Bigg Boss (Tamil TV series) season 8

Bigg Boss 8 is the eighth season of the Indian Tamil-language version reality television series Bigg Boss. It premiered on 6 October 2024 on Star Vijay and Disney+ Hotstar. Vijay Sethupathi joined as the host for the season marking his first time.

The grand finale of the season took place on 19 January 2025, where Muthukumaran Jegatheesan emerged as the winner, while Soundariya Nanjundan was the runner-up and Vishal as 2nd runner up. Jacquline Lydia made history by continuously nominated for 15 Weeks.

Production

Eye logo

The eye logo was officially released on 4 September 2024. The season's logo was shaped with two grey semi-circles and the numeral 8 in light blue featuring as the pupil of the eye.

House

The House of this season had a "'Boys vs Girls'" theme. The house was again located in EVP Film City, Chennai for the eighth time, including Bigg Boss Ultimate (season 1). The house is split with a line in the middle dividing the male and female contestants. The house has a forest and nature theme for the season. The house has six sections: living area, kitchen, dining and sitting area, bedrooms, garden, and a confession room. This season features two separate bedrooms for the first time since Bigg Boss 5. However, after the eighth week of the show, male and female housemates could sleep in whichever bedroom they wished.

Host

Over seven years, Bigg Boss Tamil aired seasons with Kamal Haasan as host. In August 2024, Kamal Haasan announced his exit from Bigg Boss Tamil, due to scheduling conflicts with his upcoming films.

Following his departure, Vijay Sethupathi took over as host for the eighth season.

Teasers

The first promo was released on 11 September 2024, with Sethupathi saying "This time, Aalum Puthusu, Aatamum Puthusu". (transl. "This time, the person is new, the game is new")

Housemates status

Housemates

The list of housemates in the order of entering the house:

Original entrants

• Fatman (Ravindar Chandrasekaran), a film producer and actor, known for Munnarivaan, Nalanum Nandhiniyum.
• Sachana Namidass, an actress known for her role in Maharaja.
• Dharsha Gupta, a television and film actress known for her appearances in Mullum Malarum, Oh My Ghost and Cooku With Comali (Season 2).
• Sathya SK, a television actor known for his roles in Neelakuyil, Velaikkaran, Anna (TV series) and Panivizhum Malarvanam, husband of Season 2 contestant Ramya NSK.
• Deepak Dinkar, an actor and television presenter known for his roles in Thendral, Thirumathi Selvam and Thamizhum Saraswathiyum.
• RJ Ananthi, an actress and Radio Jockey known for her roles in Comali, Bigil, Netrikann and D Block.
• Sunita Gogoi, an actress, dancer and performer, known for her appearances in Jodi Number One Season 5 and Cooku With Comali.
• Jeffry, a gaana singer and performer.
• Ranjith, a film and television actor known for his roles in Pasupathi c/o Rasakkapalayam, Pandavar Bhoomi and Baakiyalakshmi.
• Pavithra Janani, a television actress known for her roles in Eeramana Rojave and Thendral Vandhu Ennai Thodum.
• Soundariya Nanjundan, an actress and model known for her roles in Thamizh Padam 2, Draupathi, Vera Maari Office and forth runner-up contestant in Villa to Village.
• Arun Prasath, a television actor known for his role in Bharathi Kannamma.
• Tharshika, a television actress known for her appearances in shows such as Thalattu, Ponni and the third runner-up of Jodi Are U Ready.
• VJ Vishal, a television actor known for his roles in Kalyanamam Kalyanam, Aranmanai Kili and Baakiyalakshmi.
• Anshitha Akbarsha, a television actress known for her roles in the TV serial Chellamma and Malayalam serials such as Kabani and Koodevide.
• Arnav Amjath, a television actor known for his roles in the TV serials Sakthi, Keladi Kanmani and Chellamma.
• Muthukumaran Jegatheesan, an social media influencer, and YouTuber, known for contestant in Tamil Pechu Engal Moochu (Season 3).
• Jacquline Lydia, an actress and television presenter known for her roles in Kolamaavu Kokila, Kalakka Povathu Yaaru? and Thaenmozhi B.A.

Wildcard entrants

• Nagapriya "Riya" Thiyagarajan, a Bigg Boss critic, influencer and model. She is also the second runner-up of the beauty pageant Miss Chennai 2023.
• Raanav V C - an actor and model, known for his role in the web series Aadhalinaal Kaadhal Seiveer.
• Varshini Venkat, an actress and model known for her role in Kannana Kanne.
• Manjari Narayanan, an influencer, public speaker and news reader, known for contestant in Tamil Pechu Engal Moochu (Season 3).
• Shiva Kumar, an actor known for his role in the film Singakutty and winning BB Jodigal (Season 2), husband of Season 1 contestant Suja Varunee.
• Rayan, a television actor known for his roles in Thamizhum Saraswathiyum and Panivizhum Malarvanam.

Twists

24-hour eviction

Host Vijay Sethupathi announced that for the first time in Bigg Boss history there will be an eviction within 24 hours of the grand launch. Sachana Namidass was evicted by fellow housemates in an open nomination process.

Boys vs girls

On launch day, Bigg Boss announced that the theme of the season is going to be boys vs. girls hence both boys and girls need to collaborate to obtain privileges over the Bigg Boss house facilities with the other gender. Both teams will record their points for each weekly and daily task they win. The team with the most points closer to the end of the season will receive special advantages. However the theme concluded on Day 50 and the individual competition began.

Contestant swap and direct nomination

A contestant from each team is interchanged every week to support their respective teams. The two contestants are allowed to directly nominate a contestant from the house for the upcoming eviction process directly.

Weekly Team Nomination-Free Pass

Each week the teams will need to complete three rounds of tasks assigned by Bigg Boss and the team that wins the most tasks will receive a nomination free pass token which will allow them to save a housemate from their team who is in the present week's nomination list.

Goibibo's all-expenses-paid trip to dream destination

Team Boys and Team Girls will need to entertain and perform well every week. At the end of every week, one best performer will be chosen from each team by their housemates, which in turn will reward them with a Goibibo stamp in their Goibibo passport. The Boys vs Girls theme concluded on Day 50. Following that, two or more individuals will be selected by their housemates as the best performers in the house based on their weekly performance. The contestant who collects the most stamps towards the end of the season will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to their dream destination.

Nomination-Free Pass (Viduthalai Pass)

Every week, all housemates are required to compete and excel in the weekly task assigned by Bigg Boss. The winner will be awarded a Nomination-Free Pass, granting them immunity from the nomination process in the following week. However, this immunity was revoked by Bigg Boss for the rest of the season due to foul play observed during Week 12's captaincy task, conducted at the end of Week 11.

A23's Captaincy Streak leaderboard

The A23 Captaincy Streak Leaderboard tracks the captaincy streaks of housemates weekly, with updates featuring their names and achievements. At the end of the season, the housemate with the highest number of captaincies will be awarded a Royal Enfield motorcycle by A23. Evicted housemates become ineligible for this reward. During Week 14, A23 organized a tiebreaker challenge for the remaining contestants on the A23 Captaincy Streak Leaderboard. The task featured Muthukumaran, Vishal, Deepak, and Arun as participants, as they were the only housemates still present in the house and on the leaderboard, while the others—Manjari, Jeffry, Ranjith, Tharshika, and Sathya—had been evicted. Muthukumaran secured victory by being the first to successfully complete the puzzle task.

Movies

This is the first season in Bigg Boss history where housemates watched a full-length movie on Netflix as a promotion for the movie and production team.