Big Brother aired conversations on Tuesday night’s episode (October 10) which saw Farida asking Hallie about her experience as a trans person.

Under the ever-watching eyes of Big Brother, during a temptation task which had all the housemates whiling away the hours in a big bed, Farida took the opportunity to try and learn (as she put it). Unfortunately, what followed became quite personal and probing.

“You know the men that are attracted to you,” Farida also asked Hallie, “would they be classed as gay?”

Hallie pointedly highlighted that she is a woman, inviting Farida to understand that this would of course not be the case.

“There’s men out there who specifically like trans women… and there’s men out there that will just see me as a woman, and just be with me as a woman,” Hallie explained.

It was an undoubtedly clumsy question from Farida, and made for uncomfortable viewing for some of us at home, but the scenes both encapsulated the classic essence of Big Brother while placing the returning format firmly within the context of our times.

Farida also pressed Hallie with questions surrounding her body. The focus on what anatomy a trans person has been born with can dehumanise and trivialise the lived experiences of those in that community, and that’s before we even get to the ways in which this exact talking point has been weaponised.

It was only last week that our very own Prime Minister was bleating on about how “a man is a man, and a woman is a woman” as part of a shameful ‘look over there’ tactic to get us all bickering amongst ourselves rather than, you know, laying the blame for what’s going wrong in society where it actually belongs.

The segregation of bathrooms, and more recently hospital wards, have become hot-button topics that speak more to where someone sits politically rather than any tangible, legitimate concern. Transgender women make up only 0.10% of the population (as per the 2021 census). Trans and non-binary people have been using whichever bathroom they choose for decades, and despite what Suella Braverman might have you think, there have been zero complaints made about trans women using female wards (via a Freedom of Information request to NHS foundation trusts, as reported by PinkNews).

Farida was not, in fact, trying to fan these flames. And Hallie, who shouldn’t have to shoulder the responsibility of providing a teaching moment, handled the situation with grace, recognising the good faith in which the subject was broached, despite its delivery.

Hallie has been open with her fellow housemates, coming out to them all on the first morning in the house and encouraging curiosity and conversation. Her earlier chat with Kerry about the cost of a vagina shows how lighthearted and approachable these topics can be.

Hallie undoubtedly knows what a big deal it is to have this kind of representation on one of the biggest shows in the country, especially right now. Of course Nadia Almada once charmed the nation and became BBUK’s first transgender winner in 2004, but we are now disappointingly living through a time where the LGBTQ+ community is so vilified that Masterchef can’t even cast another drag queen without getting criticised.

A large chunk of the Big Brother audience watching at home might have been in Farida’s shoes, this being the very first time that they have heard an openly transgender person talking about their approach to relationships and the importance and accessibility of gender-affirming care (without being shouted over on a panel show).

But that doesn’t take away from how hard it is to be that singular voice in a room – as Hallie was – having to constantly explain or justify who you are.

While Farida was coming to the conversation with sincere intentions, the delivery and line of the questioning came at the expense of Hallie, who later shared with some of her other housemates how “frustrating” the exchange had been.

But by the time Big Brother’s end-credits theme tune kicked in, any tension between Farida and Hallie had seemingly been talked out.

Hallie expressed to Farida that sometimes well-meaning people don’t always know how to word their questions correctly, or understand how what they’ve said might cause offence.

“The thing is that I don’t believe in bullying. I was just curious because I feel it’s my first opportunity… it’s a social experiment being in here,” Farida said. “Different people celebrating their culture and what they’re about.”

Fundamentally this is what Big Brother has always been about, and these scenes highlight why now is probably the best time to have it back on our screens.