Big Brother Australia alum Heidi Anderson has revealed this year’s contestants aren’t the first to get in trouble for breaking the show’s strict rules — admitting she and her fellow housemates were regularly called out by Big Brother for doing the exact same thing.
After this year’s housemates were recently reprimanded by Big Brother for discussing production and previous contestants, Heidi — who appeared on season 10 — took to Chattr’s Instagram to share that she and her castmates had received the same warning during their time in the house.
Tagging her former co-star Tully Smyth in the video, Heidi wrote: “We got the same blast!”
Speaking exclusively to Chattr, Heidi revealed that the temptation to talk about the outside world was almost impossible to avoid when living inside the Big Brother house.
“We used to get in so much trouble from Big Brother for talking about past housemates!” Heidi said.
“I remember we’d sit around as a group talking about previous seasons, people who’d won the show, why we thought they won, who we loved, who we didn’t, whether we’d met any of them and what we thought of them.”
According to Heidi, the conversations were a regular occurrence between her, Tully Smyth, Drew Anthony, Matt ‘Matty’ Filippi and Ed Lower.
“You’ve got to remember, you’re locked in there 24/7. No phones, no TV, nowhere to go, so naturally your mind wanders,” she explained.
“You start reminiscing, sharing stories, talking about people you’ve met and things you’ve experienced. And obviously Big Brother was something we all had in common!”
But those innocent chats would often result in a stern warning from Big Brother.
“Then suddenly Big Brother would come over the speaker and we’d get our as*es handed to us,” Heidi laughed.
Heidi reveals why she used to get in trouble with Big Brother
It wasn’t just discussions about past contestants that landed Heidi and her co-stars in trouble.
“I remember getting in trouble for swearing too much as well,” she revealed.
“He’d remind us that we’d been chosen out of 20,000 people and there were far more interesting people out there.”
Heidi said the experience of being reprimanded by Big Brother felt strangely familiar.
“It honestly felt like getting called into the principal’s office!”
Despite the strict rules, Heidi said Big Brother often became a surprising source of support for the contestants — particularly during emotionally intense moments.
“I also remember having a massive fight with Timmy, and there were moments where Big Brother almost became your psychologist,” she said.
“There were some really beautiful moments too.”
Heidi reveals there were ‘serious’ moments viewers never saw
While fans often see the fun, drama and arguments that make it to air, Heidi said there were plenty of intense moments behind the scenes that viewers never witnessed.
“There are so many juicy things that happen behind the scenes that viewers never see,” she said.
The former housemate recalled one particularly serious incident where production had to step in.
“At one point production actually had to shut off half the house because of some serious allegations someone had shared,” Heidi revealed.
“We were told not to repeat what had been disclosed, and I still respect that because it was incredibly personal.”
Reflecting on her experience, Heidi said the show remains one of the most unique social experiments on television.
“You’ve got to remember, you’re living with strangers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with nowhere to escape,” she said.
“It’s a bloody wild social experiment!”
Big Brother airs 7:30pm weeknights and 7pm Sundays on 10, with the live stream available via 10 Play.
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