Regarded by many in the Big Brother community as the greatest player of all time, Will Kirby is a two-time contestant of CBS’s hit reality competition show, and he’s taken home the grand prize once. He’s been around since the U.S. based version’s second season aired in 2001. Fast forward over 20 years, and his face is firmly enshrined in Big Brother’s Mount Rushmore.
He’s best known as “Dr. Will,” but he’s also famously referred to himself as “The Puppet Master.”
The 50-year-old dermatologist has long since stepped away from competing on reality television. He currently works as the Chief Medical Officer of LaserAway, an aesthetic dermatology chain that has over 100 locations across the United States, according to its official Instagram page. Per his personal Instagram, Dr. Will is also a “beauty reporter” for Life & Style Weekly, a lifestyle outlet following celebrities.
He’s a father of two and shares custody of them with his ex-wife, Erin Brodie, who he divorced in 2022, TMZ reported.
So, let’s take a look back at the mayor of “Chill Town’s” Big Brother career and how he developed into the reality competition legend that he is today.
Dr. Will won $500,000 on Big Brother 2
Dr. Will stormed into the reality television universe as a 28-year-old doctor from Florida. With confidence and charisma exuding from every pore, he joined 11 other hopefuls on a quest to win $500,000 on Big Brother 2.
The cast featured several notable names, including Mike “Boogie” Malin, Nicole Schaffrich, Hardy Ames-Hill, Bill “Bunky” Miller, and Monica Bailey. Will immediately linked up with Boogie and Shannon Dragoo, and they coined their alliance “Chill Town,” a name that has been etched in the history books.
Will’s first season set the benchmark for how he played the game. The doctor leaned on his social and strategic abilities to keep himself in the background as much as possible, but he’d attempt to manipulate the eviction outcome every week. Plus, he was never reluctant to be in the hot seat. The doctor never won a competition (this was when the Power of Veto didn’t exist), and he sat on the block four times.
But, even though he was nominated for eviction more times than any other houseguest in Big Brother 2, Dr. Will only ever received one vote against him.
He was able to defuse the other contestants with his carefree attitude and lackluster challenge performances — they didn’t feel threatened by Will’s existence in the game. But in reality, Dr. Will was purposely losing every competition he played in, which was something fans and reality stars hadn’t really seen before. He relied on a charade of being a non-jury threat, something that carried him through.
Will’s time on Big Brother 2 was highlighted by a few things.
First, he was rarely ever in a power position, and he lost his Chill Town crew early in the season. Both Boogie and Shannon were voted out by week 4, and Dr. Will had sat on the block once during the opening weeks. In fact, the first half of Dr. Will’s time on Big Brother 2 wasn’t exceptional. By week 7, he had been nominated twice and was only in the majority of votes for two rounds of play.
His game ramped up in the latter part of the season. Dr. Will was nominated alongside Bunky in week 8 when only five players remained. He was able to wheel and deal with Nicole and Hardy — the remaining power alliance — and he was ultimately saved by them. But, the next week he threw the Head of Household competition to Monica, infuriating the duo. The move gave Will the sole power to evict either Nicole or Hardy, and he removed the man who saved him the week prior.
But, Nicole won the final Head of Household and subsequently evicted Monica thinking that she’d have an easier time receiving votes from the jury by taking him to the final 2. She was wrong. After each exercised their power to nullify one jury member’s vote, Dr. Will became the series’ second champion by a 5-2 spread.
His ability to survive and make moves while never winning a competition was well-recognized by the fan base. And it set him up for another impressive showing a few years later.
The ‘Puppet Master’ returned for Big Brother: All-Stars and had a legendary run
In 2006, CBS brought to life its biggest season of Big Brother up to that point. They assembled 14 popular figures from the first six seasons to compete in All-Stars. Big Brother 7 featured the return of two Chill Town members — Will and Mike — and they were the standouts of the ground-breaking season.
Joining the cast as the only previous winner, The Puppet Master once again implemented the same strategy of not winning competitions while hiding in plain sight. But this time, he was able to rely on a ride-or-die partner for the entirety of his game.
Will and Boogie entered Big Brother 7 as old-school players relative to most of the cast, which included season 6 stars Janelle Pierzina, Howie Gordon, Kaysar Ridha, and James Rhine; Mike and the doctor weren’t even around for the Power of Veto’s inception in Big Brother 3. But, that didn’t matter.
They systematically eliminated some of the season’s most iconic players, like season 3’s runner-up Danielle Reyes and all of season 6’s players besides Janelle (well, Mike did at the final 3). Their plan was simple: make alliances with everybody but only remain loyal to each other. At one point late in the season, they even made all of the remaining houseguests secret members of Chill Town. However, they never intended on keeping promises, which led to some intense blindsides.
For example, after Boogie and Will betrayed Howie and voted him out in week 7, Howie got into Mike’s face and called him a “punk,” forcing James to step in between them as “Jedi Howie” exited the house while Mike told him to “get to steppin’.”
Chill Town made it all the way until the final 4 alongside Janelle, Will’s showmance, and season 5’s Erika Landin, Mike’s showmance. After putting on a complete masterclass by taking out some of the best gamers the show had ever seen, Dr. Will finally tasted eviction.
Boogie was the Head of Household and Janelle held the Power of Veto, which led to Will and Erika facing off on the block. Will had spent the season developing a strong relationship with Janelle, but after she and Erika compared notes and became aware of Chill Town’s manipulation, the bubbly and blonde fan-favorite player used the opportunity to eliminate the doctor.
Will joined the jury on day 61. But, Chill Town picked up the win anyway. Boogie went on to secure the final Head of Household and evicted Janelle, placing himself in the final 2 beside Erika. In a near-unanimous vote, Mike won All-Stars and the $500,000 check.
Although Boogie was a critical ally, Dr. Will’s season 7 run has been heralded as an all-time feat, and he’s long been viewed as the mastermind of Chill Town. Heck, he’s the man who stood in front of the all-star contestants saying he “hated” them all while asking to be evicted, and then went on to survive a 9-0 vote.
He’s continued to pop back up on the series, but hasn’t played since Big Brother 7
All-Stars was the last time Dr. Will moved into the Big Brother house, but CBS has continued to find ways to include the legend in their programming.
He popped up during Big Brother 14 to give his take on Boogie’s gameplay; Mike had returned for his third season. Initially starting as a coach battling against three other veterans (including Janelle), Boogie joined the houseguests in week 3 as an actual player but was evicted in 10th place.
The following season, a new position was created for Dr. Will; he became the host of the jury roundtable. Near the end of season 15, Will sat down with evicted gamers who made up the jury. He questioned them, moderated conversations, and challenged their beliefs. The segment was a hit, and Will has returned to it several times since, besides Big Brother 22 and 23 due to the pandemic.
Speaking of Big Brother 22, the 2020 season marked the second iteration of All-Stars. Many hoped that Dr. Will would lace up his gloves for a third stint as a player. But instead, he filled the role of next-door neighbor for one week halfway through the game.
Dr. Will enticed the players with prizes and power while sporting a housecoat and coffee mug in hand. It was a fun twist that gave the legend some much-needed screen time. Most recently, the dermatologist returned last summer to host Big Brother 24’s jury roundtable.
Big Brother is set to air its 25th season, and it’ll premiere via CBS on Wednesday, Aug. 2. Sixteen new houseguests have been revealed. And should an individual find themselves part of the jury during the 100-day stretch, there’s a good chance they’ll have the opportunity to chat with The Puppet Master himself.
