Big Brother host Emma Willis gets emotional in final episode as Cameron Cole crowned winner of 19th series

The finale brought about the end of an era for reality TV

Big Brother has come to an end.

Cameron Cole was named the show’s final winner last night (5 November), the 19-year-old video blogger beating Akeem Griffiths to take the last ever Big Brother crown.

Earlier this year, Channel 5 announced that the programme would conclude with its 19th series, bringing about the end of an era for reality TV.

Host Emma Willis struggled to hold back tears as she opened the episode, telling viewers how the series “brought real people from all walks of life into our homes”.

“Big Brother entered our lives in the year 2000 before iPods, smartphones, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter... and created a whole new genre of TV that changed popular culture forever.”

The show started with a montage of clips from throughout Big Brother’s history, including the first-ever series as well as the late Jade Goody who appeared in the third series.

Big Brother first aired on Channel 4 from 2000 to 2010 before moving to Channel 5. The first edition of the show quickly built momentum thanks to the antics of Craig Phillips and Nick Batemen (dubbed “Nasty Nick” by the tabloids) and peaked with an audience of 9.5 million during the final.

Ever since the move to Channel 5 the series has struggled for ratings, an average of 1.6 million people tuning into the first series broadcast on the channel.

Davina McCall – who hosted 11 editions of the series – wished Willis and fellow presenter Rylan Clark-Neal all the best for the final.

“I really wanted to come by and say hello but I just wanted to say good luck Emma,” she told Twitter followers. ”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.”