Big Brother's Will Best Might Host ITV Launch Show Solo as AJ Odudu Loses Her Voice

Ah, the reality television world—the land where the absurd meets the ordinary, and drama transcends the mundane. As Big Brother gears up to re-enter our lives this weekend, it appears that the show might just be suffering from a serious case of bad luck. Yes, you guessed it—our beloved hosts, Will Best and AJ Odudu, are feeling more under the weather than a soggy sponge left in the rain.

Will, the dashing 39-year-old who’s probably still trying to shake off his stint on Celebrity Coach Trip, has confessed to suffering from a rather unglamorous stiff neck. Comforting, isn’t it? Just as the world prepares to tune in for six weeks of unscripted chaos, our charismatic host finds himself struggling to turn his head without resembling a mechanical bobblehead. “I’ve got an emergency physio in a couple of hours,” he declares, as if that somehow alleviates the tension of the moment. You have to hand it to him, though—nothing says 'ready for live television' quite like a neck injury.

But wait, there’s more! AJ, the dazzling 36-year-old former Strictly Come Dancing contestant, has also caught the bug. She’s hoarse, folks! And not the ‘I’ve just sung my heart out at karaoke’ kind of hoarse, but the ‘please don’t ask me to read the menu’ kind. Will recounted their recent podcast recording, where AJ struggled to get her voice past a whisper. It’s almost poetic, isn’t it? Two hosts ready to spring into action, only to be sidelined by the cruel hand of illness.

Yet, in the tumble of sickness, Will manages to sprinkle some hopeful optimism in the mix. He reassures us that this season of Big Brother—the 21st no less, and the second civilian version to grace our screens via ITV—will be bigger and better than ever. Because, of course, bigger and better means pitting unsuspecting members of the public against each other in a tantalizing cocktail of surveillance and drama. Who knew reality TV could be such a brilliant study in human behavior?

Will promises that the tasks will be upgraded this season. “Maybe a little learning... not that I’m suggesting last year’s tasks were less than phenomenal,” he muses, elegantly dodging the all-too-common reality TV pitfall of mediocrity. Oh, the irony! Will’s enthusiasm is palpable, which is almost enough to distract from the fact that he’s trying not to look like a statue on the verge of toppling over.

As the launch night approaches, we’re reminded of last season’s triumphant winner, Jordan Sangha. The 26-year-old lawyer from Scunthorpe captured hearts not just with his charm but also with a budding romance that blossomed amidst the cameras—turning what could have been just another social experiment into a love story for the ages. “Who knows, I love him to bits,” quipped his partner Henry Southan, leaving us all to wonder if perhaps the real prize of Big Brother was the connections made within those four walls.

So, as we await the launch of this season—wherein the British public will be surveilled around the clock for 36 days—let's keep our fingers crossed for Will and AJ. Perhaps they’ll triumph over their ailments, or maybe they’ll provide us with a new layer of entertainment as they navigate their respective sicknesses. Either way, one thing is clear: Big Brother is back, and it’s certain to bring us the melodrama we crave, one stiff neck at a time.