The first three people evicted from Big Brother Australia are people of colour, and it hasn't escaped the notice of viewers.
In the midst of a news week which has been centered on protests around Aboriginal deaths in custody and the international Black Lives Matter movement, the point was raised that the first three 'evictees' - Laura, Allan, and Soobong - have been people of colour.
Korean-born delivery driver Soobong Hwang's eviction followed the eliminations of Fijian-Australian dancer Laura Coriakula in the first round and Chinese-Australian corporate salesman Allan Liang in the second. Liang had said he wanted to be the "first Asian housemate to win Big Brother Australia".
The new series of Big Brother Australia sees 20 housemates aged between 19 and 62 competing to win a $250,000 cash prize. Unlike in previous series, they vote each other out, like Survivor, albeit in a big shiny house rather than a tropical island.
Housemates compete in so-called 'nomination challenges' each episode, with the winner gaining the power to nominate three fellow Housemates for eviction. Then, for the first time since Big Brother Australia premiered in 2001, housemates cast individual votes to evict one of the three nominees (in the 'before' times the public would vote to evict).
While social media appears largely divided on the matter, Allan, who is still under contract with the now pre-recorded show, said in an interview with Huffington Post that it was just “coincidence and bad luck” that he, Laura and Soobong had been the first housemates evicted.
However, viewers aren't so sure.
"Wow... three evictions and three people of colour evicted," tweeted unofficial fan website Behind Big Brother.
"The housemates obviously have a racial bias problem. 'They didn’t fit in, they are a threat, they’re different'. Excuses excuses."
Another viewer tweeted: "Both can be true. The main issue is that POC have to do more to not be targeted. There's a lot of people who don't really know what they're doing, but POC just have to stand out a little to become the targets."
