Well, fellow Big Brother addicts, it’s that time of the year again. It’s time to spend too much time to even count watching 16 strangers act absurdly all for our entertainment—oh, and the potential to win $500,000. It’s Big Brother 16! The new season premieres tomorrow on CBS at 8pm, so I suggest you take the next 36 hours to say your goodbyes to your friends and family, your normal sleep schedule, and the outdoors, for the next time you’ll see any of them it will be mid-September and you’ll be emerging from your cave, wondering where the last 12 weeks went.
Or—you could be a sane person and only watch the show the 3 hours a week it airs on CBS. Either way, here are the people that you’ll be watching in some fashion this Summer, and the new twist for this season that they will have to deal with…
The Houseguests
via CBS
Amber Borzotra
Amber is 26, a model and esthetician currently living in Long Beach, California. She was recruited for the show and does not have much knowledge of the game.
My take: Amber seems very nice, but did not make much of an impression from the video interviews I saw of her. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though, and she could be one to pop once on the feeds, but for now she’s not sticking out to me.
More information from CBS here.
via CBS
Brittany Martinez
Brittany is 29 and is a event coordinator and mother of 3 living in Torrance, California. She was a recruit for this season and has barely seen the show, but is looking forward to winning that $500,000 dollars.
My take: Sometimes not being too familiar works to a houseguest’s advantage but I am not sure that will be the case with her. I got the feeling that she is way in over her head with this one and will not make the jury.
More information from CBS here.
via CBS
Caleb Reynolds
Caleb is 26, an adventure hunting guide, and is living in Hopkinsville, KY. Previously, he was in the army and was a prison guard in Iraq.
My take: Caleb gave a great impression when I watched his interviews, but that was soon overshadowed by comments that he apparently made on his instagram (an account that has since been deleted). After the racism and derogatory comments that clouded last season, I am hoping that we won’t have to deal with this again.
More information from CBS here.
via CBS
Christine Brecht
Christine is 23, and a married barista living in Tucson, Arizona. She has watched every season of Big Brother and is very excited to be able to finally be on the show.
My take: I love a good BB superfan, but often once they get in the house they tend to overplay and get themselves evicted early on. I think that Christine could break that curse, she seems not only intelligent, but has the skills to be able to stop herself from overplaying.
More information from CBS here.
via CBS
Cody Calafiore
Cody is 23, and is a sales account executive living in Howell, NJ. He was a recruit, but was familiar with the show before the casting directors spotted him having watched since BB12.
My take: He fits the bill for the typical good looking young guy that BB usually has on every season and didn’t really give me anything during the interviews to suggest he would fill any other role.
More information from CBS here.
via CBS
Derrick Levasseur
Derrick is 30, a police officer and a married-father-of-one living in Providence, RI. Derrick is a huge fan of the show and was casted after sending in a tape for this season.
My take: He wants to play this game with integrity, which never really works in Big Brother, and to top it off has decided to lie about his job as a police officer so people don’t see him as a threat, another plan that doesn’t have a great track record. These two strikes could get him evicted early, which is a shame because I liked him in the interviews that I saw.
More information from CBS here
via CBS
Devin Shepherd
Devin is 26 and a motorcycle manager living in San Antonio, Texas. He’s got a two year old girl that he loves and was casted after he originally applied to be on The Amazing Race with an ex-girlfriend.
My take: He seems like a genuinely great guy that is going to be genuinely bad at this game. There was nothing to indicate that he has the strategic ability to play, but due to his athletic background, could do really well in the competitions to get himself through.
More information from CBS here
via CBS
Donny Thompson
Donny is a 42 year old school grounds keeper living in Albemarle, NC. Despite his appearance, he doesn’t hunt, couldn’t harm a fly and is a huge BB fan that applied after his girlfriend encouraged him to.
My take: It’s obvious that Donny fills the “old guy” role on the show, but I think he could be a better player than those that have fallen into that role in the past. He’s a fan of the game and doesn’t seem to be socially awkward, so he could go far.
More information from CBS here
via CBS
Frankie Grande
Frankie is 31, living in New York City, and is a youtube personality and social media influencer (his words, definitely not mine). Frankie originally applied for and wanted to be on Survivor but everyone kept telling him that he picked the wrong show! So now he is here! Isn’t that fun? He’s also Ariana Grande’s brother.
My take: Frankie is a lot. He is not lacking in the self-confidence arena, and is worried that he might be recognized in the house which to me signals that he could be exhausting to watch, especially on the feeds. The fact that he regularly vlogs on YouTube means that he could give really killer DRs though, which I will gladly enjoy.
More information from CBS here.
via CBS
Hayden Voss
Hayden is a 21 year old pedicab driver living in Long Beach, California. He was recruited for the show when a casting agent got in the back of his pedicab.
My take: Does his name sound familiar to you? You’re remembering Hayden Moss, winner of BB12. They are oddly alike as well—both being young, good looking, easy going guys. I’m not sure that this Hayden has it in him to make it to the end though, and just screams to be the target of a blindside.
More information from CBS here.
via CBS
Jocasta Odom
Jocasta is 33 and is a minister living in Lovejoy, GA. She’s a big fan of the show and was casted the first time she applied.
My take: Jocasta is very long winded but very engaging. She loves this show but does not seem like she will fall into any of the typical superfan vices. I can see her going far and I hope she does!
More information from CBS here.
via CBS
Joey Van Pelt
Joey is 27 and is a makeup artist living in Seattle, WA. She was another recruit, but did watch the show occasionally before.
My take: Joey is dead set on having an all girls alliance, something that does not have a winning track record in the BB house. HOWEVER, with this cast I can see it happening, so we will have to see if Joey gets her wish or just falls into the place as so many before her have.
More information from CBS here.
via CBS
Nicole Franzel
Nicole is 21, a recent nursing school grad, and lives in Ubly, MI. She is a huge fan of the show and has in the past made t-shirts to support her favorite alliances and players!
My take: She’s young and, unlike with Christine, it definitely shows. I’m not sure that this will be a total drawback for her, because her knowledge of the game (she has wanted to be on the show since she was 8) could outweigh her age. If she can make her secret alliance plan into a reality, than I will be super interested in watching.
More information from CBS here.
via CBS
Paola “Pow Pow” Shea
Paola is a 27 year old DJ living in New York City. She was recruited for the show, and didn’t have much knowledge of it beforehand.
My take: “Pow Pow” takes much pride in being the first female DJ houseguest in the Big Brother house which…congratulations? It’s very odd. She seems friendly but did not make much of an impression, similarly to Amber.
More information from CBS here.
via CBS
Victoria Rafaeli
Victoria is 22, lives in Weston, FL and is a photographer. She was recruited for the show but is a huge fan, especially of Big Brother Israel, as she spends all her summers there.
My take: What a coincidence that she is such a fan of the show but got casted based on being found, not by submitting a tape. She won points for be by being the only person to say she was looking forward to the strategy (not the competitions) in the house. I think she “has what it takes” to win this game and can see her being a favorite.
More information from CBS here.
via CBS
Zach Rance
Zach is 23, a recent college grad, and lives in Palm Beach, FL. He was recruited for the show but has watched it the past couple of years.
My take: This guy is intentionally and unintentionally hilarious, and was the only person that I laughed out loud watching. He talks with such emphasis that I can see him being another DR yeller a la Dan Gheesling from BB10 and BB14. Does he share the same gaming ability as Dan? Eh. Remains to be seen, but his interviews did give me hope.
More information from CBS here.
THE TWISTS
This season’s tagline is “the most twisted season ever” and it’s not entirely hyperbolic speak this time. As Julie reveled on her day job hosting gig—The Talk—last week there are a slew of changes in store for the house this year, and if watching 15 seasons has taught me anything, it’s to expect there to be even more once the season is underway. For starters, there are going to be two Head of Households each week and FOUR people nominated. Plus, there is going to be a new competition called “Battle of the Block” for the houseguests to play in each week AND being HOH doesn’t automatically mean you are safe anymore. We don’t know any details beyond this at this point, so we’re left to speculate how this is going to play out. It’s difficult for me to imagine how two HOHs and 4 nominations could last the entire week, which suggests that the Battle of the Block might be a competition to determine who remains HOH and gets to have their nominations stick. But, this is all speculation at this point, and we’ll hopefully find out how it really works tomorrow during the premiere.
Big Brother’s twists have a tendency to fall flat (the saboteur being evicted week 1 in BB12 anyone?) however these twists are such a departure from the usual setup that I am hopeful they will work out. It’s going to take some excitement away from the HOH competition because it doesn’t guarantee complete safety anymore but that only makes me look forward to seeing what the Battle of the Block competition really is even more.
What do you think about this year’s cast? Do you have any ideas how the new HOH and nominations twists might play out?
The Hudsucker 
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