What happened to Rachel Reilly from ‘Big Brother?’

Reality television is a truly overstuffed genre, so when a star stands out, people take notice.

There are too many reality television programs to count, these days, and among the most-watched is easily Big Brother. The longstanding show remains among the genre’s most popular, and its past winners maintain as popular names in reality circles. The show’s on its 25th season now, and 24 former victors stand as testament to Big Brother‘s persisting dominance. Among them is season 13 winner Rachel Reilly, who took home the prize a year after initially debuting on the program. She didn’t quite manage to secure a victory in season 12, but her return the next year saw her take home the top spot — and its $500,000 prize — and secure her place among the program’s top contestants.

In the years since, Reilly’s maintained her momentum in reality circles. She’s made the rounds, with appearances on several other sought-after series, and proved that her talents expand well beyond Big Brother‘s borders.

What is Rachel Reilly up to now?

In the years since her 2011 Big Brother win, Reilly used the skills she learned in the reality competition to dominate other, similarly-styled programs, and soon paved an avenue into fashion design and even producing.

Before all that, she was pivoting from that Big Brother victory into The Amazing Race, in which she’s competed a full three times (twice with her now-husband, and fellow Big Brother contestant, Brendon Villegas, and once with her sister). She didn’t quite manage to win during her stints on the show’s 20th, 24th, and 30th seasons, but she did come in third twice.

She went on to appear in several more reality shows, including Celebrity Fear Factor, Snake in the Grass, and The Traitors. A few regular credits showcase her work in transitioning from reality to regular television, but Reilly’s largely established herself as one of the reality television greats.

Together with Villegas, Reilly has two children — Adora Borealis Villegas and Adler Mateo Villegas — and their happy family seems to be thriving. She still makes occasional appearances in reality shows, and that doesn’t look set to change soon. She’s been in at least one show every year since 2010 — barring the pandemic — a trend that’s likely to persist for at least a few years more.