Albeit in English-speaking cultural contexts a humorous reaction to teasing appears to be highly valued, jocularity can and does sometimes induce judgments of impoliteness. This article explores what makes the targets and/or other ratified hearers (the third party) judge teasing as impolite and observes how impoliteness (as an evaluative situated phenomenon) operates in jocular interactions in two cultural contexts – Australian and British. The data stem from two national versions of the same reality gameshow – Big Brother Australia 2012 and Big Brother UK 2012. The results from both data sets disclose that teasing is often negatively judged when it is intended to amuse the hearers at the target’s expense or it is delivered in a non-affectionate way. Farther, some cultural differences have been noticed. While British housemates do not particularly value jocular comments that target some personal characteristics or one’s personal items (i.e. seen as a personal attack), Australians tend to label jocular verbal behaviour as unfitting when it is employed to exclude the target or when it disrupts social harmony in general.