“PINOY Big Brother” (PBB) marks its 20th anniversary with an exciting milestone as GMA Network and ABS-CBN collaborate for “PBB Celebrity Collab Edition.”

On March 9, 2025, eight GMA Sparkle artists and seven ABS-CBN Star Magic talents entered the famous yellow house on Eugenio Lopez Drive in what is expected to be the most exciting and star-studded PBB celebrity edition ever.

Revealed during the first week of “PBB Celebrity Collab Edition” were GMA’s Will Ashley, Charlie Fleming, Josh Ford, AZ Martinez, Ashley Ortega, Michael Sager, Mika Salamanca and Dustin Yu. Representing the ABS-CBN side are AC Bonifacio, Esnyr, Brent Manalo, Klarisse de Guzman, River Joseph, Ralph de Leon and Kira Balinger.

Two houseguests have been welcomed into the house—vlogger and former “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo” star Ivana Alawi and Mavy Legaspi, one of GMA’s new additions to the hosting roster. As houseguests, they will stay briefly in the house to carry out tasks for Kuya, some of which are kept secret from the regular housemates.

Aside from Mavy, “PBB Celebrity Collab Edition” is hosted by Gabbi Garcia as well as Kapamilya mainstays Robi Domingo, Bianca Gonzalez, Melai Cantiveros, Kim Chiu, Enchong Dee and Alexa Ilacad.

Throwing it back

In the Lopez Group in August 2005, according to LopezLink in its issue 20 years ago: “Safety campaign starts in North Luzon Expressway,” “BayanTel brings Internet broadband to Bulacan,” “Kampanerang Kuba’ gabi-gabi na!,” “Over 30,000 storm the Rose Bowl for ASAP ‘05,” “‘Bridges’ chronicles Lopez Group CSR initiatives.”

Meanwhile, on Aug. 21, viewers watched, curious and fascinated, as the first batch of Filipino housemates finally entered the yellow house, capping months of anticipation for the groundbreaking reality show that had its roots in the Netherlands.

Over 25,000 applicants had auditioned to take on the challenge of living under the eyes and ears of cameras—there were 26 of them in 2005—and microphones for practically 24/7 for at least 100 days, but the number had been whittled to 30 hopefuls before Day 1. Days earlier, Thailand’s “Big Brother” had concluded its season. PBB was Asia’s second and the 31st in the world.

“Over the course of the 100- day season, ‘Pinoy Big Brother’ hopes that the close quarters and the constant coverage will bring the housemates’ best qualities to the fore, among them resiliency, intelligence and leadership. But one thing still remains unchanged; for most of their time inside the home, the housemates are involved in one thing—the creation of real human drama. Or, in the words of the ABS-CBN promo, ‘ang teleserye ng tunay na buhay,’” ABS-CBN’s Amy Mosura wrote in the LopezLink cover story 20 years ago.

The original 12 occupants of Kuya’s house were all in their 20s except for teacher Racquel Reyes, 31. A 13th housemate, Sam Milby, entered the house before the end of the first month as a replacement for Jenny Suico who voluntarily exited the house due to a personal emergency but eventually returned. Bob dela Cruz holds the distinction of being the first housemate to be forcibly evicted, on Day 50 (for medical reasons); following him out of the house was Franzen Fajardo on Day 91 (for various violations).

For months thereafter, PBB and the goings-on within the four walls of the PBB House became fodder for office chikahan: the love triangles, the quirky habits, the bickering and petty quarrels, and the occasional shockers. Housemates basked in the unrelenting spotlight, while others shrank and shriveled. Faced with a barrage of challenges, they either stood up (and stood out) or stepped back. Filipinos had never seen, never watched anything like it before.

One who undoubtedly stood out and made her mark was “Kumander” Nene Tamayo, who received the biggest number of text votes to become the inaugural Big Winner at the end of the show’s 100 days-plus run.

She was later joined by 17 other Big Winners: Keanna Reeves and Kim Chiu in 2006, Bea Saw in 2007, Ruben Gonzaga and Ejay Falcon in 2008, Melai Cantiveros and James Reid in 2010, Slater Young and Myrtle Sarrosa in 2012 and Daniel Matsunaga in 2014.

Winners in Year 10 onwards included Jimboy Martin and Miho Nishida in 2015, Maymay Entrata in 2017, Yamyam Gucong in 2019, Liofer Pinatacan in 2021, Anji Salvacion in 2022 and Fyang Smith in 2024. Jimboy and Miho were both named Big Winners in the special “PBB: 737” season, whose cast included a mix of teen and adult housemates.

Now, viewers are hunkering down for this biggest of PBB editions. Who will sparkle and star as the “PBB Celebrity Collab Edition” Big Winners?

Catch “PBB Celebrity Collab Edition” on weeknights at 10 p.m. and on weekends at 6:15 p.m. on GMA Network. Online viewers can also watch it via live streams on the PBB YouTube page, Kapamilya Online Live and iWantTFC. 

(With a report from GMA Corporate Affairs & Communications)