Bell Media is reviving "Big Brother Canada," the reality TV series that was cancelled by Corus Entertainment two years ago.
Taking over as host is Andrea Bain of CTV's daytime talk show "The Social," with filming is set to begin next spring in Montreal.
The show is headlining the broadcaster's 2026/2027 programming lineup announcement, which also includes a remake of "The Littlest Hobo" produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and several new raunchy comedies such as TV version of the 1979 classic "Meatballs."
The "Big Brother" reboot is part of an overall franchise deal that will see the U.S. version of the show air on CTV and Crave in 2027. It also includes the Canadian series’ back catalogue, with 12 seasons to be available on Crave.
Justin Stockman, Bell Media's vice-president of global content, said he thinks the format will attract audiences to linear television, while data shows reality shows "kill it" on streaming service Crave.
He said Bain will continue to be on "The Social," and that the new shooting location in Montreal — at the "Big Brother Célébrités" house — will be less costly than the previous iteration of the show, where the set was built from scratch each season.
"Big Brother Canada" aired on Global TV for 12 Seasons hosted by Arisa Cox, and was cancelled in 2024. It was produced by Insight Productions in association with Corus Entertainment and Banijay Rights.
At the time, Corus released a statement citing many factors in the decision, including "audience trends, available support from sponsors and advertisers, and production and licensing costs."
Stockman said he's not worried about those factors this time around.
"With 'The Traitors,' with 'Love Island,' like a lot of these competition reality series kill it on streaming. They also do really well with live viewing on linear. And we just feel like with our properties, having both CTV and Crave, it would be able to get more bang for our buck."
Under Bell, it will be produced by the Quebec production company Entourage, which also produces "The Traitors Canada."
Another property Bell is promoting that was formerly with Corus is "Saturday Night Live," which moves to the network in the fall.
Stockman said the show was up for renewal and Bell Media felt there was a missed opportunity to capture the streaming audience, airing it on Crave at the same time as CTV.
Feature image via CBC
