When Big Brother first landed on our screens in 2001, Mike Goldman was the man who brought the inner workings of the house to us.
While Gretel Killeen was the host of the live shows, navigating her way through the contestants’ fishbowl-esque lives and the outside world, Mike was the series’ narrator, giving us the inside story about what the contestants got up to within the house and hosted spin-off shows such as Big Brother Up Late and the game show segment Friday Night Live.
Although it’s been more than a decade since he worked on the show, when Mike got the call to come back to Big Brother on Channel 10, he couldn’t wait to head back to Dreamworld to get back to work on the hit reality show.
“It has been really, really exciting,” the 52-year-old tells TV WEEK.
“I feel so blessed to be part of a show that has touched so many lives, created friendships and marriages, and exciting moments on TV.”
Over the years, Big Brother certainly had moments that got the country talking.
From scandal to heart-warming love stories, Mike saw the moments that sparked watercooler chat around the country. Like when 2004 contestant Merlin got evicted and made a silent protest to “free the refugees” or when fellow 2004 housemate Bree Amer was accidentally evicted thanks to a miscalculation from the phone company.
“Bree got evicted and the phone company made a mistake so they had to put her back in the house,” Mike recalls with a laugh.
“Behind the scenes we were like, ‘how are we going to explain this to the public?’ In the end, Big Brother got a person from the phone company to talk to Gretel live on stage to explain the fumble. You can’t make that stuff up.”
If you ask Mike, his most memorable moment was when 2012 winner Benjamin Norris proposed to his partner Ben Williams, making it the first same-sex proposal on Australian television.
“There were almost two million people watching that night,” Mike explains.
“It was such an important moment, and it felt like it was contributing to the culture of Australia and how accepting we are of people in so many ways. To me, that’s been the underlying message of the show, to be accepting of people from every culture, every sexuality and all walks of life.”
You can watch the incredible proposal below.
This time around, what excites him the most is the prospect of a 24-hour livestream where anything can happen.
“When Big Brother started, we didn’t have Facebook or Instagram or TikTok. It wasn’t as interactive as it can be. But this season, will be the most interactive season ever,” Mike explains.
As for whether we’ll see the house filled with social media stars like we do in many other modern-day reality shows?
“Big Brother keeps his cards really close to his chest,” Mike says with a sly smile.
“But this time they’re really looking for real Aussies, real true blue people. Like Joe from the service station or Louise from the doctor surgery’s reception.”
Big Brother Australia will return to our screens on November 9 on Network 10.
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