Big Brother is a Canadian reality television series, which aired on V in the Canadian province of Quebec in 2010. Based on the international Big Brother franchise, it was produced as a spinoff of the network's long-running Loft Story.
The host was TV presenter Chéli Sauvé-Castonguay and lasted 63 days. The season launched on March 14, 2010, with fifteen housemates entering the house on Day 1. This series was the first international version to follow the American format in which the game is played internally, but with slight variations.
Aside from the main show, there was an accompanying show that aired every Sunday on V. The show was hosted by journalist Pascale Levesque. The winner of Loft Story: La Revanche, Sébastien Tremblay, blogged daily about the show on its official website.
There were no plans for a follow-up season that have been announced for a decade. However, on August 24, 2020, it was announced that the show would be revived for a celebrity version in winter 2021 on Noovo.
Format
Big Brother Quebec loosely followed the format of the American version in that the housemates mostly decided who would stay and who would go. However, there were slight differences:
Numéro 1
The Numéro 1 (English: Number 1) was similar to the Head of Household position in the American version. Numéro 1 was exempt from eviction and enjoyed certain luxuries. They were also required to nominate two housemates for eviction.
Numéro 2
The Numéro 2 (English: Number 2) was a unique feature to Big Brother Quebec. Numéro 2 was selected by Numéro 1. Despite being immune from eviction and enjoying certain luxuries, they were forced to sleep at the foot of Numéro 1's bed, lest they lose their power and privilege. In addition, Numéro 2 was required to choose a third housemate to nominate for eviction.
Pouvoir de Véto
The Pouvoir de Véto (English: Power of Veto) worked similarly to the Power of Veto in the US, in that the winner could use it to save a nominee; however, unlike the American version, the Veto winner decided the replacement nominee. On occasion, there would be two Vetoes available to win instead of the usual one, this would generally be weeks that the public voted to evict.
Food competitions
Food competitions were similar to the current Have and Have Not competitions in the US. The winners received desired food items, such as steak, bread, vegetables, and dairy, while the losers dined on slop.
Evictions
Unlike most seasons of the American addition, three housemates faced eviction each week. On eviction nights, the three nominees were moved to a special room to hear the results of the vote, instead of sitting on designated chairs in the living room. Finally, all housemates except Numéro 1 voted to evict, unlike the US, where the two nominees cannot vote, and the Head of Household votes only in a tiebreaker situation. There were exceptions to this, however; the public on occasion had the opportunity to evict a housemate.
Grenade
Used in other international formats like the Australian version, the "grenade" was used by the newly evicted housemate to throw at any housemate of their choice. The grenade had different powers and these powers changed every week.
Finale
The finale was completely different from the American version. Six housemates were in the house on the final day, unlike 2 or 3 in the American version. Unlike the jury format used in the American version to decide the winner, like the original format, the viewing public decided on the winner. However the former and current housemate get to vote on which finalist should not win.
^Note 1 :Following her eviction, Sandra used the power of the Grenade to nominate Josée. Because of this, Numéro 1 Fey only nominated one housemate for eviction.
^Note 2 :Fey, with 7 of 11 votes, was supposed to be evicted. However, the housemates previously took part in a sleep deprivation task, with success resulting in the eviction being cancelled. They passed the task, and no one was evicted this week.
^Note 3 :During Week 4, there were two vetoes won. The first one was won by Vincent and the second by Lyvia.
^Note 4 :Following a vote to decide the use of the Grenade, it was decided that the public would vote to evict instead of the housemates. Therefore, the housemates did not vote in Week 5.
^Note 5 : The power of the Grenade in week five was that the evicted housemate could grant immunity to 5 people of their choice. As Marie-Élaine was this housemate, she gave immunity to Christian, Jean, Vickie, Vincent and Vinny.
^Note 6 :Vickie, as Numéro 1, had to vote to break a 4-4-1 tied vote between Lyvia and Josée on Day 42.
^Note 7 :Following a vote to decide the use of the Grenade, it was decided that the public would vote to evict instead of the housemates for the remaining weeks.
^Note 8 :Following week seven's eviction, Big Brother announced a double eviction for the following week. One housemate would be evicted by their fellow housemates, while another would be voted out by a public vote.
^Note 9 :Following his eviction, Jonathan used the power of the Grenade to nominate Christian.
^Note 10 :Following Week 8's eviction, the public voting opened to vote for a winner. Big Brother announced that all 15 housemates would vote for the person in the final 6 who would be the least deserving to win the game. The finalist with the most votes would be the final evictee, regardless of the results of the final vote. During the week, the housemates competed in a series of challenges to name the final Numéro 1, who would have immunity from the vote.
