BBUK: Jamie and Alice Won't Be Back

Talk about burying the lead!

Today, The Sun has an article about upcoming changes on BBUK's "Bit on the Side", headlined "Emma Willis lands role on Big Brother's Bit On the Side."

Classically uncomfortable moments with BOTS

The real story, though?

“Sadly, Jamie and Alice won’t be back.”

Say that again?

“Sadly, Jamie and Alice won’t be back.”

Apparently, the show is "trying to go more upmarket". That shouldn't be too hard, they've really got nowhere to go but up. 

Jamie East had gotten tiresome to the point that I gave up on the spin-off show in the last couple of seasons. His trolling-the-fans shtick was kind of funny at first, especially when fans took the bait, but at a certain point, and a pretty quick one at that, it just got old. Jamie could have been funny as a subversive outsider, but as a content producer for the show, it became uncomfortable to see him deliberately stirring the fans' anger, over and over. Probably his best BBUK moment wasn't funny because of him, but because of his interview subject, and that one didn't end especially well. 

If you want to generate interest in Big Brother, wouldn't it be easier to restore the live feeds than to produce an entire hour of Bit on the Side every day? Don't answer that. No one from the Big Brother team will. 

So the only question left: Is Rylan Clark considered "upmarket"? Normally I'd say no, but again, this is BOTS. There's really nowhere to go but up.