The Big Brother Australia house is full of strangers, secret strategies and people who are about to spend far too much time together. But this year, a few housemates are walking in with connections that go beyond the front door.
Ryan and Tahlia are entering the house together, with one big catch… their fellow contestants aren’t supposed to know they’re brother and sister. Meanwhile, Anita and Pam have their own family links to the show’s past.
Speaking to WHO, Ryan and Tahlia reveal how they’ll keep their sibling secret under wraps, while Anita and Pam share what it means to enter the house with links to Big Brother’s past.
Ryan and Tahlia have one very big secret
Imagine moving into the Big Brother house with your sibling and having to act like you’ve never met. Awkward? Just a little.
Ryan, 27, and Tahlia, 25, are entering the competition together, but their fellow housemates aren’t supposed to know they’re brother and sister. And while having a built-in ally could come in handy, the pair will have to be careful not to give themselves away or turn others offside.
For Ryan, the bigger challenge might be keeping his mouth shut once the game gets going. He reckons his honest nature could make nominations particularly tricky, especially if he gets close to the other contestants.
“I do think I’m going to struggle in there when it comes to like voting people, especially when I become darls with them,” he told WHO. “I’ll probably tell them I voted them, and I’ll feel very bad, and I’m very honest.”
There’s also the risk that revealing their relationship could put them both on the eviction radar, with Ryan predicting the other housemates might see them as a ready-made alliance.
“As soon as they know that I’ve got a sibling there, they’re gonna think, ‘Oh, there’s two of them, get them up for eviction’.”
Whether the siblings can keep their cover intact is another question entirely. After all, it’s one thing to hide a secret from strangers, but quite another when you’re living together around the clock.
Anita and Pam have some familiar family ties
Ryan and Tahlia aren’t the only housemates with a connection to Big Brother history.
Anita, 47, is the sister of two-time winner Reggie Bird. Pam, 61, is the mum of former housemate Kieran Davidson.
For longtime fans, Reggie needs little introduction.
She first won Big Brother in 2003 before returning nearly two decades later to claim a second victory in 2022, becoming the only Australian housemate to win the show twice. Now, her sister Anita is stepping into the house herself, ready to make her own mark on the competition.
Anita is “looking forward to meeting [her] fellow contestants and everyone else’s life stories”, with a little time by the pool also on her wish list.
Pam’s connection comes through her son Kieran, who appeared on the 2020 season of Big Brother. He became a memorable part of that season’s nomination drama, receiving the most nominations from his fellow housemates.
For Pam, the chance to live alongside a group of strangers is a big part of the appeal.
“I really like to meet new people and just to see what makes them tick, sort of find out about what they do,” she told WHO. “Because I think there’s endless amounts of jobs that people do that I don’t know about.”
With two siblings trying to keep their relationship hidden and two other housemates connected to familiar names from the show’s past, this year’s cast has plenty of history before the game has even properly begun.
And if Ryan and Tahlia’s secret gets out, their family connection could become a whole lot more than a fun fact.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
