Elizabeth Woodcock

Big Brother 2001, also known as Big Brother 2, is the second series of the British reality television series Big Brother. The show followed eleven contestants, known as housemates, who were isolated from the outside world for an extended period of time in a custom-built House. Each week, one or more of the housemates were evicted by a public vote. The last remaining housemate, Brian Dowling, was declared the winner, winning a cash prize of £70,000. As with the previous series, Big Brother 2 lasted 64 days. It launched on Channel 4 on 25 May 2001 and ended on 27 July 2001, with Davina McCall returning as presenter. Ten housemates entered on launch night, with one additional housemate being introduced in the third week. The series was watched by an average of 4.5 million viewers, matching the average viewership of the first series. The Final however attracted Big Brother's biggest audience, with 13.7 million viewers - making it Channel 4's second most watched broadcast. It also spawned Big Brother's first ancillary show entitled Big Brother's Little Brother, presented by Dermot O'Leary. In 2010, Dowling was voted by the public as Big Brother's "Ultimate Housemate", after winning Ultimate Big Brother, the final series of the show to air on Channel 4. When Big Brother moved to Channel 5 in 2011, he replaced McCall as presenter, and remained in the role until 2013.