The original run had the live feed culture where super fans would watch overnight and report back and it created a whole separate conversation around the show. The current version is entirely built around the edited episodes and the live evictions.
Big Suze, Johnson, Nancy, Dobby before she became more central, there are a lot of people who appeared in one or two episodes and then mostly vanished. Who do you think the show underused and what would more of them have added ?
Could be a street, a park, a local business or even just a quiet corner that never seems to get mentioned.
Going for the first time this year and have read everything I can find but feel like there is always stuff that only comes from actually doing it. Things like when to actually arrive, what to bring, whether the queue really moves as fast as people say once the gates open. What do people wish they had known before their first time queuing.
For me it's trying too hard to be liked by everyone in the first week. It usually ends up looking less genuine than just being yourself. What's the one mistake you notice almost every season?
For me it's the Argentine Tango. Even if it's not perfect, it usually ends up being one of the most memorable routines of the night.
I originally watched because Jeremy Clarkson was involved. A few episodes later I realised I was just as interested in Kaleb, Charlie, Gerald and everyone else on the farm. It's probably one of the few shows where the supporting cast ended up being just as important as the main presenter. Anyone else feel the same?
I love watching the programme, but every episode reminds me how much waiting around, uncertainty and long travel days there actually are. Part of me thinks I'd love it, and another part thinks I'd be exhausted by day three. Anyone else feel the same?
One thing I've noticed after watching a few series is that I catch myself paying a lot more attention to the way people communicate. Not even in relationships, just generally. Things like avoiding difficult conversations, talking over people or never taking responsibility seem much more obvious now.
The big confrontations get all the attention, but some of my favourite moments are the painfully awkward chats where nobody quite knows what to say. Those scenes somehow feel more memorable than the shouting matches.
Every now and then I'll randomly come across a BBC programme that's already a few episodes in and wonder why I'd never heard about it. Meanwhile other shows seem to be advertised everywhere for weeks.
The World Tonight, Midnight News, Money Box Live, AntiSocial, The Law Show and Crossing Continents all getting cancelled in one announcement is a lot to take in. This comes from a new director general who was only appointed in May after the previous one resigned over an editorial bias scandal so the timing feels particularly grim. The licence fee argument is going to get louder off the back of this. Do you think these cuts make it harder or easier to justify paying the licence fee at this point?
They arrived at the second checkpoint in last place, a massive 31 hours behind Katie and Harrison, and the fact that they ended up winning the whole thing from there is genuinely hard to believe watching it back. The moment they threw money at taxis just to survive the Halfeti elimination was such a turning point. Then they get to Mongolia and open an empty guest book and it actually lands properly because you know what they went through to get there. Did anyone actually back them to win from that low point or did it feel impossible at the time?
Maya Jama hosting Love Island and then turning up as a contestant at Ardross Castle in the same year is not something I had on my bingo card. Then you add Michael Sheen, Miranda Hart, Ross Kemp, Bella Ramsey, James Acaster and Richard E Grant into the same castle and it genuinely sounds unhinged in the best possible way. Alan Carr winning series 1 set the bar pretty high but this lineup feels like the BBC actually listened to what people wanted. Claudia is going to have a field day with this lot. Who do you reckon is going in as a Traitor and who is getting banished first?