Big Brother winner Trevor Butler slams the show's new format: 'A mistake'

Former Big Brother winner Trevor ‘Big Trev’ Butler has slammed the latest season of the once-popular reality show amid record-low ratings and a ‘disappointing’ new format.

The radio host, who won season four in 2004 and returned for season 14 last year, told New Idea he believes the series needs to return to its roots if it wants to succeed.

“I think it was a mistake making it the House of Love this year,” Trevor shared.

“They have got all of these pretty people in there - a whole lot of glamorous influencers - and they seem to be going for that Survivor, MAFS vibe with all of that artificial drama and excitement. That’s why it’s doing so badly.”

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Trevor went on to argue that viewers preferred the show when it was “old school” and the cast was made up of “ordinary people”.

“It was more about the social aspect,” he detailed. “It has changed so much from when it was just people reacting with each other. We live in an age where everyone is immersed in social media. Why wouldn’t they just take advantage of people-watching 24/7?”

The latest season of Big Brother premiered to just 274,000 viewers earlier this month, with episode two falling to 213,000, and Channel Seven has since moved the show to a later time slot.

The season, which was actually filmed over a year ago, was initially titled Big Brother: House of Love and teased “a younger cast of sexy singles looking for love”. However, the subtitle has since been dropped following criticism from viewers and reports that none of the housemates formed a romantic connection.

Trevor's time on Big Brother

Trevor first appeared on Big Brother in 2003 where he won a whopping $1 million prize, which is the most money ever given away on an Australian reality show.

He then competed on the show’s 14th season in 2022 where new contestants went up against returning housemates described as ‘Big Brother royalty’.

The father-of-two was the sixth person to be eliminated, and later told Yahoo Lifestyle he would have quit the series if he hadn’t been voted off.

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