Like Survivor, Big Brother has remained a staple reality competition show on CBS for over two decades. However, instead of marooning contestants on an island with the bare necessities to survive, Big Brother has taken a different approach to challenging a group of hopefuls while dangling in front of them a hefty grand prize.
Big Brother airs every summer on the network, featuring players living in a house together, cut off from the outside world. That means no cellphones, laptops, or conversations with anyone besides their fellow houseguests, the franchise’s production crew, and longtime host Julie Chen Moonves.
They battle against each other for weeks while the competition dwindles until one individual exits the house with a champion’s accolade and a six-figure check.
So, how does Big Brother work? In this article, I’ll go through the general structure of a season and the components that guide the houseguests through it. Without further ado, let’s get into it!
Big Brother follows the same typical model year after year
Big Brother — which has several international versions and spin-offs — premiered in the United States in July 2000. Throughout its first few seasons, the reality competition show evolved its format until it landed on a structure that it’s followed, more or less, since the third iteration.
The number of houseguests per season has increased as well. Nowadays, 16 wide-eyed, burgeoning reality television stars are invited into the house by Julie. They willfully give up luxuries and — sometimes — their sanity to win the $750,000 grand prize (it was $500,000 until season 23). The number of days the gameshow runs varies from season to season also. But houseguests can expect to spend around 80 to 90 days competing if they make it to the end.
Contestants move in and live together while America watches their every move through live feeds, which are available for most of the week.
At the beginning of the game, Julie introduces some sort of new theme and twist that’ll shape the season in one way or another. For example, season 14 placed houseguests into four teams with a veteran player heading each, and seasons 7 and 22 featured only Big Brother all-star players.
Regardless of what’s brought into the game, the show typically follows the same flow. I’ll write about the competitions and powers in general terms, although there can be some differences depending on the season (for example, the number of Head of Households per week). Further, the following events play out within seven days through three episodes every week. That being said, here we go.
Head of Household competition
The most powerful position a houseguest can hold is the Head of Household (HoH), and a new one is determined weekly.
At the start of the game’s week, an HoH competition is held that involves all of the houseguests besides the outgoing HoH — a person cannot win the title two weeks in a row.
Once the dust clears, someone will have a key necklace wrapped around their neck, signifying their ascendance into power. The HoH receives several perks, including their own private bedroom and bathroom, a television to spy on the other competitors with, and a letter and personal items from home. But most importantly, the HoH is safe; they cannot be nominated for eviction. In fact, it’s the HoH’s responsibility to designate two players to face possible elimination from the game — more on that later.
Food and luxury competition
If living with a group of strangers while their every move is watched isn’t uncomfortable enough, the players will usually compete in a food/luxury competition next to determine who is eating “slop.” Slop is described as a bland, porridge-like substance and has occasionally brought even the most resilient houseguests to their knees.
The challenge will determine which houseguests must live on a slop-only diet for the week and which can eat what they want. These competitions often feature other rewards and punishments as well, like having to endure wearing a leotard or winning a vacation prize.
On paper, these competitions are less crucial than the others as they don’t really affect the contestant’s status in the game. But, their still ever-so-important to the houseguests’ mental and physical health.
Nomination ceremony
As mentioned in the HoH section, it’s their responsibility to nominate two houseguests for eviction. No other player is safe from the block at this point in the week unless there’s some sort of safety twist that’s played out.
The nomination ceremony usually occurs at a point after the food competition. The houseguests sit around the circled kitchen table while the HoH reveals their two nominees.
Just like most other reality competition shows, the strategy and politics of the game develop during the players’ social time. And in Big Brother, there’s not much to do other than hang out and chat with the others trapped inside the house.
Power of Veto competition
Once the selected players are firmly sitting on the chopping block, the Power of Veto (PoV) competition looms large. The PoV is the second strongest power a player can achieve to help carve their path through the game. The winner of the golden bling will not only have the ability to save one nominated houseguest from the block, but they’re safe from being chosen as the replacement nominee.
Unlike the battle for HoH, only a select number of contestants can play for the PoV weekly. Also, an individual can play for the necklace every week, which is in stark contrast to the HoH.
The HoH and the two nominees are automatically allowed to duel in the PoV competition. Then, three players are typically picked through a random draw to join the other three. Six competitors will face off to see who will wield that week’s PoV.
Power of Veto ceremony
After an individual walks away with the triumph, the PoV ceremony is up next, though not immediate. This is when the PoV is played; however, the holder doesn’t have to use it if they don’t want to. They’ll stand in front of their fellow housemates and reveal if they’re saving one of the two nominees. If they do, the ex-nominee will stand up from the nomination chair and sit among the other contestants. They can rest easy.
The HoH is forced to make another decision: they must throw another houseguest into the fire. The PoV holder and the recently saved player are safe from being nominated. Once the HoH chooses between the remaining houseguests, the nominations are locked in until eviction night.
Live eviction
The live eviction takes place at the end of the game’s week, when cast members are sent packing. The episode usually features a live audience sitting outside the house’s front door, with Julie leading the charge.
After days of scheming, building and breaking relationships, and fine-tuning strategies, it’s time to vote someone out.
The players sit in the living room, and once instructed to, they enter the Diary Room to declare who they want to eliminate out of the two nominees. Each vote is made in privacy from the other houseguests. The HoH and two nominees aren’t allowed to vote either. Once all the votes have been tallied, the contestant with the most is evicted from the house and must leave the premises immediately. If it comes down to a tie, then the HoH receives one last bit of power. Single-handedly, they choose who receives their walking papers.
The individual who just had their dream crushed is then sent out of the door and into an interview with Julie in front of the audience. Once that concludes, the ousted player either goes home to their real-life or joins the season’s jury — more on that later. Now, it’s time to determine a new HoH.
Rinse and Repeat
These events will repeat week after week while the roster shrinks. As mentioned, the season’s theme and twists will also play a major factor in the game, and they may affect some of the powers and competitions.
One staple of Big Brother is the “Double Eviction,” and there’s sure to be at least one every single season. These mark some of the most exciting episodes of the iteration, and they go down during the live eviction night. First, one player will be kicked out as usual. Then, a whole week of Big Brother is played within the episode. The houseguests will throw down in an HoH and PoV competition while players are nominated, and another one is sent packing that same night.
The winner is chosen on finale/reunion night
As the weeks go by, more and more players are evicted. The first few houseguests taken out head home and can watch the rest of the season play out there. When the game hits the mid-way point, the jury house opens up. Every player evicted from that point on is sent to that house, which is still cut off from the outside world.
Like Survivor, it’s the jury members’ responsibility to determine who will win the grand prize. Only two houseguests can make it to the very end of the season. The final three players are reduced to the top two during finale night. And after the last two volleys of questions from the jury, the players they evicted determine their fate. The jury always has an odd number of houseguests, so a tie doesn’t happen.
Once the votes are read by Julie, a new Big Brother champion emerges from the house and back into reality. That night also serves as a short reunion between all of the cast members from the season.
So, if you’re now ready to dive into Big Brother’s newest season, the wait won’t be much longer. Season 25 is scheduled to premiere on August 2 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
