My favorite show of all time is Big Brother. My love for it began nearly a decade ago when my mom introduced it to me. She had been watching since the very beginning—nearly 20 years before me. Unlike her, I didn’t start watching until the tail end of season 18. Watching Nicole win is part of why I started loving the game. I love the show so much because of the connection it brought me with my mom. We would get together on the couch, 8 pm sharp, every Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday, pick out our favorites, and tirelessly scream at the TV as if they could listen to anything we said. College brought some challenge to this, as we’re no longer able to watch together. Instead, she gets to watch at home with my family who, even after all this time, remain clueless of everything about the show. I, on the other hand, was able to rope all my friends at school into it, and they are now just as obsessed as I am. I brought my mom and I’s ritual here, and that makes it even more special. The rest of this article will contain some spoilers from past seasons, so take this as your warning.
2026 marks season 28 of Big Brother. Premiering in 2000, the show has been running for almost 30 years now. Some people hate how “modernized” it has become, but personally, they’ve all angered me equally. Don’t get me wrong, I love the show, but it’s so frustrating to see everything from an outside perspective while everyone in the house seems to know nothing. For anyone unfamiliar, basically, 16 people are locked in a house for 100 days with no electronics or contact with the outside world. They have to make alliances, win competitions, and do whatever they can to make it to the end, all while under 24/7 surveillance. Every week, there are three guaranteed competitions: head of household, veto, and blockbuster. Whoever wins head of household gets to nominate three people for eviction. It began as nominating two people, but they added another nominee in recent years. The head of household, nominees, and two additional people go on to play in the veto competition, in which the winner can choose to use the power of veto and take a nominee off the block. If the veto is used, a replacement nominee will be named. The next competition is the blockbuster, which takes place on eviction night. The three nominees play in the blockbuster, and whoever wins relieves themself of being on the block, leaving two people up for eviction. Everyone who isn’t on the block then individually votes to evict someone. Ultimately, one person is voted out each week, with the occasional double eviction. When around eleven houseguests remain, everyone evicted after that point goes to the jury. This process repeats every single week until it gets down to the final three. At that point, whoever wins the final head of household gets to choose who they want to sit next to on finale night, and all the members of the jury vote on the winner. It may seem simple, but it sure is not. Primary components of the game are lies, deceptions, and a lot of betrayal.
I’ve certainly had my opinions on some winners. There are some winners people love that I really don’t think should have won. It’s nothing against them personally, but their gameplay compared to the person next to them, and especially others in their season, just wasn’t up to standard. For example, Michael from season 24. He was a beast. He placed 6th in his season, but with 3 HOH wins and 6 veto wins, it doesn’t get much better than that. He was insanely strategic, he knew exactly who to align with and what to say, but his dominating gameplay is what led to his demise. I haven’t seen a player I’ve admired as much as him in a while. That’s just how the game is. It’s all about outsmarting everyone and not letting them catch on to how good a player is. Michael was an outstanding player, but there are also people I think are so entertaining. Josh Martinez from season 19 is a prime example. Usually people who are so outspoken and chaotic are some of the first to leave, but Josh went on to win his season. His famous move is banging pots and pans together like he’s in a circus, and that’s something still replicated to this day. Jason from season 28 is remembered for it now, though he didn’t have the same fate as Josh. There’s a wide variety of people you’ll see on Big Brother, and that’s another reason I love it so much.