to the filming of Big Brother, all housemates will have undergone psychological and medical assessments – including assessments by an independent doctor, mental health professionals and information reports from each housemates’s GP.
A spokesperson for ITV said: “Registered and experienced mental health professionals are engaged throughout the whole series, to assess and support Housemates.”
“An experienced Big Brother welfare team is solely dedicated to the welfare of the Housemates before, during and after the show.”
“The welfare of everyone involved in the making of the programme is of paramount importance and welfare protocols have been carefully considered to deliver robust assessment of suitability to participate, informed consent and support throughout the casting and filming process and beyond.”
Housemates were required to disclose any medical history or other information that would be relevant to their participation in the show.
Their family and friends will be asked not to post any content on their social media accounts for the duration of their time in the Big Brother house.
ITV has said that housemates have received information about the Big Brother experience – including both the possible positive and negative implications.
Contestants also underwent a series of background checks – including checks of their social media by an independent specialised service.
Big Brother’s welfare team and other members of the editorial and production team have received training in mental health first aid and “respect and inclusion”.
ITV said the team has set out the show’s expectation for appropriate behaviour and language, while also laying out the housemate rules.
Mental health professionals are available to housemates for ongoing support throughout their time in the house.
The Big Brother welfare team also support friends and family with regular contact and updates.
Bespoke training on dealing with social media and the press will be given to contestants once they leave the house.
A mandatory session with mental health professional immediately after a Housemate leaves the House will also be provided.
Further support sessions will be provided specific to a housemate’s individual needs and support will remain in place until mental health professionals have agreed an end date for each individual housemate.
Ongoing contact by the head of welfare for a period of 14 months after the series has ended, with additional help provided where needed will also be on offer.
Head of Welfare for Banijay UK, Kym Langer said: “The welfare of everyone involved in the making of Big Brother is of paramount importance to us and the welfare protocols for Housemates delivers robust assessment of suitability to participate, informed consent and support throughout the casting and filming process and beyond.”
“The protocols in place for the 2023 series have been carefully considered bringing together the experience of ITV’s compliance and Duty of Care team together with the independent mental health professionals we have engaged and our own in-house production, editorial, casting and support teams.”
Dr Paul Litchfield, a Chief Medical Officer who independently reviews ITV’s duty of care protocols, added: “The measures applied to safeguard the mental health of contributors to reality TV shows have evolved considerably over the past five years.”
“ITV has worked with the team at Banijay to share expertise and to ensure that current best practice is applied for the 2023 series of Big Brother.”
