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Viewers fume over ‘food wastage’ on Big Brother VIP after breakfast dumped in bin

Viewers fumed over an ‘awful’ scene in last night’s Big Brother VIP premiere - and the much-hyped show opened to surprisingly low ratings.

Bella Fowler
3 min read
November 2, 2021 - 11:11AM
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After many months of controversy surrounding its international cast, the Big Brother VIP premiere has infuriated viewers with a shocking stunt.

In Monday night’s episode, housemates were teased with a lavish breakfast spread - which was then unceremoniously dumped into a garbage truck.

The celebs watched open-mouthed as a large table laden with bacon, eggs, smoothies, pastries and freshly brewed coffee was tipped into the trash, but the reactions on social media were far more damning of Channel 7’s food wastage.

And Big Brother VIP debuted to surprisingly low ratings - just 377,000 people tuned in across the five metro capitals last night, making it the 16th most-watched show of the night. Ten’s 7:30pm offering Celebrity MasterChef drew 477,00 viewers, while the launch episode of Parental Guidance on Nine drew 629,000.

VIP’s launch figures are well down on Big Brother’s previous, non-celeb seasons since moving to Seven: Last year’s premiere was watched by 664,000 people, and the year before that, 853,000 tuned in.

The scene depicted a table full of breakfast food tipped into a garbage truck.
The scene depicted a table full of breakfast food tipped into a garbage truck.

Some of those who did tune in complained the binned food stunt was tone-deaf given the Covid pandemic’s impact on the financial situations of a number of Australians.

“Rather than let people who need the food come in and eat it, you just put it in a bin? So stupid and out of touch,” one fan wrote, while another labelled the act “extremely disgusting”.

“Extremely disgusting act from #BBAUvip during a pandemic and there’s people struggling to make ends meet and provide a meal for their family. Had a table full of food disposed in a garbage truck.”

It comes after the show was slammed for its casting of international celebrities who were flown over to Australia with ‘critical skills visas’ despite tough border restrictions preventing others from entering the country.

ScoMo hits out at Caitlyn Jenner

Back in August, cast member Caitlyn Jenner was even slammed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison for flicking her cigarette off a balcony during hotel quarantine.

Mr Morrison spoke on the Kyle and Jackie O Show about the vaccine rollout when host Kyle Sandilands asked him for his thoughts on the photos of Jenner.

“Caitlyn Jenner is here for Celebrity Big Brother and was seen flicking a cigarette off of a balcony onto the street,” Sandilands said. “The Covid cigarette.”

Would she be fined for something like that?” asked co-host Jackie O’ Henderson.

“I’d have to leave that to the NSW Police and what their rules are,” Mr Morrison replied.

Caitlyn Jenner was slammed after photos emerged of her flicking a cigarette off a hotel balcony.
Caitlyn Jenner was slammed after photos emerged of her flicking a cigarette off a hotel balcony.

Henderson added: “She’s flicking a cigarette out on the street. What if that lands on someone?”

“Covid or no Covid, it’s not cool,” responded Mr Morrison. “I don’t think people should be flicking cigarettes off balconies anytime, anyway.”

Prior to the incident, Jenner was at the centre of online backlash after obtaining a special visa that got her into the country while thousands of Australian citizens remain stranded overseas.

Mr Morrison, 53, didn’t seem to have all the answers when he was asked off-guard by Nova FM hosts Ben Harvey and Liam Stapleton about Jenner entering the country.

“With the whole nation in lockdown, ScoMo, how did Caitlyn Jenner get in?” asked one of the hosts.

After a long silence, the Prime Minister answered, “Oh, that would’ve been done with the various states, I assume, and working through what is a pretty lengthy exemption process.

“That’s not something I could give you any specifics on,” he added.

Thomas Markle Jr steps in after Katie Hopkins drama

Meghan Markle’s estranged half-brother Thomas Markle Jr — who wasted no time in dragging Meghan’s name during Monday’s episode — was spotted at Sydney Airport less than a week after far-right commentator Katie Hopkins was axed from the Channel 7 show and deported for her behaviour in hotel quarantine.

Thomas Markle joined the cast after Hopkins was axed.
Thomas Markle joined the cast after Hopkins was axed.

Like Jenner, he would have likely received a ‘critical skills’ visa in order to be granted entry to Australia amid the Covid pandemic, as many around the country at the time were in strict lockdown.

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Markle, who was arrested in 2017 for allegedly threatening his girlfriend with a gun, was brought in quickly to replace the British media personality, ensuring he would have been able to complete his own 14-day quarantine in time.

His addition to the cast came after Hopkins was dumped from the show and deported for boasting on social media about taunting hotel guards in quarantine by answering the door naked without wearing a mask.

After uproar from social media users, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews confirmed Hopkins’ visa was cancelled and she was forced on a flight back to the UK.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/reality-tv/viewers-fume-over-food-wastage-on-big-brother-vip-after-breakfast-dumped-in-bin/news-story/947abc784d8cf0582b1377e587f5421b