For years, Big Brother fans have watched houseguests get eliminated from the reality competition show through the “backdoor” method.
The US version’s 25th season is now in its second month of play, and one contestant — Hisam Goueli — has already suffered the fate many have before him.
But what is the backdoor strategy, and how is it done in practice?
In simple terms, someone who is backdoored faces eviction without having the chance to save themselves from the nomination block. The move was first introduced in Big Brother 5 back in 2004 by Jennifer “Nakomis” Dedmon as a way to eliminate Jase Wirey.
So, what does that look like? I’ll use what happened to Hisam to break things down.
Hisam went out in week 3 as Big Brother 25’s first backdoor
By week 3, Hisam had already won three of the four classic competitions — two Power of Vetos (PoV) and one Head of Household (HoH). He ruled the second week by earning the HoH key and, subsequently, the PoV, which led to Reilly Smedley’s downfall.
Because he was the outgoing HoH, Hisam was ineligible to compete in week 3’s HoH competition. Felicia Cannon ascended the throne, toppling the first domino of Hisam’s final week inside the Big Brother house. Although he was invested in his “Professors” alliance that included Felicia, she had other plans for him.
Considering his competitive prowess and the fact he was wheeling and dealing with other contestants outside of their alliance, Felicia set her sights on eliminating Hisam.
But, because of his track record, she knew he had a good chance of capturing the PoV if given the opportunity to play for it. She wanted to limit the possibility of him winning the golden necklace. So, she nominated Cameron Hardin and Jag Bains to sit in the nomination chairs.
Then came the PoV selection process. As always, the HoH and two nominees were automatic players. Then, they took turns randomly drawing names to determine the three other competitors.
A major thing that can derail a backdoor plan is the intended target getting picked to play in the competition. That can happen in one of two ways: either their name is randomly chosen, or one of the people drawing gets a “houseguest choice” chip, and they pick them.
That didn’t happen for Hisam.
Izzy Gleicher, Red Utley, and Cory Wurtenberger competed instead. Jag ultimately won the PoV and, of course, used it on himself — which was perfect for Felicia and the rest of her crew as Hisam was firmly in their crosshairs.
Because Jag pulled himself off the chopping block, Felicia had to name a replacement nominee. That’s when Hisam was told to take a seat next to Cameron. A few days later, eviction night rolled around, and Hisam was sent out of the door via an 11-0 vote.
He was the first victim of the backdoor in Big Brother 25 — he never had the opportunity to save himself from meeting host Julie Chen on day 23. And in true Big Brother fashion, he likely won’t be the last during the 100-day battle for $750,000.
