| Big Brother | |
|---|---|
| Season 6 | |
| Presented by | Gretel Killeen |
| No. of days | 100 |
| No. of housemates | 23 |
| Winner | Jamie Brooksby |
| Runner-up | Camilla Severi |
| Companion shows | |
| No. of episodes | 135 (+ 70 UpLate) |
| Release | |
| Original network | Network Ten |
| Original release | 23 April – 31 July 2006 |
| Season chronology | |
The sixth season of the Australian reality television series, Big Brother, also known as Big Brother 2006, began on 23 April 2006, with housemates going into the house the day before, and finished on 31 July 2006; a duration of 101 days. In the auditions, which had been held in November and December 2005, producers asked for contestants who were "smart, strong, and looking for a fight".
The Launch was aired on the evening of 23 April 2006 (a 24-hour delay). Fifteen housemates initially entered the house on Day 0, with the addition of three Intruder housemates entering the Big Brother House in Week 4, another three Intruders in Week 9, and two replacement housemates entering in Week 12. On Day 100, Jamie was declared the winner of Big Brother 2006, with Camilla the runner-up. At the time it was the closest winning margin in any Australian series of the show, later beaten by Series 7 in 2007.
As in the previous season, the voice of Big Brother was provided by Nick Colquhoun, who continued to portray the character with a stricter and more authoritarian tone. Throughout the 2006 series, Big Brother frequently issued fines and penalties to housemates for rule breaches and maintained a firm disciplinary approach. On several occasions, housemates who broke the rules were also given specific punishments by Big Brother. This season proved to be highly controversial after two male housemates sexually harassed a female housemate, resulting in the pair’s ejection from the show. The incident sparked calls for the series to be investigated for possible breaches of broadcasting laws, and calls for the cancellation of the series by several commentators and politicians, including then Australian Prime Minister John Howard and opposition leader Kim Beazley.
Ratings for Big Brother 2006 were up slightly on the previous year. The Daily Show increased its average audience to 1.13 million viewers, up from 1.11 million in 2005. The live Sunday evening Eviction shows averaged an audience of around 1.3 million for the 2006 series. The 2006 Finale attracted 1.9 million viewers with the viewing audience peaking at 2.2 million at 9:39 pm
The sixth season featured several innovations to the formula.
In previous seasons, viewers could only vote to evict the nominated housemates they wanted to leave the house. This season added the save vote. Any viewer may cast as many evict or save votes as they choose. Prior to eviction each housemates' save votes were merged with their evict votes; the housemate with the highest number of evict votes—or lowest number of save votes—remaining after the merge is evicted.
As with some previous seasons, a new house with an original layout was constructed for this series. A new feature was the addition of a Punishment Room to which rule-breaking housemates would be consigned by Big Brother. Housemates in the Punishment Room were required to perform tedious, difficult, embarrassing, or mildly painful tasks and jobs, such as sorting white rice from brown rice, sanding a wooden cube into a sphere, or dancing around a sombrero for hours.
One of the twists of this season, promoted in advertising hyperbole as "Australia's World First", was that housemates Karen and Krystal are mother and daughter. This was not revealed to the other housemates, who were challenged to uncover the secret relationship in the house. The other housemates failed to uncover their secret, and as a reward for success in keeping their secret Karen and Krystal were exempt from being nominated by other housemates in the first round. Karen was later evicted from the House on Day 22. In Big Brother 2005 a different related-housemates secret task was conducted. Twin brothers Greg and David Mathew were, one at a time, put in the House, and were told to swap places at given times without being noticed by other housemates. They were given the mission to keep this a secret for the opportunity to be entered into the game as individual housemates, each with the chance of winning Big Brother 2005.
This season featured The Insider. Australia voted between the Housemates deemed "The Most Competitive" - David, Michael & Camilla. Michael was voted by Australia to be The Insider with 43% of the vote. Michael had to complete secret missions tasked by Big Brother in order to win immunity from Nomination Voting and hence, Eviction. Failure in a mission would result in Automatic Nomination.
After 3 weeks, Michael retired as The Insider. Australia voted between David, Clare and Jade during Week 4's eviction. Jade was selected with 45% of the vote.
2006 saw the renaming of Big Brother Uncut to Big Brother: Adults Only. Network Ten discontinued Adults Only early due to pressure from politicians, with the final episode broadcast on 19 June 2006. The content that was to be used on unscreened episodes was made available on a new Big Brother Premium (paying members) section of the Big Brother website called Adults Only.
Fifteen housemates entered at the beginning of the season. A total of eight additional housemates entering during the series. The first batch of intruders were Danielle Foote, Jade Stack and Rob Rigley. The second batch of intruders were Perry Apostolu, Darren Bowley and Lauren Clayton. After Ashley Cox and John Bric were removed after the controversial "turkey slapping incident" replacement housemates Max and Chris were added.
The winner was announced in July to be Jamie Brooksby, with Camilla Severi (alias "Camilla Halliwell") runner-up. It was the closest public voting in the Australian Big Brother series up to this point. While all former 2006 Big Brother housemates and intruders were all reunited for the 2006 Finale, Ashley and John were not invited to attend and participate.
| Name | Age on entry | Day entered | Day exited | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamie Brooksby | 22 | 0 | 100 | Winner |
| Camilla Severi | 22 | 0 | 100 | Runner-up |
| David Graham | 26 | 0 | 99 | Evicted |
| James "Max" Panebianco | 20 | 80 | 99 | Evicted |
| Chris Everden | 22 | 80 | 95 | Evicted |
| Krystal Forscutt | 19 | 0 | 92 | Evicted |
| Claire Madden | 22 | 0 | 92 | Evicted |
| Darren Bowley | 19 | 60 | 85 | Evicted |
| Perry Apostolou | 39 | 60 | 78 | Evicted |
| Gaelan Walker | 26 | 0 | 71 | Evicted |
| Michael "Ashley" Cox | 20 | 0 | 70 | Ejected |
| Michael "John" Bric | 20 | 0 | 70 | Ejected |
| Rob Rigley | 26 | 24 | 64 | Evicted |
| Lauren Clayton | 22 | 60 | 64 | Evicted |
| Katie Hastings | 19 | 0 | 57 | Evicted |
| Danielle Foote | 18 | 24 | 50 | Evicted |
| Dino Delic | 21 | 0 | 43 | Evicted |
| Jade Stack | 19 | 24 | 43 | Evicted |
| Michael McCoy | 25 | 0 | 36 | Evicted |
| Anna Lind-Hansen | 20 | 0 | 29 | Evicted |
| Karen Forscutt | 36 | 0 | 22 | Evicted |
| Elise Chen | 21 | 0 | 15 | Evicted |
| Matilda "Tilli" Clapham | 19 | 0 | 15 | Evicted |
(up to and including Sunday night)
The Big Brother 2006 House had the following areas and facilities:

The Prize Fund at the beginning of Big Brother 2006 was A$1 million; however, following on from Big Brother 2005, the housemates were fined $5,000 a time for committing various offenses. In Big Brother 2006, the housemates were not allowed any grace period that Big Brother 2005 housemates experienced, and fines were awarded within minutes of all the housemates entering the House on launch night. Following the first week, the Punishment Room was revealed, where housemates were often sent after receiving their $5,000 fine from Big Brother. Housemates were also repeatedly warned that once a fine has been incurred, that money could never be regained. After final four housemates added $311,000 back to the remaining $200,000 prize money taking it to $511,000 during the last Friday Night Games they were told that whoever wins Big Brother 2006 will have all of their fines incurred during their stay deducted from the prize money. The fine tallies of the lowest and highest were from Lauren Clayton who broke the Big Brother record for receiving no fines at all since the concept developed in Big Brother 2005 and Camilla Severi who received the highest fine total in Big Brother History of $105,000.
| Week | Theme | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caveman | Gaelan | Katie |
| 2 | On the Farm | Dino | Claire |
| 3 | Back to Work | Michael | Ashley |
| 4 | Rockstar | Gaelan | |
| 5 | Horror | Danielle | Krystal |
| 6 | Caribbean | Katie | |
| 7 | World Cup | David | Camilla |
| 8 | Pommy | John | |
| 9 | Bugs | Claire | |
| 10 | Asian | David | |
| 11 | Yankee Doodle | Darren | |
| 12 | Ooh La La | Jamie | |
| 13 | Christmas in July | Jamie | |
| 14 | Money | Camilla |
Color key:
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Nomination points received | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominations | Intruder Eviction |
Day 93 | Day 99 | Day 100 (Finale) | ||||||||||||||
| FNL Winner | none | Gaelan | Dino | Michael | Gaelan | Danielle | Katie | David | John | none | Claire | David | Darren | Jamie | Jamie | Housemates won $311,000 | ||
| Jamie | 2–Michael 1–Anna |
2–Ashley 1–Michael |
2–Ashley 1–Michael |
2–Ashley 1–Michael |
2–David 1–Michael |
2–David 1–Jade |
2–Rob 1–David |
2–David 1–Rob |
2–Rob 1–Claire |
Lauren Perry |
Banned | 2–David 1–Perry |
2–Darren 1–David |
2–David 1–Chris |
2–Max 1–Chris |
No nominations |
Winner (Day 100) |
19 |
| Camilla | 2–Anna 1–Michael |
Revenge Room |
2–Dino 1–Gaelan |
2–Michael 1–Dino |
2–Michael 1–Claire |
2–Jade 1–Dino |
2–Danielle 1–Ashley |
2–Katie 1–Ashley |
2–Gaelan 1–Ashley |
Perry Lauren |
2–Gaelan 1–Claire |
2–Perry 1–Darren |
2–Darren 1–David |
2–Claire 1–David |
2–Max 1–Chris |
No nominations |
Runner-up (Day 100) |
64 |
| David | 2–Dino 1–Michael |
2–Michael 1–Krystal |
2–Dino 1–Anna |
2–Ashley 1–Michael |
2–John 1–Jamie |
2–Dino 1–Krystal |
2–John 1–Danielle |
2–Jamie 1–Katie |
2–Jamie 1–John |
Lauren Darren |
2–Gaelan 1–Camilla |
2–Jamie 1–Krystal |
2–Camilla 1–Krystal |
2–Krystal 1–Chris |
2–Jamie 1–Chris |
No nominations |
Evicted (Day 99) |
40 |
| Max | Not in House |
2–Chris 1–Camilla |
2–Chris 1–Camilla |
No nominations |
Evicted (Day 99) |
8 | ||||||||||||
| Chris | Not in House |
2–David 1–Max |
2–Max 1–David |
Evicted (Day 95) |
9 | |||||||||||||
| Krystal | 2–Anna Camilla |
Not eligible |
2–Michael 1–Anna |
2–Michael 1–Dino |
2–Michael 1–Dino |
2–Jade 1–Dino |
2–Rob 1–Katie |
2–Katie 1–Ashley |
2–Jamie 1–Rob |
Perry Lauren |
2–David 1–John |
2–Perry 1–Darren |
2–David 1–Darren |
2–David 1–Max |
Evicted (Day 92) |
33 | ||
| Claire | 2–Karen 1–Anna |
2–Michael 1–Ashley |
2–Michael 1–Karen |
2–Anna 1–David |
2–John 1–Michael |
2–Dino 1–David |
2–Gaelan 1–Ashley |
2–Katie 1–Ashley |
2–Jamie 1–Camilla |
Lauren Perry |
2–Krystal 1–Ashley |
2–Krystal 1–Camilla |
2–Camilla 1–Krystal |
2–Camilla 1–Jamie |
Evicted (Day 92) |
9 | ||
| Darren | Not in House |
Nominated | Exempt | 2–Perry 1–Camilla |
2–Camilla 1–Claire |
Evicted (Day 85) |
9 | |||||||||||
| Perry | Not in House |
Nominated | Exempt | 2–Darren 1–David |
Evicted (Day 78) |
8 | ||||||||||||
| Gaelan | 2–Karen 1–Camilla |
2–Elise 1–Katie |
2–Michael 1–Camilla |
2–Michael 1–Anna |
2–Michael 1–Camilla |
2–Jade 1–Camilla |
2–Camilla 1–Danielle |
2–Katie 1–Camilla |
2–Camilla 1–Rob |
Lauren Perry |
2–Camilla 1–David |
Evicted (Day 71) |
13 | |||||
| Ashley | 2–Camilla 1–Anna |
2–Dino 1–Elise |
2–Karen 1–Camilla |
2–David 1–Dino |
2–Camilla 1–Dino |
2–Camilla 1–Jade |
2–Camilla 1–Krystal |
2–Camilla 1–David |
2–Rob 1–Camilla |
Perry Lauren |
2–Krystal 1–David |
Ejected (Day 70) |
22 | |||||
| John | 2–Camilla 1–Karen |
2–Tilli 1–Elise |
2–Camilla 1–Karen |
2–Camilla 1–Michael |
2–David 1–Camilla |
2–Rob 1–Camilla |
2–Rob 1–David |
2–Rob 1–David |
2–Rob 1–Camilla |
Perry Lauren |
2–David Claire |
Ejected (Day 70) |
10 | |||||
| Rob | Not in House |
Exempt | 2–Dino 1–Krystal |
2–Katie 1–Jamie |
2–Jamie 1–John |
2–Jamie 1–John |
Lauren Perry |
Evicted (Day 64) |
21 | |||||||||
| Lauren | Not in House |
Nominated | Evicted (Day 64) |
N/A | ||||||||||||||
| Katie | 2–Ashley 1–Tilli |
2–Michael 1–Tilli |
2–Krystal 1–David |
2–Dino 1–Michael |
2–Michael 1–David |
2–Gaelan 1–Krystal |
2–Rob 1–Camilla |
2–Krystal 1–David |
Evicted (Day 57) |
13 | ||||||||
| Danielle | Not in House |
Exempt | 2–Jade 1–Ashley |
2–Camilla 1–Ashley |
Evicted (Day 50) |
4 | ||||||||||||
| Dino | 2–Camilla 1–Ashley |
2–Elise 1–Michael |
2–Karen 1–Krystal |
2–Camilla 1–Michael |
2–Camilla 1–Krystal |
2–Jade 1–Camilla |
Evicted (Day 43) |
24 | ||||||||||
| Jade | Not in House |
Exempt | 2–Krystal 1–Dino |
Evicted (Day 43) |
12 | |||||||||||||
| Michael | 2–Camilla 1–Karen |
2–Elise 1–Ashley |
2–Karen 1–Krystal |
2–Krystal 1–Camilla |
2–Krystal 1–Camilla |
Evicted (Day 36) |
47 | |||||||||||
| Anna | 2–Krystal 1–Gaelan |
Revenge Room | 2–Karen 1–Krystal |
2–Michael 1–Krystal |
Evicted (Day 29) |
16 | ||||||||||||
| Karen | 2–Camilla 1–Anna |
2–Michael 1–Gaelan |
Not eligible |
Evicted (Day 22) |
16 | |||||||||||||
| Elise | 2–Michael 1–Anna |
2–Claire 1–Tilli |
Evicted (Day 15) |
10 | ||||||||||||||
| Tilli | 2–Anna 1–Camilla |
2–Elise 1–Michael |
Evicted (Day 15) |
5 | ||||||||||||||
| Notes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | none | 7 | none | 8 | 9 | 10 | none | 11 | ||||
| Nominated (pre-Three Point Twist) |
none | Ashley, Elise, Tilli |
Camilla, Dino, Karen, Krystal |
Ashley, Camilla, Dino |
Camilla, David, Michael |
Camilla, Dino, Jade, Krystal |
Camilla, Danielle, Rob |
Ashley, David, Jamie, Katie |
Camilla, Jamie, Rob |
none | David, Gaelan, Krystal |
Darren, David, Krystal, Perry |
Camilla, Darren, David |
Camilla, Chris, David |
Chris, Jamie, Max |
none | ||
| Three Point Twist |
Ashley | Dino | Dino | David | Krystal | Camilla | Ashley | Jamie | David | Darren | Darren | Camilla | Jamie | |||||
| Against public vote |
Claire, Dino, Elise, Michael, Tilli |
Camilla, Karen, Krystal |
Anna, Ashley, Camilla, David, Krystal |
Camilla, John, Michael |
Camilla, Dino, Jade, John, Krystal |
Camilla, Danielle, Rob |
David, Jamie, Katie |
Camilla, Jamie, Rob |
Darren, Lauren, Perry |
Camilla, David, Gaelan, Krystal |
David, Krystal, Perry |
Camilla, Darren, David, Krystal |
Chris, Claire, David, Krystal, Max |
Camilla, Chris, David, Max |
Camilla, David, Jamie, Max |
Camilla, Jamie | ||
| Ejected | none | John, Ashley |
none | |||||||||||||||
| Evicted | Camilla 13 of 45 points to fake evict |
Tilli 20% to evict |
Karen 36% to evict |
Anna 25% to evict |
Michael 25% to evict |
Jade 8% to evict |
Danielle 44% to evict |
Katie 64% to evict |
Rob 55% to evict |
Lauren 1 net vote to evict |
Gaelan 51% to evict |
Perry 64% to evict |
Darren 73% to evict |
Claire 49% to evict |
Chris 69% to evict |
Max 10% to evict |
Camilla 47% to save | |
| Anna 11 of 45 points to fake evict |
Elise 5% to evict |
Dino 5% to evict |
Krystal 34% to evict |
David 17% to save |
Jamie 53% to save | |||||||||||||
A number of special episodes aired during the original run of the season. These included:
The Insider was a live show, broadcast on Day 2, where the result of the Insider public vote was revealed. Viewers had to vote for whether David, Camilla or Michael should be appointed the Insider. The Daily Show was broadcast as part of The Insider. Hosted by Gretel Killeen. Michael McCoy was selected as the insider. Michael McCoy (born 16 June 1980) is a political science student from Sydney, New South Wales. He is of Anglo-Celtic and Filipino descent. Michael was the first housemate to enter the Big Brother House this year. On Day 2, he was given the task of the Insider by Big Brother, having been chosen by the viewing public. If he succeeded in his tasks, he would be immune from being nominated, but if he failed he would automatically be put up for eviction.
He failed his first mission within minutes of being assigned it, which required him to secretly spill water on a bed occupied by two housemates. Michael chose to spill water on Gaelan's bed, which at the time was occupied only by Gaelan. As he had also failed to empty the entire bottle, he received his first strike. He was subsequently given further missions, one of which required him to be nominated by at least eight fellow housemates in the next round of nominations. To complete the mission, he fabricated a story about a custody dispute involving his young son, Reuben, claiming that he wanted to leave the house to deal with the matter. Despite no longer being the Insider, Michael continued to cause conflict during Week 5 by hiding cutlery and the housemates' toothbrushes, refusing to reveal their locations even after his eviction and attempting to create uncertainty over whether another Insider remained in the house. He was the fifth housemate to be evicted, on Day 36, receiving 20% of the merged vote. Michael subsequently appeared on Rove Live. During the appearance, host Rove McManus remarked, "don't do that, you're not The Rock", after Michael raised his eyebrow, prompting Michael to respond that McManus was not as funny as the show's co-host Peter Helliar.
Surprise Eviction was a live show that was broadcast on the first Sunday (Day 8) following Launch, where the housemates each had to vote for two of the housemates that they wanted to see evicted. Kept hidden from them was that the two housemates with the most votes, Anna and Camilla, were not evicted; but were sent to the Revenge Room to secretly cause havoc on the house. Hosted by Gretel Killeen.
Unforgettable was a special live show aired on Day 9. Hosted by Gretel Killeen.
Revenge Room Return was a special live show aired on Day 10, two days after Anna and Camilla were evicted to the Revenge Room in Special Eviction. The one-hour episode incorporated the Daily Show. It ended with Anna and Camilla re-entering the house as John's special birthday gift. Hosted by Gretel Killeen.
Intruders Go In was a live special held on Day 24 (16 May 2006), when housemates Rob, Danielle and Jade were revealed and entered the House as Intruders throughout the night. Footage of Michael being revealed as the Insider to the housemates was also shown, including the reaction of the housemates. Rob entered first towards the end of the special. Jade entered the house shortly before Rove Live, and Danielle entered during UpLate.
Truth, Lies, Eviction was a live show used on Day 36. Big Brother felt that some housemates were lying or holding back on things about themselves, therefore flying Under the Radar. On Day 35, each housemate went into the diary room and was asked some questions. A lie-risk detector, said to be 90% accurate, was used to determine from the frequency of their voice whether or not they were lying. They weren't informed that a lie detector was used, or what the information would be used for until during Truth, Lies, Eviction was broadcast. The show also featured Michael's eviction, and the Daily Show was broadcast as part of Truth, Lies, Eviction.
Under the Radar was a show that aired during Day 38. Based on the results of Day 36's Truth, Lies, Eviction show, Big Brother selected five housemates that he felt were not contributing to the house, who were intentionally acting in a reserved manner to avoid conflict and thereby avoid being nominated, or flying Under the Radar. These housemates were up for a 24-hour public vote to decide which of them would be added to the list of housemates up for eviction that week. The public vote started on Day 37's Nominations show. The housemates Big Brother felt were "flying under the radar" were Ashley, Claire, Gaelan, John and Krystal. Based on viewer votes John and Krystal were added to the list of housemates up for eviction. On Eviction night, neither of them were evicted.
Intruders – Incoming was a live show that was broadcast on Day 60 (21 June 2006). In the show, new Intruders Darren and Perry entered the house. Lauren entered the House later, in UpLate. The Daily Show was broadcast as part of Intruders – Incoming. The show was hosted by Gretel Killeen.
Housemates on Trial was a live show that aired on Day 67 (28 June 2006). This special replaced a previously advertised special where housemates were to be hypnotised by hypnotist, Peter Powers, because not enough housemates consented to being hypnotised for enough footage to be produced for a special. In this special, Housemates were asked a series of questions previously submitted by viewers and were run through a Layered Voice Analysis device to determine how honest the housemates were with their answers. This device did not require housemates to give yes or no answers. This special ran in a similar format to the previous special Truth, Lies, Eviction, except without an Eviction. The show was hosted by Gretel Killeen.
The New Housemates was a live show aired on Day 80 (11 July 2006), where new housemates Max and Chris, both from New South Wales, entered the house to replace Ashley and John. Unlike Intruders, Chris and Max could nominate and be nominated immediately (the next opportunity to nominate would be six days later). Max entered during the special one-hour show, where he posed as Darren in a pirate costume, quickly being identified. Chris entered live during Rove. The Daily Show was broadcast as part of The New Housemates.
Surprise Eviction was a live show on Day 95 (26 July 2006), in which the Housemates were surprised by a special mid-week Eviction. The show was hosted by Gretel Killeen.
The Prize Fight was a special Friday Night Live that was broadcast on Day 97 (28 July 2006). This was the last Friday Night Live of Big Brother 2006. The housemates were told by Big Brother that there would be no Rewards Room, Three Boxes, or Three Point Twist to compete for; and no chores to allocate; but would instead be given the opportunity to win any amount up to $416,000 to add to the prize fund of $200,000, depending on what percentage of the games they successfully completed. Ryan Fitzgerald, co-host of Friday Night Live, was involved in one of the games, as an "Ex-Professional Football Player". At the end of the games, the housemates were told that they added $311,000 to the prize fund, giving the winner the opportunity to win $511,000, less all the fines the winning housemate had incurred during their stay in the Big Brother House as they were all repeatedly warned that their fine money could never be regained.
Surprise Visit was the last Daily Show of Big Brother 2006, and was broadcast on Day 99 (30 July 2006). Camilla became the 1500th Housemate to use the Diary Room, and won a date with Big Brother with three friends of her choice - which were the other three housemates in the House, by default. While they were in the Diary Room on their "date", David's, Jamie's and Max's mothers, and Camilla's best friend, had entered the House to cook a special dinner and leave items that the housemates would recognise. After their departure, the housemates were allowed back into the House to watch a video message from their loved ones while they were in the House. Hosted by Gretel Killeen.
Final Sunday Double Eviction was the last Eviction of Big Brother 2006, and was broadcast live in front of an audience on Day 99 (30 July 2006) from Dreamworld, and was hosted by Gretel Killeen. It was during this show that Max and David were evicted. On Day 98, the Final Four each had a separate discussion with Gretel in the Revenge Room, discussing their time in the house and what they may have regretted. During his eviction, David was nearly apparently attacked by a member of the crowd when he was making his walk through the auditorium to the Eviction stage. A security guard tackled the man, who was later revealed to be a friend of David's, to the ground, and David walked around them.
The season finale aired on Day 100 (31 July 2006) in which Jamie was announced the winner and Camilla the runner-up.
On 1 July 2006, a sexual assault during which John (real name Michael Bric) held down Camilla Severi on her bed while Ashley (Michael Cox) pushed his crotch into her face, resulted in the ejection of the pair from the show. The incident and in particular the Prime Minister John Howard's comments, who called the show "stupid", were reported internationally, running on CNN and the BBC and in various other international publications. Because of the incident, Big Brother – Adults Only ended its run after politicians warned Network Ten that its screening of the show could harm its push for media reforms.
The incident sparked a high level of discussion on Internet forums where commentators were split over whether the incident was playful fun or actual assault. In many forums there was overwhelming censure of the Big Brother series itself, with many calling for the show to be cancelled. Subsequent to the controversy the program's ratings showed an increase; however, this proved to be only a temporary boost; the show's regular ratings did not show a significant overall increase and the Daily Show continued to rate significantly lower than its competitors on other commercial networks. Network Ten indicated that they planned to continue producing the series despite the barrage of criticism. In the wake of the controversy, several former housemates came forward with descriptions of audition processes that require potential housemates to parade nude, and the frequent occurrence of sexual acts in the house similar to the one that the two housemates were ejected for.
Following the removal of the two offenders the show continued as normal, with housemate Gaelan evicted via the usual procedure the following day. In an interview, Gaelan claimed that the Big Brother producers had not advised housemates on how to deal with sexual tension. On the night of 3 July, Network Ten broadcast an interview with the ejected housemates John and Ashley speaking to Big Brother host Gretel Killeen. The two stated that the incident was only "out of fun", and that they "did not mean to hurt Camilla", as they have "a great deal of respect for her".
As a result of the incident, a report by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) was compiled a few days after the incident. The report concluded that loopholes in broadcasting rules should be closed, and Internet content regulations tightened. It was found that Big Brother itself could not be penalised as the footage was never broadcast by Network Ten but was seen only via web streaming, and the Internet falls outside ACMA's authority. Websites running the footage would not be penalised under other regulations governing web broadcasts as they had removed the footage when requested. Rival network current affairs programs A Current Affair on the Nine Network, and the Seven Network's Today Tonight, both broadcast the footage in full. Neither show faced a reprimand from ACMA as they can argue the footage was used as part of a news story. Presenting the ACMA report, Communications Minister Helen Coonan said that legislation to broaden the authority's regulatory powers to cover the Internet and mobile phone broadcasts, would be introduced into Parliament as soon as possible.
Host Gretel Killeen and evicted housemate Michael McCoy had a heated argument during the Monday live nomination show after he adamantly accused the producers of "editing" the footage with him and housemate David Graham to make it seem like they were kissing. McCoy censured that "it was great editing by Big Brother." Killeen took offense to this accusation, where she brusquely responded, "Listen mate, if you're going to tell me, when I've worked on a show for six years, that we have edited something and it has not been edited, I would like to know who told you that."
After the commercial break, Killeen apologised to McCoy, stating that she gets offended when housemates claim that the producers "edit material". At first, the show declined to air the footage of the alleged kiss, but later released the clip after objection from Michael McCoy and Big Brother fans. It was discovered that McCoy and Graham did not kiss, but only "appeared" to have kissed because they were filmed from a high-angle wide shot from behind, which gave the illusion that they were kissing. The incident and the heated interview garnered some media attention where it was labelled "The Gretel Incident" by some fans due to Gretel's aggressively defensive interviewing style with McCoy. When asked about the "Gretel Incident" on Rove Live, Michael suggested that Mike Goldman, host of Friday Night Live and Big Brother UpLate, or Ryan Fitzgerald, co-host of Friday Night Live and a former housemate, would be better suited to hosting Big Brother than Gretel Killeen.
There was a controversy regarding Michael McCoy's fabricated story about “Reuben”, whom he claimed was his nine-year-old son. Michael's third task required him to persuade eight housemates to nominate him for eviction in exchange for immunity. To achieve this, he invented a son named Reuben and claimed that he could lose custody of him in an impending paternity dispute if he could not leave the Big Brother compound. The story formed part of his role as the Big Brother Insider, but several housemates believed it was a genuine family crisis and became emotionally affected by it. Michael later explained that he wanted to “mix things up” in the game and was willing to do things he would not normally do in everyday life, saying he would do whatever was necessary to fulfil his role. After Big Brother revealed to the other housemates that Michael was the Insider and that the story about Reuben was fictional, several housemates reacted angrily to having been deceived, particularly Anna, who had a strained relationship with her father. Others felt that Michael had manipulated their emotions to complete his task. On Michael's eviction night, it was revealed that Reuben was actually the name of one of Michael's real-life friends. The controversy contributed to the tension surrounding his departure from the program.
Several 2006 housemates were contestants in an Australia's Brainiest special named Australia's Brainiest BB06 Housemate produced for Network Ten in the weeks following the end of the season. It was broadcast on 13 August 2006.
The phrase "game on, moles", coined by Anna Lind-Hansen during the 2006 series, was uttered after fellow housemate Karen, the mother of Krystal Forscutt, refused to continue sharing a bed with her following an argument. The remark became one of the program's most recognisable catchphrases and entered the Australian vernacular. Lind-Hansen later said she had no recollection of saying it, describing it as a spontaneous remark made "in the heat of the moment". 2006 Housemate David Graham appeared in Season 14 of Big Brother Australia, where past housemates merged with new players.