In 2000, while auditioning to be the narrator of a new reality series called Big Brother, Marcus Bentley said the word “chickens” – and TV history was made. The show’s bosses, he found out years later, were immediately sold on how one particular line from the audition script sounded in Bentley’s languid Geordie accent. That line was, “Darren is in the garden feeding the chickens.” And ever since, Bentley has remained Big Brother’s one true constant in its ever-changing 23 years.
Big Brother is the ultimate reality TV social experiment. First launching to huge ratings in the Netherlands in September 1999, the series was brought to the UK the following year, introducing 10 contestants, from all walks of life, who were placed in a purpose-built house filled with cameras in every corner – bar the toilet. Over the years, as the show’s “voice of God”, Bentley has become known for his delivery of the phrase “the diary room” and the line opening each episode: “Day [insert number here] in the Big Brother house.” At the time of writing, he has uttered this sentence a total of 2,008 times. Bentley’s job, more than just reading a script in a sound booth, is to steer viewers through each episode, not to mention the emotional highs and lows of the many housemates.
The lure of Bentley’s voice speaks such volumes that the narrator has been recruited once again for the reboot, which launches on ITV1, ITV2 and ITVX tonight, with new hosts AJ Odudu and Will Best. The channel is promising a back-to-basics version of the series, which ran from 2000 to 2010 on Channel 4 before hopping over to Channel 5 from 2011 to 2018, and nobody is more excited about the revival than Bentley.
“As soon as I heard it was returning, I was like, ‘I hope they choose me,’ because you never know with TV – but I’m so glad to be back,” the 56-year-old tells me. It’s strange to hear his voice over Zoom in my living room; I almost find myself looking around for hidden cameras. “My daughter is 23 now, and obviously she watched Big Brother a bit when she was younger, but she’s gleaned a lot of her knowledge from TikTok. She was like, ‘Dad, I didn’t know Gemma Collins had done Celebrity Big Brother!’ I’m looking forward to moving ahead with a new generation.”
Bentley, who will record most episodes from his home in Bristol, acknowledges that “some things benefit from a rest”, but thinks that now is the perfect time for the show’s return. “During lockdown, there were loads of people going, ‘It’s about time Big Brother was coming back,’” he says. “It’s been away for five years and people are gagging for it. People might say, ‘Ah, we’ve seen it all before,’ but with Big Brother, you haven’t seen it all before! We’re getting complete strangers from all walks of life and new preposterous tasks.”
The narrator says the success of Big Brother rests with one “crucial” factor – the housemates. Throughout our chat, he names a handful of his favourites: series two winner Brian Dowling, the now-legendary Jade Goody (series three), Nikki “who is she?” Grahame (series seven) and future This Morning presenter Josie Gibson (series 11). He also mentions series six’s Makosi Musambasi, who was at the centre of what Bentley calls his most memorable episode: the one when, after a night of canoodling in the hot tub with eventual winner Anthony Hutton, she asks Big Brother for a pregnancy test. He keeps in touch with the odd housemate via social media, but once found himself living in the vicinity of the show’s most infamous contestant: Nicholas Bateman, from the first ever series in 2000. He earned the moniker “Nasty Nick” after being caught manipulating the show’s nomination process. “We’d never met before, but when I lived in Canterbury, I started hanging out with him,” Bentley tells me. “We’d meet up for coffee. My wife and I would go for dinner at his house.”
Something that has changed since Big Brother was last on screen is the thoroughness of duty-of-care guidelines in reality TV. ITV has unveiled its updated guidelines, many of which are similar to the safeguarding measures introduced for Love Island. However, Bentley feels that the Big Brother team have always upheld stringent guidelines when it comes to dealing with the mental health of every housemate. “Back in the day, there was a psychiatrist who worked on the show called Gareth Smith,” he says. “The duty of care was second to none; everyone was well looked after. Because it must be very strange – you must get stressed no matter how happy-go-lucky you are. So any time, day or night, you could go and see Big Brother and talk about your day – and I’m sure, with things that have gone on in the TV world in recent years, it’s even bigger and better these days.”
People hear me talk on trains and look around, like, ‘Oh, it’s that guy’— Marcus Bentley
Bentley is happy to stick with the narration and doesn’t think he “could cope” as a housemate. “It’s not for everybody, which is why I know they’ve looked carefully at people,” he says. “They might have interesting options for housemates. but their health has to be looked at. It must be incredibly stressful for the wrong type of person, which is why they are vigorously chosen for lots of reasons.”
Long before the idea of Big Brother even crossed a TV commissioner’s mind, Bentley had studied at the East 15 Acting School in Essex. After graduating, he worked on numerous projects: the 1995 drama Mad Dogs and Englishmen alongside C Thomas Howell and Elizabeth Hurley, ITV series London Burning and several advertisements. He later sidelined his acting career after nabbing the Big Brother role, which, unbeknown to him, would lead to his voice becoming one of the most famous in the country. But unlike stars with well-known faces, Bentley has the peculiar experience of being recognised in public only when he opens his mouth.
“One day, I was with my daughter and we were in Clarks,” he says, “and the lady recognised my voice and went, ‘It’s you!’ And she ran around the shop going, ‘Oh my God! Oh my God!’ If you’re an actor or a pop star, you’d walk in and immediately get a response, but if I say something to a fan of the show... I’ve had a lot of those reactions over the years: people hear me talk on trains and look around, like, ‘Oh, it’s that guy.’ It’s invariably a great reaction.”
Bentley entered the house in a 2010 episode to try to distract John James Parton and Josie Gibson— (Shutterstock)
More recently, Bentley has been dabbling in the world of acting once again. “The last couple of years, I’ve been doing things I should have done a long time ago,” he says, adding that this year he did voiceover acting work for a Sky Television children’s show called Mittens and Pants, his “second-favourite job outside of Big Brother”. I wonder if being so synonymous with Big Brother has affected the opportunities that come his way. He says that while a lot of jobs “come off the back of the show”, he understands why he might not be the chosen candidate for promoting big brands. “I guess if I advertised Cornflakes, they’re going to think of Big Brother and not the Cornflakes,” he admits.
But Bentley is hired for a lot of corporate events due to his reality TV affiliation. “That’s how I make a living,” he says. “They wouldn’t want me if I wasn’t on Big Brother.”
Fortunately for Bentley, then, he’s going to be busy for the next six weeks while Big Brother airs. “I’m so grateful that I’m part of the show moving into a new era,” he says. “And all the people who loved the show, who’ll be coming back to watch it, know who I am. I’ve been love bombed by people telling me, ‘It wouldn’t be the same without you.’ It’s really lovely to hear.”
‘Big Brother’ premieres on ITV1, ITV2 and ITVX at 9pm on Sunday 8 October
