Big Brother is finally back and bigger than ever! Host Julie Chen welcomes us back into the new and improved Big Brother house that has been freshly updated for this season’s All Stars.
The first competitor returning to the Big Brother house is Nicole Franzel. Nicole competed in seasons 16 and 18, and was the winner of season 18. Next is Dani Briones. Dani competed in seasons 8 and 13. She was also the runner up from season 8. It has been almost 10 years since Dani has been back in the Big Brother house. Dani is also well known for being the daughter of Evil Dick, one of the most hated houseguests.
The third competitor to be announced is Da’Vonne Rogers! Da’Vonne competed in seasons 17 and 18. She was the second person to be eliminated in Season 17 and came back for redemption the next season, where she became the first jury member. The next houseguest is Christmas Abbot from season 19. Christmas was notoriously known to have broken her foot the first week in the competition. She quickly had surgery and remained in the competition, ultimately placing her in 3rd place.
All four houseguests are lined up outside the house, masked up, and ready to go! Julie Chen explains that every houseguest this season, as well as herself, have been individually quarantined for 2 weeks and have tested negative for COVID-19 multiple times. Julie asks Dani how to feels to be back after 10 years, to which Dani replies that she “never thought she would be back again.”
As soon as the four competitors enter the house, the first competition will begin. The houseguests have to find the screen with the question regarding something in the house and then race around the house until they find it. When they do, they race back to a house-shaped table with a maze where they have to roll a ball around and get it into the hole with the correct room of the house the item was in. The first two to finish will advance to the first live Head of Household (HOH) competition!
The four girls rush into the house and immediately search for the question. The question reads “Where are the porcelain dogs?” All of them race around the house and almost simultaneously realize they kept running past it and it was in the living room. After about two minutes, Christmas rolls the ball into the hole that’s marked as “Living” and advances to the live HOH competition. The other three girls struggle for the remainder of the two minutes they have left, and ultimately never finish. Christmas is the only one to advance.
Julie announces they will now be revealing four more houseguests. The fifth houseguest to be added to the house is Tyler Crispen from season 20. Tyler was not only the runner-up for season 20 but he was voted America’s favorite houseguest. Next up is Ian Terry from season 14. Ian was the winner that season and is well known for winning four HOH competitions and two vetoes which ultimately lead to his victory. The seventh houseguest revealed is Kevin Campbell from season 11. Kevin came in 3rd place for his season, and lost the very last HOH competition, which he says cost him the win. The last competitor for this group is Enzo Palumbo! Enzo competed in season 12 and came in 3rd place. He was also part of one of the most notorious alliances to date, which carried him to the end.
The houseguests race in to discover the question “Where are the yarn pillows?” Ian finishes first in just about a minute and a half and advances. About another minute later, Kevin gets the ball rolling to the correct answer and becomes the second winner and goes to the live HOH competition.
Time to reveal the next four all-stars! The ninth houseguest is Janelle Pierzina. Janelle is well known for being on Big Brother for seasons 6,7, and 14. She has been in the final three all three times she has competed on the show. Janelle is also known for her legacy of most competition wins in a season. The next houseguest is Bayleigh Dayton from season 20! Bayleigh was the first jury member for her season. The eleventh competitor to be on the show is Nicole Anthony from season 21. Nicole finished third in the last season. The final contestant for this group is Keesha Smith from season 1o! Though Keesha finished in fourth place, she was voted America’s favorite houseguest that season.
The four women enter the house and the race is on! The question is “Where is the spray paint art?” Janelle immediately notices because she just had passed it and is the first to the board, shortly followed by everyone else. Janelle makes it all the way to the correct answer and the ball rolls too hard and falls over the edge, causing her to start from the beginning. Nicole sees her chance and quickly rolls the ball into the correct answer, making her the first winner to advance! Unfortunately, the four minutes is soon up and only Nicole advances to the live HOH competition.
Finally, the last four houseguests are revealed before we get to the first live Head of Household competition. The thirteenth houseguest is Kaysar Ridha from season 6 and 7. Kaysar is known for being the first houseguest to be voted back onto the show by the viewers! Despite clearly being a fan favorite, Kaysar never made it to the jury house and was eliminated early both times he has competed. Next, Cody Calafiore from season 16 enters. Cody came all the way down to the final 2 with one of the most iconic duos in Big Brother history, but ultimately ended up in second place. Cody was a known flirt in season 16 and he played a lot more of an emotional game. The next competitor to be revealed is Memphis Garrett from season 10. Memphis was another cast member on Big Brother well known for being in a very iconic duo called the Renegade Squad. Like Cody, Memphis finished in second place for his season. The final houseguest reveal of the night is David Anthony from season 21! David was known for being a jock last season, but we did not really get the opportunity to know him as he was eliminated first. He feels like his big mistake was he was not social enough, so his wishes are to play a more social game, and make it past the first week.
The men are let in and rush to the screen to see the question “In which room is this robot?” David is the first one to find the robot and rush back to the board, followed soon after by Memphis, Cody, and lastly Kaysar. After about a minute, David buzzes in but it is incorrect and he has to start all over. A few moments later Memphis gets his ball in the correct answer and buzzes in making him the first winner. Shortly after, Cody gets the correct answer and buzzes in, making him the final houseguest to advance to the live HOH competition.
The houseguests are all separated in the house and in groups of four are introduced to their fellow cast mates. Julie talks with them about how life has been since they last competed. In total, seven out of sixteen houseguests got married, three jokingly say they got divorced, and six of them have had children! Bayleigh is asked what she thinks of her competition and jokes if she could deal with Swaggy, she could deal with them. Kevin exclaims he is “gagged” by the choice of competitors.
A total of six houseguests have advanced to the live Head of Household competition. One at a time each competitor will attempt to race across an assortment of star barstools and the quickest to make it across (in under 3 minutes) wins! The catch is, not all of the barstools are stable, so it will not be as easy as they may seem. If the houseguest takes over three minutes or if their time is beaten, they are eliminated, and have to take an envelope whose contents will be revealed later on.
Memphis is first and immediately falls off due to a shaky stool. In his second attempt he gets much farther and quickly begins to notice which stools are reliable and which are not. A third attempt fails with less than five stools away from the finish line at just under a minute. On Memphis’ fourth attempt, he finishes the course with a time of 1:12:22.
Cody is up next. His first attempt makes it just as far as Memphis’. He very quickly catches on and his second attempt is a success! Cody completes the course in a jaw-dropping 22.06 seconds, eliminating Memphis.
Christmas is up third. It seems that Christmas’ biggest issue is how far apart the stools are. Her second attempt is much more successful but she is not able to complete the course in 22 seconds, which causes her to be eliminated.
Kevin is up fourth. He immediately falls on his first attempt. Kevin doesn’t even make it halfway through the course before Cody’s time creeps up on him and eliminates him.
Nicole is the fifth person to attempt. She fails immediately on the first attempt, and continues to try the same route and those 22 seconds fly by her as well! She is also eliminated.
Last up is Ian. On his first attempt he absolutely flies through, but missteps and loses his balance five stools away from the finish. Ian’s second attempt fails and he is eliminated.
Cody is now the first Head of Household of the season! Julie does a quick diary room interview with Cody about his win. He says he was most shocked to see Kaysar as it’s been fourteen years since he has been on the show. Cody also talks how he was trying to win the HOH and isn’t very worried.
When Cody returns to the houseguests, Julie reveals the envelopes contain either a cash prize or a punishment. Only one out of five envelopes has a cash prize, the rest will be “have-nots” for the week. Have-nots have to take cold showers, eat slop, and live in an uncomfortable living quarter for a week. Ian opens his envelope to discover he is a have-not. Next is Christmas, who reveals she won the $5,000 cash prize, making Kevin, Memphis and Nicole have-nots.
Due to technical difficulties, Julie tells us we will have to wait until Sunday’s episode to watch the guests move into the have-not room. Also on Sunday, we will figure out who Cody nominates for eviction. Right before the end of the show, Julie teases the new season twist! Throughout the show new rooms will be revealed. The first room is the Safety Suite. Each houseguest will be given a VIP pass to it. But what does that mean?
Tune in to Big Brother this Sunday on CBS at 9 p.m. EST.