Pinoy Big Brother: Double Up

There were a total of twenty-six housemates - twenty official housemates, four sub-official housemates, and two replacement housemates, who entered the Houses: the first set of 14 housemates entered on Day 1 (October 4, 2009), while a second set of 10 were introduced on Day 7 (October 10, 2009). A third batch of two housemates entered the house on Day 43 (November 15, 2009). They are divided below by the batch from which they were introduced and House in which they live. The ages indicated were the housemates' ages upon their entrance to the house. The twins are marked with different colors. A table is included to show the housemates shifted houses in the duration of the show.

The first batch of housemates entered the Houses on Day 1 (October 4, 2009) in the order shown. They appeared and disappeared from stage with the use of several magic tricks, with a Magic-themed kick-off. Filipino-American artist Amber Davis sang the theme song, with ex-housemates Jason Gainza, Cassandra Ponti and Franzen Fajardo from Season 1, Niña Jose from Teen Edition 1, and Wendy Valdez and Gee-Ann Abrahan from Season 2.

The second batch of Housemates entered the Big Brother House on Day 7 (October 10, 2009), during another special show called "The Spooktacular Reveal," utilizing a haunted house theme.[4] Housemates were escorted by hosts Bianca and Mariel to the front door of the house. While the 10 housemates in the two houses danced to the tune of Thriller, outside the house, present were Big Winners and ex-housemates Nene Tamayo from Season 1, John Prats from Celebrity Edition 1, Beatriz Saw and Mickey Perz from Season 2, Robi Domingo from Teen Edition Plus, and the recently evicted Double-up housemates Kenny and Toffi Santos and JM Lagumbay.

On Day 41 (November 13, 2009), right after Big Brother announced Tom's forced eviction to the housemates, primetime edition host Toni Gonzaga revealed that new housemate(s) - confirmed during the following night's broadcast as a guy and a girl - would enter the house. The new housemates entered on Day 43 (November 15, 2009).[5]

Swap Housemates Cathy from the Philippines (upper left) and Kätlin from Finland (right) finally meet through Skype.

It was announced by the program on Day 21 (October 24, 2009) that another Big Brother Swap would take place. This time, one from either House would trade places with another housemate from another foreign edition of Big Brother. This would also be the second time that Pinoy Big Brother linked up with other foreign versions of the show, Season 2 being the first, when housemate Bruce Quebral traded places with Tina Semolič from the first season of Big Brother Slovenia.

On Day 26, it was announced by the host that the show would be swapping housemates with Big Brother Finland's fifth season. On October 29, 2009, ABS-CBN's YouTube channel, iABS-CBN, uploaded a video confirming that the housemate from Big Brother Finland who will swap places in the Philippines is Kätlin Laas (video), a 22-year-old food processing plant worker originally from Rakvere, Estonia but migrated to Finland at the age of 16, and is currently living in Seinäjoki, Finland. On Day 27, it was announced that Cathy from Group A, then currently living in House B, would be swapping with Kätlin and would be going to Finland to live in their Big Brother House for a week. Cathy's selection was made through a series of tasks on which the housemates underwent on the watchful eyes of the Finnish producers.

Kätlin left the Big Brother Finland House on Day 26 (Day 66 of the Finnish version) and enter either Philippine House on Day 29 (Day 69 of the Finnish version). She was supposed to arrive in the Philippines and enter either House the day before, but her flight was delayed due to weather disturbances caused by Typhoon Santi. Hours before her entrance, she had a brief appearance on the show The Buzz. On the other hand, Cathy was supposed to leave in the morning of Day 28 (Day 68 of the Finnish version) but their flight was postponed to a later hour of the day.

Much like the first Big Swap, events from both Houses are chronicled. Also, all conversations in English are subtitled in Filipino and all Finnish conversations and confessions are dubbed over by Filipino voice actors. For the Finnish version, clips from the Philippine house are shown in the Big Brother Extra show, while conversations in English are subtitled in Suomi.

The Big Swap started on the evening of Day 29 (Day 69 of the Finnish version). Kätlin initially stayed in House A upon her arrival on Day 29. She transferred to House B on Day 31. On Day 32, Cathy and Kätlin were finally able to meet through a video call through Skype. Later that day, Kätlin returned to House A. She left the Philippine House on the morning of Day 34 (early morning of Day 74 of the Finnish version). She was briefly interviewed for the morning show Umagang Kay Ganda just after stepping outside the front door. Meanwhile, Cathy entered on the evening of Day 69 of the Finnish version (early morning of Day 30 of the Philippines version). She left six days later on the evening of Day 74 of the Finnish version (early morning of Day 35 of the Philippine version), signaling the end of the Big Swap.

Kätlin left the Philippines the same day she left the Pinoy Big Brother house and re-entered their house in the early morning of Day 75 of the Finnish version (Day 35 of the Philippine version). Cathy left Finland the morning after she left the Finnish Big Brother house and re-entered the Pinoy Big Brother house on the evening of Day 36 (Day 76 of the Finnish version).

Below is a list of activities each swapped housemate did in their respective host country's Houses, aside from introductions and trading of basic phrases:

Also, both Philippine and Finnish houses had weekly tasks involving housemates doing a 30-minute cultural variety show portraying their countries' cultures to their visitors. The Filipino housemates should include Kätlin in their presentation while the Finnish housemates should work four at a time in the upstairs room while Cathy is not around. However, it was later revealed that the real weekly task of the Filipino housemates is to make Kätlin feel the Filipino hospitality, to which she felt that both houses were friendly, yet she felt more warmth with House A.

More than three weeks after the Swap ended, on Day 97 of the fifth Finnish season, Kätlin was proclaimed as second placer, behind Aso.

On Day 71 (December 13, 2009), Big Brother designated Hermes, Johan, and Patrick as the three kings, which were tasked to designate the ten stars containing gifts to the ten other housemates in the house.

• 1st Gift: Aral ng Pagpapakumbaba (Lesson In Humility) (Day 71) - the housemate had to live, sleep and eat in a kariton, a wooden pushcart for three days (given to Paul Jake)
• 2nd Gift: Aral sa Pagtitipid ng Damit (Lesson on Frugality in Clothing) (Day 71) - the housemate had to wear a bahag, the native clothing of the Ifugao, for three days (given to Tibo)
• 3rd Gift: Date with a Celebrity (Day 72) - the housemate had to act like a refined Filipino, in exchange for a date with a favorite celebrity (given to Melisa)
• 4th Gift: Aral ng Pagtitipid sa Pagkain (Lesson on Frugality in Food) (Day 73) - the housemate will have to eat nothing but sweet potatoes for three days (given to Rica)
• 5th Gift: Washing Machine (Day 73) - the housemate had to wash the other housemates' clothes while they are still wearing them, in exchange for a washing machine and dryer (given to Carol)
• 6th Gift: Digicam (Day 74) - given to a housemate who likes to pose in front of the cameras inside the house. The recipient must teach a certain housemate (Carol) how to walk like a fashion model. (given to Cathy)
• 7th Gift: Aral sa Pagtitipid ng Tubig (Lesson on Frugality in Water) (Day 75) - the housemate has to keep herself from taking a bath (in the bathroom or in the swimming pool) (given to Sam)
• 8th Gift: Malaman ang Katotohanan (To Know the Truth) (Day 76) - each of the three kings will give one nomination point to a common housemate and directly explain their reasons. (given to Kath)
• 9th Gift: Tricycle (Day 86) - the housemate will become a house servant for four days, where he needs to do all the chores of the house and must obey everything the other housemates tell him to do. The housemate will also be the first to wake up and the last to sleep. These sacrifices will be in exchange for a tricycle. For every mistake the housemate makes, a part of the tricycle will be removed. (given to Jason)
• 10th Gift: Laptop (Day 93) - the housemate would become a teacher to Dengue and two other "mischievous classmates" (namely Clownie and Chacky) which are actually dolls for three days. (given to Mariel)

Both houses do the same weekly task. By the end of the week, Big Brother assesses each house. Assessment would depend whether the task is a competition between two houses or each house would be assessed on its own. If the task is a competition, the winning house gets their allowance for the upcoming week while the losing house gets no money.

Group A housemates are housemates initially from House A while Group B housemates are housemates initially from House B, with the exception of Tom, originally part of House A, and Melisa, originally part of House B, who were swapped by Big Brother before the end of the first weekly task. For the fourth weekly task, the housemates swapped houses, and Rob and Carol swapped groups.

For the sixth weekly task, aside from the weekly budget, the winning house only had the housemate/s with the highest point as its nominee/s for the following week while the losing house had the housemates with the top three different points as its nominees. As a reward in the fourth and last challenge, the Group A got their clothes and the house of their choice.

For the seventh weekly task, aside from the weekly budget, the winning house will only have the housemate/s with the highest point as its nominee/s and also be able to give one housemate from the losing house an automatic nomination. As winners, Group B got their clothes.

Before the eighth weekly task started, the females of each group swap houses. Males from Group A and females from Group B were to be known as "Neo-Group A" while females from Group A and males from Group B were to be known as "Neo-Group B".

As the two houses became one, on Day 68, Big Brother revealed to the housemates two new twists this season, the Head of Household and Hand Grenade twists. The Head of Household twist is similar to the twist of the second season of Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Edition. Each week, the housemates will undergo HOH competitions. The HOH for the week will get the following privileges for winning:

• Immunity from nominations
• Use of shower room at any time
• Being able to receive items from the outside world that they desire
• Sending a text message to anyone at the outside world

A housemate will be chosen each week to become a hand grenade user, where they will be forced to give the full three points for nominations face-to-face to another housemate, as a consequence of losing in the HOH competition. Beginning the third HOH game, the hand grenade holder is given the alternative to automatically nominate themselves for eviction instead of giving all three points to another housemate.

For their final HOH competition in Day 111, Big Brother revealed that the final Head of Household will also be the Hand Grenade user, where the HOH will give an automatic nomination to one housemate.

The housemate first mentioned in each nomination gets two points, while the second gets one point. The percentage of votes shown is the percentage of votes to save unless other wise stated.

At least two housemates from each house will be up for eviction. This means that there are at least four housemates nominated every nomination night. However, the housemate with lowest number of votes, no matter which house s/he is in, would be eliminated. Group A housemates are housemates initially from House A while Group B housemates are housemates initially from House B, with the exception of Tom, originally part of House A, and Melisa, originally part of House B, who were swapped by Big Brother before the first nomination. The color for the names of the votes and nominees indicate the group to which they each belong at the time of nomination and subsequent salvation from eviction.

On Day 23, the housemates switched houses, with Group A living in House B and vice versa. On Day 24, Rob and Carol swapped Groups and Houses, and are now therefore part of Groups B and A respectively. The color for groups did not change however.

On Day 39, as a result of the 4th game in the 6th weekly task, Group A and Group B housemates swapped houses once again. The color for groups did not change however.

On Day 50, the females of each group switched Houses. Group A's males and Group B's females were to be called "Neo-Group A," while Group A's females and Group B's males were to be known as "Neo-Group B." Both of the new-groups were therefore given new colors below; the colors for the Houses stay the same.

On Day 57, Big Brother announced that all housemates are up for eviction, with the viewers voting to evict.

On Day 63, Big Brother announced that the remaining housemates would be living in House A. Carol, Hermes, Melisa, Rica and Yuri were told to stay in House B to await the announcement of the evictee the following day. On Day 64, the fourteen remaining housemates all stayed in House A.

From the eighth nomination night onwards, a new voting scheme was used, wherein the viewers are given the choice of voting to save or voting to evict a housemate. The percentage of evict votes will be added from the percentage of save votes, the voting difference being used as basis. The housemate who gets the lowest difference is evicted from the house. Also, with the housemates already living in one house, the housemates with the three highest points will be nominated for eviction.

On Day 68, Big Brother announced that there will be Head of Household (HOH) competitions each week. The HOH gets immunity from nominations in their respective week. The hand grenade user gets to give the full three points to one housemate face to face. For the eighth and ninth nomination night, this is done before the other housemates nominated. From the tenth nomination night onwards, this is done after the other housemates nominated. Starting from the tenth nomination night onwards, the hand grenade user can also opt to give himself an Automatic Nomination instead of giving the three points to another housemate.

On Day 105, eight ex-housemates returned to take part in a twist by Big Brother. These housemates remained as ex-housemates and were not re-instilled as regular housemates. Five of the eight ex-housemates were given their repeated eviction on Day 112. The remaining three ex-housemates stayed for one more week and were given their repeated eviction on Day 119. Their first eviction status was maintained, however.

On Day 120, the six remaining housemates had a different manner of nominations, giving one point to two housemates they feel should leave face-to-face. However, Big Brother announced that all six housemates, including Melisa who has a sure spot in the Big 5, are up for eviction this week.

Legend

Bold Italicized name Indicates that the housemate won the "Big Jump to the Big Night"; however was still included in the list of remaining housemates, who will face the public vote, which is for the Big Winner.

Blue names indicate nominees from Group A

Red names indicate nominees from Group B

Green names indicate nominees from Neo-Group A

Dark orange names indicate nominees from Neo-Group B

  Automatic Nomination (due to violation(s) committed, as a reward for the winning house, as imposed by the Hand Grenade User)

The finale of the season, dubbed Big Date on the Big Night, was held at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila. As the finale was held a day before Valentine's Day, the show was partly given a Valentine/prom night theme. References to the Chinese zodiac and anything Chinese also abounded as the show was also held on the eve of Chinese New Year.

Big Date on the Big Night logo.

The opening song which references the Big 5 were sung by Bugoy Drilon, Jay-R Siaboc, Mark Bautista, Rocksteddy's Teddy Corpuz, Yeng Constantino and Charice Pempengco. The 21 ex-housemates also performed dances done throughout the season, namely Drinking Boys, 'Di Makatulog (the Filipino version of Insomnia), the Indian tiger dance, and even Can't Take My Eyes Off You. Accompanying the housemates were Sheryn Regis, Harish Singh, and Charlie Green in each of the last three mentioned.

To drum up support for each of the finalists, color-coded cheerleaders and live satellite feeds from Cebu, General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, and Mindoro were also seen.

The finale also announced the coming of the third Teen Edition, Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Clash 2010, as well as the appearances of the cast of Rubi, the Jabawockeez, and Kim Chiu.

The season was won by Melisa, who amassed 1,226,675 votes or 32.08% of the entire vote since it began since Day 120. Leaving before her were Paul Jake (1,044,275 votes or 27.31%), Jason (954,961 votes or 24.97%), Johan (303,751 votes or 7.94%), and Tibo (294,262 votes or 7.69%), who left the House as the so-called 5th Big Placer.

This table shows the summary of votes as obtained by each of the Big 5 in the Big Night.

On February 14, 2010, a day after the Big Night, the ex-housemates - minus Princess, Tom and Rocky - returned to the Big Brother House one more time to reflect on the season. The evictees were interviewed by Bianca in House B while Toni and the Big Five gathered in House A. Mariel handled things from the Confession Room. Cathy and Hermes received a call from Big Brother Finland winner Aso and second-placer Katlin. Toni admitted to the Big Five that the interviews for the Big Swap were fake. They were greeted by Big Utol and visited by Vilma Santos, who advised them about the challenges of a showbiz career. Big Brother delivered his farewell address to the Housemates.

• Official website