Entertainment

‘Goodbye my friend’ – Emma Willis bids Big Brother farewell ahead of final

The long-running TV show is coming to an end after 18 years.
The long-running TV show is coming to an end after 18 years. The long-running TV show is coming to an end after 18 years.

Emma Willis has said farewell to Big Brother ahead of the programme’s final ever episode.

The presenter – who has hosted the reality TV show since 2013 – posted a photograph of the script for Monday night’s finale on social media.

“Goodbye my friend….” Willis, 42, captioned the message, adding a single heart emoji.

View this post on Instagram

Goodbye my friend…. ❤️

A post shared by Emma Willis (@emmawillisofficial) on

The show started in 2000 on Channel 4 but ratings have declined over the years and in September this year it was announced by Channel 5 that the 19th series would be the last. Channel 5 took over the broadcast in 2011.

Former host Davina McCall has also commented ahead of the finale.

The presenter, 51, who hosted 11 series of the show between 2000 and 2010, posted a video on Twitter from Manchester where she is filming Channel 4 game show The £100K Drop.

She said: “I’m in Manchester working on The £100K Drop so I can’t be with you guys tonight.

“I really wanted to come by and say hello but I just wanted to say good luck Emma. You are amazing and brilliant. Good luck Rylan. I know it’s going to be very emotional. I hope you have a great night.

“Good luck to all the crew who work so hard on the show. I know it is going to be hard tonight but I’m sending you so much love.”

The final of the first series broadcast on Channel 4 in 2000 attracted 9.45 million viewers but the last episode of the most recent series, broadcast by Channel 5 in 2017, was watched by just 1.11 million.

The final episode of Big Brother airs on Monday at 10pm on Channel 5.