Paul Osborne

I mean, I think Jade was just generally quite polarizing.

Like, you know, she was polarizing from the outset.

You either, you know, sort of like really took to her and sort of loved her warmth and her bubbliness, but you could also be like, you know, a little, she could be a lot.

And so that was, you know, you're sort of looking at her thinking, could I live with this person?

Not that that's the criteria for casting someone, but you... In fact, the opposite.

In fact, in many ways, the opposite.

We were looking for a real mix of characters and she was so, so different from anyone else.

Because Big Brother at that time was such a huge show and it was such a massive opportunity for just ordinary people to become something just by sort of being themselves.

So you're kind of conscious of that from the outset.

This is like a possible life-changing moment for people.

Well, I think the first thing I would say is that it's not like one person making the decision.

It's a collective group of producers from senior to the lower level of producers.

So everyone is responsible in many ways for putting together the cast on Big Brother.

But yes, no, there's a hugely robust...

psychological screening process that everyone goes through.

And, you know, and also from a producer's responsibility aspect, you're making sure that you, you know, that these people are going to be able to handle the experience because obviously it's quite intense.

Totally.

I mean, from the outset, though, they send their videotapes in back in the day when you had to buy a video camera or borrow one.

You know, from the moment that we receive the application videos and we start talking to them and then when we invite them to the sort of group audition days and then throughout that process, as it gets closer and closer to the selection part of it, they're constantly made aware of the intensity of the experience and the fact that,

you know, that you're putting yourself out there to be judged both internally within the house and externally with the public.