Bigg Boss Tamil 10 opened Friday evening with host Vijay Sethupathi welcoming 23 contestants into the house, and it took barely an episode for the eliminations to start. Actress Shabi Shabnam and film critic Prashanth Rangasamy were both evicted within hours of the premiere, according to Filmibeat Tamil, a turnaround quicker than anything the show has recorded so far.

Last season, contestant Sachana was sent home in 24 hours, a number the makers had more or less treated as the record to beat. If this report holds, both Shabnam and Rangasamy beat that clock on the very first day.

This season's format has more moving parts than usual. Alongside 20 celebrity contestants, three "common man" participants were picked through auditions held over the past few weeks, judged by a panel of Aari, Oviya, Raju and Vanitha, all former contestants themselves. That audition round drew its own criticism over how the judges treated the hopefuls who turned up.

With those three slots filled, the contestant list reads Kumaran Thangaraj, Bhuvi Arasu, Black Pandi, Naveen Kumar, Prashanth Rangasamy, Vinoth Babu, Cook With Comali's Mohammed Ansar, Lakshmi Priya, Tanya Ballath, Yogini Kavitha Mohan and Shabi Shabnam, among others, taking the total to 23 once the common man entrants go in.

Vijay Sethupathi is back at the helm for another season, following a run last time that drew its share of controversy. The production, per the report, is going in wanting a cleaner season this time, with changes made to both the house and the rulebook aimed at avoiding a repeat of last year's mess.

None of that explains why Rangasamy went first. Speaking after his eviction, he kept it matter-of-fact. "I remember sharing the stage with Vijay Sethupathi on Bigg Boss Tamil 10 with happiness and gratitude," he said. "I conducted myself well. I did not break any rule. I played as well as I could till the last minute. I got out without even facing a ball. So I don't have an answer for that. This is just a game show."

He followed up on X with a shorter note. "Thanks to everyone for the love and the hate. I'm going back to work now. No regrets, no disappointment. What happened, happened."

It's a clean exit as reality-show departures go, no complaint about bias, no dispute over the rules, just an early elimination he's choosing to shrug off. Whether Shabnam takes the same line hasn't been reported yet. And whether Bigg Boss Tamil 10 actually settles into a calmer season than the last one is the question the show still has close to a hundred days left to answer.