VIP Brother season 3

VIP Brother 3 was the third season of the celebrity version of the Bulgarian reality television show Big Brother. It was launched on Nova Television on 16 March 2009, and ended on 10 May 2009 with an eleven-hour season finale starting at 3:00 pm and finishing after 1:00 am.

This season was confirmed on 31 December 2008 by Niki Kanchev, who returned as a host. He announced that the season would start in March 2009. Later on the same day, Nova Television aired the first promo with the slogan Celebrities change destinies. The show is produced by Niko Tuparev (Old School Productions) again. All the money from SMS votes were donated to charity, and there was no cash prize for the winner. Also, this season was longer than the previous two. It lasted for 56 days (8 weeks), making it the longest VIP Brother season in Bulgaria so far.

Deyan Slavchev "Deo" was the winner.

Broadcast
The show was aired on Nova Television and Diema 2.

The new charity format
Unlike the previous two seasons, VIP Brother 3 featured 17 celebrity Housemates, who were not competing for a cash prize, but for charity causes. Each one of the 8 weeks was dedicated to a different cause, making the causes eight. During their stay in the House the Housemates had special tasks. Sometimes they were also gathering money outside the House. 13 Housemates entered the House on Day 1 and 4 more on Day 2.

The house
VIP Brother 3 was shot in the House in Novi khan, where the Housemates from Big Brother 4 lived. However, it was entirely redecorated. As in the previous two seasons, there were some similarities with Celebrity Big Brother UK – there were no cameras in the bathrooms and there was a big ashtray in the garden. For the first time, there was a washing machine in the House.

Big Brother's Big Mouth
The companion talk show Big Brother's Big Mouth returned during VIP Brother 3, and was hosted by the pop-folk singer Kamelia. The concept of the show this season was different. There were not "evil tongues". Kamelia was often entering the House, asking the Housemates different questions. The show was aired three times a week – on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. Previously the show was aired during Big Brother 3 and was hosted by Dim Dukov, contestant in VIP Brother 1.

Housemates
The new VIP-Housemates were 17. All of them were competing for charity causes during their stay in the House. They were collecting money through the tasks given to them by Big Brother. A new guest celebrity Housemate was entering the House every week. He/she stayed in the House for one week, which made the celebrity Housemates in this season 25 in total.

13 Housemates entered the House on Day 1. They were joined by 4 other Housemates on Day 2.

Antonia
Antonia Petrova is a Miss Bulgaria 2009. She entered the house on Day 2 and walked on Day 16.

Anya
Anya Pencheva is a famous actress and mother of Petya. She entered the house on Day 1. Anya got sick and she was hospitalized on Day 21. She returned to the house on Day 25. After the conflict with her fellow housemate Ivayla, Anya walked on Day 38.

Bozhidara
Bozhidara Bakalova is a fashion designer and twin-sister of Ivayla. She entered the house on Day 1 and was the sixth evicted on Day 47. Her brother Antony entered entered a year later in Big Brother Family with his wife Tsanka.

Danail
Danail Ignatov "Dacho" is Sofia's boyfriend. He entered the house on Day 1 and was the first evicted on Day 11 after receiving the fewest positive votes. For the first time in the history of Big Brother Bulgaria, no one left the house voluntarily before the first eviction.

Deyan
Deyan Slavchev "Deo" is a TV host and hip-hop singer. He entered the house on Day 1 and became a winner on Day 56.

Emil
Emil Koshlukov is a politician. He entered the house on Day 1, although he had some hesitations on the final moment because of Todor Slavkov's presence in the show. Emil walked on Day 25.

Gala
Gala Peneva-Budeva is one of the most famous female TV hosts. On 15 January 2009, it was officially announced that she will be the first housemate in VIP Brother 3. Gala announced that she had been invited to enter the house before, but she agreed now because of the new charity concept. During her participation, she hosted her daily talk show Na kafe. Her husband Stefan Nikolov entered nine years later in VIP Brother 10 in 2018. She entered the house on Day 1 and was the fourth evicted on Day 32.

Hristo
Hristo Petrov "Itso Hazarta" is best known as a rap singer in the band Upsurt. On 20 February it was revealed that he will be the second housemate to participate in Vip Brother 3. He entered the house on Day 1 and finished fifth in the finale on Day 56.

Ivan
Ivan Dinev "Ustata" is a rap singer. He entered the house on Day 2 and was the third evicted on Day 25.

Ivayla
Ivayla Bakalova is a former Miss Bulgaria 2001 and twin-sister of Bozhidara. She entered the house on Day 1 and finished seventh in the finale on Day 56. Her brother Antony entered entered a year later in Big Brother Family with his wife Tsanka.

Kristiana
Kristiana Valcheva is one of the five Bulgarian nurses, who were given death sentences in the HIV Trial in Libya. She entered the house on Day 1 and was the second evicted on Day 18.

Maria
Maria Grozdeva is an Olympic shooting champion. She entered the house on Day 2 and finished second in the finale on Day 56.

Mihail
Mihail Kalaydzhiev "Milko" is a pop-folk singer. He entered the house on Day 1 and was the fifth evicted on Day 39.

Petya
Petya Dikova is an actress, TV host and daughter of Anya. She entered the house on Day 1 and finished sixth in the finale on Day 56.

Sasha
Sasha Antunovich (Serbian – Saša Antunović) is a Serbian football player, ex-Lokomotiv Sofia striker. He has scored 38 goals in Bulgarian A PFG, which is the second-best result for a foreign player. He entered the house on Day 2 and was the seventh evicted on Day 54.

Sofia
Sofia Kamenova "Sofi Marinova" is a famous pop-folk singer. She entered the house on Day 1 and finished fourth in the finale on Day 56.

Todor
Todor Slavkov is a controversial personality and a businessman, apart from being related to two of the most prominent Bulgarian personalities. Todor is the grandson of Todor Zhivkov – the most famous Bulgarian communist, who was the leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 4 March 1954 until 10 November 1989. Todor's father is Ivan Slavkov – a Bulgarian sports boss linked to the communist-era nomenklatura. He entered the house on Day 1 and finished third in the finale on Day 56.

Andrey
Andrey Slabakov is a film director. He was one of the evil tongues in the show Big Brother's Big Mouth during Big Brother 3. His wife Ernestina Shinova entered six years later in VIP Brother 7 in 2015. He entered the house on Day 17 and left on Day 31.

Diana
Diana Lyubenova is an actress. She is best known for her role as Anastasiya Konstantinova in Nova Television's TV series Zabranena Lyubov (Forbidden Love). She entered the house on Day 38 and was supposed to stay for a week, but decided to leave 5 days later – on Day 50.

Georgi
Georgi Mamalev is an actor. He was supposed to enter the house on Day 2. However, due to his engagements in the theatre, he didn't participate in the show.

Kamelia
Kamelia Veskova is a famous pop-folk singer and the host of Big Brother's Big Mouth. She entered the house on Day 11 and left on Day 15.

Lyubo
Lyubo Ganev is a volleyball player. He entered the house on Day 31 and stayed for a week.

Petya
Petya Ivanova "Preslava" is a famous pop-folk singer. She entered the house on Day 45 and she was the last celebrity guest housemate in VIP Brother 3. It was announced that she did not receive any money for her stay in the show. Six years later in 2015 entered as a participant (later as a guest participant) in VIP Brother 7. She left the House on Day 52.

Rumen
Rumen Lukanov is the host of Deal or No Deal. He entered the house on Day 2 and left on Day 10.

Teodora
Teodora Stefanova is Silvio Berlusconi's personal astrologist. She entered the house on Day 24 and stayed for a week. She left the house on Day 31.

Vasil
Vasil Boyanov "Azis" is one of the most popular pop-folk singers in Bulgaria. He was a participant in VIP Brother 2, where he spent 18 Days. He entered the Vip Brother 3 house on Day 10, where he spent five days. He is the only contestant to participate in two VIP Brother seasons so far.

Nominations table
This season the nominations and the viewers' votes were both positive.

Relationship between Anya and Ivayla
During the show, the relationship between Anya and Ivayla fell apart. Anya asked to leave the House voluntarily on Day 36. However, she asked the producers to open two phone lines – one for her and one for Ivayla, and the viewers had to decide which one of them to be evicted on Day 38. During the special eviction night the two reconciled and asked Big Brother to close the phone lines. The two returned into the House together. However, only a few minutes later they had a new disagreement over the voting results, announced by the producers – 51.7% for Ivayla and 48.3% for Anya. Anya walked out voluntarily the same night. All the money from viewers' SMS votes were given for the week's charity cause.

Ratings
The launch of VIP Brother 3 was watched by nearly 1 600 000 viewers, beating bTV's Music Idol.