A midnight “ho, ho, go” as Vinnie’s Big Brother dream goes up the chimney
The Big Brother Australia house promised a Wednesday night eviction on Channel 10 – and technically, it delivered. Just not quite in the way confused viewers at home were expecting, as a Christmas-themed midnight eviction sent Vinnie packing, nominations cracked the final stretch wide open, and the audience spent the rest of the night online arguing over whether to save Conor, Coco, Colin or Ed… or just switch off and let them all fend for themselves.
Silent night? Not in Big Brother’s house…
The action kicked off in the dead of night, with Big Brother yanking the housemates out of bed under the guise of a festive shopping task. While bleary-eyed contestants shuffled around in pyjamas, Big Brother pulled a second “gift” from his stocking – a brutal midnight eviction.
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Earlier in the week, Edward had been handed a very special “present”: 10 nomination points to be handed out live in front of Australia and, awkwardly for him, in front of his fellow housemates too. Unaware his every word was being piped into the lounge, Edward/Ed unloaded seven of his points straight onto Vinnie, who was already leading the nominations tally and suddenly found himself shoved right back into the firing line.
One viewer summed up the mood bluntly, saying they were “catching up after work” and stunned at how badly one housemate took it, adding that the lot of them were insufferable. Another simply watched Ed cop it and cackled that “no one’s trying to save you anyway”.
When the Christmas dust settled, Vinnie was the unlucky housemate to make Big Brother’s naughty list, evicted on the spot in the middle of the night. No big crowd, no drawn-out live spectacle – just a Christmas jingle, a quick hug, and Vinnie out the door while the rest of the house tried to work out what had just happened.
From golden boy to “fake”: how Vinnie lost the house
It’s been a rapid fall from grace for Vinnie, who started the series as the golden boy. His low-key, “under the radar” approach made him likeable early, but everything shifted when evicted housemate Jane used her message from beyond the grave to call him fake and warn the house he was a massive threat.
Her parting shot lodged deep. In the days that followed, Vinnie became visibly rattled, second-guessing friendships and alliances. Housemates began nominating him for what they saw as insincerity, and viewers at home started debating whether he was a misunderstood nice guy or a “performative” player whose mask had slipped.
To make matters worse, Vinnie answered the Big Brother phone and was handed a classic moral dilemma: add $25,000 to the prize fund, or take $10,000 for himself. He chose the $10,000, then had to front the group and justify it, painting an even bigger target on his back as some fans muttered that a free haircut apparently does mean nothing these days.
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Mid-week, he threw himself into the Grand BB Hotel shopping task as the designated “guest from hell”, gleefully tormenting Coco, Holly, Bruce and Edward with over-the-top demands. While viewers enjoyed the chaos – one fan pointed to his silly antics with Conor as their highlight of the season – the stunt only deepened the strain inside the house. To his credit, once the task wrapped, Vinnie quickly moved to patch things up with his victims.
Ultimately, none of it was enough. When his time came, Vinnie told host Mel Tracina that the late-night boot hurt just as much as it looked:
“As brutal as it looked, I can assure you.
It’s an honour, Australia, it’s an honour to have been embarrassed, singing a Christmas jungle, and then leaving the Big Brother house.”
Outside, facing a crowd and accusations that he’d been fake and “performative”, Vinnie fired back:
“I was me 100 percent through and through… there was no two-faced or putting on a facade here… it was all just what you saw is what you got with me.”
He doubled down, insisting to Australia that housemates calling him fake were really exposing themselves:
“I’m not fake, Australia… You all watched the show, you could see I was the same in one room as in the other room and, for people to call me fake I feel like reflects on their own insecurities, in my opinion.”
Or, as he put it more simply later, “I’m not a fake person.”
Online, fans were split. Some agreed with Vinnie and felt the “fake” label was unfair. Others argued Jane had nailed what they’d been feeling for weeks, and that the $10k decision just cemented his fate.
Viewers vs producers: where was our Wednesday eviction?
If Vinnie’s midnight exit was meant to feel like a gift to viewers, the execution left a fair chunk of the audience feeling more Grinch than grateful.
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Promos had pushed a Wednesday eviction, so when the main episode wrapped with nominations and no obvious live boot, social feeds erupted. One viewer declared the whole thing a “shit show” and suggested someone “fire all the producers”. Another simply yelled into the void: “WHAT HAPPENED TO WEDNESDAY EVICTION????”
Host Mel Tracina’s carefully vague warning – that fans should get their votes in because you never know when it will close and you never know when the person with the most votes will go – only stoked the paranoia. Several fans admitted they’d panic-voted early, convinced Big Brother was lining up another sneaky overnight eviction that the livestream wouldn’t show.
One viewer dryly noted that if the show was going to keep wiring the house with alcohol and surprise twists, the last thing they wanted was a muted livestream and a missing eviction.
Conor: from “dickhead” to disability café hope
If there was one housemate who dominated the online debate after Vinnie’s departure, it was Conor.
Inside the house, he copped a nomination and looked, as one viewer put it, like he believed the process “should only apply to other people and not him”. Another fan thought he looked perversely pleased with himself for predicting he’d go up, calling him simultaneously pissed off and smug.
Outside, people couldn’t agree on whether to save him or send him packing. One furious commenter demanded to know “why save Conor? He is a dickhead” and warned that voting for him because of his personal circumstances or his promise to donate money was “cooked”. Others were openly sceptical that he’d really channel the cash where he says he will, with one blunt fan insisting “he’s not donating that money, let’s be for real”.
But just as many viewers swung the other way. A cluster of fans declared they were saving Conor, either because he’d talked about using the prize to start a disability café, or because they simply liked him more than the alternatives. One supporter put it plainly: they didn’t love him, but they disliked the others more, and felt he had “the most altruistic reason for winning”.
Another fan admitted they’d voted for Vinnie previously and now backed Conor purely because their favourite moments all season had been the silly “Toilet Boys” antics between the pair. As one post summed it up: “Producers think we want Love Island but all we want is Toilet Boys.”
This week, like it or not, lots of them are getting Conor on their screen – and depending on the vote, possibly in the final.
Coco: three kids, big emotions and strategic question marks
Some of the spiciest viewer commentary of the night centred on Coco.
In the house, she was visibly furious after nominations, with the crowd reaction making it crystal clear that Coco and Ed being up for eviction delighted a sizable chunk of the studio audience. Online, one viewer declared simply: “Coco is pissed. Oh well.”
Her game play – or lack of it – is a running joke with fans. One popular comment mocked the constant insistence that she’s not a strategist, while also reminding everyone (again) that she has three children. Another dryly noted: “Coco is so not a game player and does not vote strategically guys! She also has 3 kids if you were wondering”, prompting others to feign shock as they pretended they’d never heard about her family before.
There was also debate about the tension between Allana and Coco. Some insisted Allana’s pointed comments during the episode were aimed squarely at Vinnie, and that Coco had “taken it personally again”. Others felt Coco’s discomfort made sense once Allana highlighted she wasn’t the only mum in the house, speculating that Coco might believe that was why she’d been nominated.
Whether viewers see her as emotional, misunderstood or just outplayed, one fan summed up a common sentiment with savage simplicity: they wished they could vote to eliminate, not to save – and Coco would be top of their list.
Colin: authentic genius or human foghorn?
Then there’s Colin – or Collin, or Colon, depending on which exasperated viewer you’re reading.
Inside the house, he floated through nominations “happy to be alive”, showing little visible panic about landing on the block. One fan observed that he “wouldn’t know much about strategy if it hit him in the face”, but insisted he was still going to take out the season on sheer natural social instinct, praising his body language and open-chested confidence.
Another viewer countered that from what they’d seen, Colin was the most authentic of the bunch – love him or hate him. Others were less flattering, describing him as childish and infuriating, with one posting that they “constantly just want someone to deck him” and promising to follow his potential MMA career purely to watch him “get slapped around”.
Despite that, there’s a strange wave of reluctant support rising behind him. A few fans admitted they’d never have given him five minutes when he first walked in, but now found themselves voting to save him purely to “keep it interesting” and to ensure he’s there at the end to beat the so-called “arseholes” in a finale.
As for entertainment value, defenders pointed to his petty pranks – hiding beds, talking in pig Latin, shadow boxing in the bedroom and ordering three capsicums on the tight shopping budget – and asked, fairly, who else is bringing any fun at this point. Detractors had a simpler answer: literally anyone who doesn’t fart in their face.
Bruce burps his way to the final
If any storyline has united the fanbase, it’s not a romance, not a rivalry – it’s Bruce’s digestive tract.
Despite repeated complaints about his constant burping and farting, Bruce has somehow cruised through to the final. One viewer labelled his presence there a “catastrophe”, while another confessed they were “appalled” they hadn’t been given the chance to evict him weeks ago.
The burping, weirdly, has become more infamous than the farting. Several fans described the belches as “repulsive”, “from the depths of the stomach sewer” and “often stink just as bad”, with one insisting they found the burping more offensive than anything else going on in the house – including the endless bowel-movement chat that’s driven some people away from the livestream entirely.
And yet, Bruce remains. As one fan resignedly noted, at least they’ll get to see him lose in the finale.
Ed: villain edit, big cheer, brutal four-point nomination
The night’s other big talking point was Ed – or Edward, depending on whether he’s being handed nomination points or being booed by the internet.
He may have triggered Vinnie’s downfall with that seven-point bomb, but by the time the dust settled on Wednesday’s episode, Ed himself was one of four housemates up for eviction alongside Conor, Coco and Colin – and he’d been nominated on just four points, which even hardened fans admitted was “brutal”.
In studio, the crowd roared when his name was read out, to the point that several viewers at home couldn’t tell whether they were cheering for him or celebrating that he was finally vulnerable. Online, most assumed the latter, with comments like “Thank god Ed is up for eviction” and “Sick of him” racking up likes.
Others pointed to his “villain” edit over the last two nights and predicted he was done. A few argued the livestream had actually made him look even worse than the edited package, while a tiny but loyal faction announced they’d be saving him purely because he was the only one who’d genuinely made them laugh all season.
Whatever side you’re on, Ed has become the lightning rod of the late game – and if those crowd reactions are anything to go by, his fate is far from guaranteed.
A house no one loves… but someone has to win
Perhaps the most telling sign of where Big Brother Australia is at in 2024 is how many viewers openly admit they don’t love anyone left.
One fan compared the remaining cast to the dregs of a box of chocolates: all that’s left are the Old Gold, Cherry Ripe and Dream bars you politely leave for someone else. Another said they “flip-flop” daily on their favourite, but most days feel largely indifferent. A third confessed they were seriously considering not voting at all this week because “nobody deserves my vote at this current stage”.
And yet, votes are being cast. Some are saving Conor for his café plan. Others are hanging their hopes on Colin as chaotic neutral. A handful are backing Coco or Ed out of stubborn loyalty. Many are simply choosing to save whoever they “hate the least”, hoping the voting system does the rest.
What they all agree on is that Big Brother still has twists to come: surprise vote closures, possible double eliminations and a finale line-up that nobody seems particularly thrilled about, but everyone will absolutely watch.
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