Marcus Bentley in front of the Big Brother logo
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Marcus Bentley’s Big Brother ‘absence’ explained as star hits back at replacement claims

Were you wondering about this?

An ‘absence’ from Big Brother 2023 has been explained by a veteran star of the reality series.

Marcus Bentley has provided the show’s narration with a distinct north east accent since Big Brother first launched in 2000.

He has been an ever-present for the series, following the show as it transferred over from Channel 4 to Channel 5 in 2011.

However, during Sunday’s (October 8) rebooted debut on ITV, Marcus was inundated with enquiries about why he wasn’t featuring in the 2023 series.

Big Brother 2023 presenters Aj Odudu and Will Best face the camera
Big Brother 2023 kicked off over the weekend with presenters AJ Odudu and Will Best introducing the ITV reboot series’ housemates (Credit: YouTube)

Who is Marcus Bentley and what does he do on Big Brother?

The 56-year-old voiceover star responded to the questions on Twitter late on in the evening following the first broadcast of the series.

And it seems some fans may be confused over his role… even though he’s being doing it on and off for nearly a quarter of a century.

“Listen guys I’ve had a lot of this tonight,” Marcus tweeted.

I am not the voice of the Diary Room Big Brother. Never have been.

He went on: “Just to reiterate, for some who think I wasn’t on the show this evening – I am not the voice of the Diary Room Big Brother. Never have been. I’m the narrator of the show and I was narrating the show when all the housemates had entered.”

A view of the Big Brother 2023 Diary Room
Did some viewers get Marcus’ role confused? (Credit: YouTube)

How Big Brother 2023 fans reacted

Some of those responding to Marcus’ post were flabbergasted he could ever be mixed up with anyone else.

“I don’t understand the confusion!” one tweeted. “Great to hear your distinctive voice again! I’m loving it and so glad it is back! #BBUK.”

A second person agreed: “You have most distinctive voice on TV, Marcus. I’m not sure how people are confusing you with #BigBrother.”

A third complimented him: “Big Brother wouldn’t be the same without you! I’m so glad you are back!”

“There would be uproar if you weren’t narrating,” joked somebody else.

But one other fan indicated they’d been fielding similar questions as Marcus about Marcus!

“I’ve been replying to so many people explaining this,” they said.  “If you were Big Brother and the narrator, you wouldn’t have time to sleep.”

‘I’d recognise that voice anywhere’

Meanwhile, another social media user reasoned: “I guess that #BigBrotherUK is being seen for the first time by a whole new generation of viewers. They’ll learn!”

And that thought was also expressed by another fan. However, they pondered changing up the Diary Room voice too.

“Obviously people who hasn’t watched it before,” they said, adding: “I’m hoping the BB voice tonight isn’t the permanent and only voice for the series. It’s too like the Oz version and trying to be robotic. I much preferred the various different voices of BB depending on who was working at the time.”

And another happy viewer told Marcus: “As you spoke after all the housemates had entered I got literal goosebumps, I’d recognise that voice anywhere.”

Read more: From no white clothes to zero whispering – all the strict Big Brother rules ‘housemates have to follow’

Big Brother 2023 continues on ITV2 tonight, Tuesday October 10, at 9pm.

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Robert Leigh
Freelance writer

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