Fans say Big Brother has become 'soft' after Hallie and Olivia’s punishment for breaking rules

While many fans have been absolutely loving the 'ultimate social experiment' that finally returned to our screens after five long years, it's clear many viewers are raging over the punishment two contestants received after breaking one of the biggest rules in the house.

The long-awaited ITV reboot of Big Brother premiered earlier this month (8 October), introducing excited audiences to the house's 16 contestants who are now all battling it out in a hopes of pocketing the staggering £100,000 cash prize.

We've all been glued to our tellies watching the chaos unfurl with the latest drama seeing Hallie and Olivia sneakily trying to speak in code about nominations by writing secret messages on each other's backs using their fingers.

Fans have since slammed the show for becoming 'soft' over the housemates' punishment for breaking the major rule. Have a look:

It's clear that Big Brother sees everything after show's new co-host AJ Odudu confirmed on the live spin-off show, Big Brother: Late & Live, that the pair will face Big Brother's wrath in last night's (19 October) show.

"I can confirm that we've only had a blooming rule-break!" she said. "Big Brother caught Hallie and Olivia drawing housemates' names on each other's backs but don't worry, this didn't affect the outcome of this week's nominations."

She added: "You'll have to tune in tomorrow at 9pm to find out how Big Brother will deal with these two... punishment time!"

During the extended episode on Wednesday (18 October) it was revealed that Henry and Zak will face the public vote this week after they received the most nominations.

Just like in the original series, the housemates were summoned to the Diary Room one-by-one to nominate two housemates of their choice for eviction.

Zak received five nominations from Hallie, Kerry, Chanelle, Jenkin and Henry while Henry received four nominations from Dylan, Olivia, Noky and Jenkin.

ITV

Hallie and Olivia later apologised to their housemates, but were subsequently punished by Big Brother for the rule break and put in a makeshift jail cell in the garden in the rain.

Fans have since rushed to X - formerly known as Twitter - to talk about the rule-break and slammed the 'soft' punishment the duo received.

One Twitter, user hit out: "That is the most crappiest punishment for speaking about nominations EVER. They both should be up for nominations. Big Brother is being too soft. Garden jail is rubbish."

"Big Brother gone soft… JAIL?! Should’ve been up for eviction," declared a second.

A third chimed in: "Big Brother has to become soft in 2023 just like the housemates all soft

"The old version was so much tougher, punishment was not a joke."

They concluded: "Two hours in jail, that's so stupid that's not a punishment the old version punishment lasted 24 - 48 hours."

Big Brother airs nightly at 9pm except Saturdays on ITV2 and ITVX