The anticipation going into Big Brothers All-Stars was high this summer, particularly once the cast was revealed during the Season 22 premiere and we saw just how many standout players were returning for another shot at the $500,000 grand prize. However, it didn’t take long for fans to realize that Big Brother All-Stars wasn’t going to be the thrilling entertainment we had hoped for. Instead, this season will likely go down in history as one of the CBS franchise’s most frustrating — and predictable — seasons.
But while it’s no secret that Big Brother All-Stars has been a big disappointment, that doesn’t mean Season 22 hasn’t delivered some good moments. We want to remember the highlights as much as the lowlights, so to keep things in perspective, we’re looking back on the best and worst moments of Big Brother All-Stars so far.
BEST: Kaysar wins the Safety Suite (Week 1)
We were so thrilled to see old school players like Janelle Pierzina and Kaysar Ridha enter the game this season, but after Cody Calafiore won the first HOH and named the beloved duo as his targets, we were worried one of these BB legends would be the first evicted. Fortunately, Jaysar could tell there were targets on their backs, and the two both decided to play in the Safety Suite competition, which Kaysar won. He named Janelle as his plus-one, securing them both safety for the week.
Kaysar Ridha, Big Brother All-Stars
WORST: Nicole Anthony turns on Jaysar (Week 2)
After Memphis Garrett nominated Nicole Anthony and David Alexander, one of the most baseless and aggravating conspiracies sprung up: that Janelle and Kaysar were behind Nicole Anthony’s nomination. The reality of the situation was that Janelle and Kaysar were the only two people in the house actively fighting to save Nicole Anthony. But nothing could shake Nicole Anthony’s belief that they had betrayed her and were only using her to split the house, and she spent almost her entire last week in the Big Brother house talking trash about Jaysar and plotting how to hurt their games. During her last few days in the house, Nicole Anthony finally began to doubt the anti-Jaysar conspiracy that had fueled her all week, but it wasn’t until she was evicted that she truly understood just how wrong she had been.
Nicole Anthony, Big Brother All-Stars
WORST: Janelle is evicted (Week 3)
The motto of Big Brother is “expect the unexpected,” but this season has felt more like “expect the expected.” Despite not winning a single comp this season and having zero solidified allies in the house beyond Kaysar, Janelle was evicted from the Big Brother house, having barely been allowed the opportunity to play the game — not only in terms of time spent in the house, but also in terms of the interpersonal and social dynamics that she and Kaysar were ostracized from. Until the very end, we were holding out hope that there would be a twist, like a Battle Back, that would mean her time in the house might not truly be over. But unfortunately, our time with the reigning queen of Big Brother really and truly ended so soon.
Janelle Pierzina and Kaysar Ridha, Big Brother All-Stars
BEST: Kaysar’s eviction speech (Week 4)
It was really frustrating watching Kaysar get evicted 10-0, especially given that by this point pretty much everyone had started to realize that he and Janelle had been right about a core alliance running the game — or at least, partially right. After the wall yeller called out Cody and Nicole Franzel, Ian Terry finally pieced together that there were multiple alliances that shared a set of members who made up the true core. Ian shared all of his suspicions with Kaysar and asked him to blow up the house on his way out, which Kaysar — who had vocally complained about how boring this season has been — happily obliged. During his speech, Kaysar declared that while he loved everyone on a personal level, “when it comes to gameplay and strategy I think you all suck.” He went on to take shots at the various suspected alliances (which he was damn close to getting exactly right), naming Cody, Nicole, David, Tyler Crispen, Dani Briones, and Enzo Palumbo as the members. After absolutely eviscerating most of his fellow houseguests, Kaysar closed it out with a perfect mic drop: “I hope I have your vote, Cody.”
Kaysar Ridha, Big Brother All-Stars
WORST: Da’Vonne accidentally hands Christmas HOH (Week 5)
Knockout competitions always put the ruling majority at an advantage, so we didn’t allow ourselves to hope for much when this HOH comp began. However, each time Da’Vonne Rogers was called to the podium, she slayed the competition and was thus able to help knock out some of her biggest targets. In the final round, though, Day faced off with Christmas Abbott, who was handed the win when Day buzzed in with a wrong answer. While we expected a Christmas HOH to be boring, it proved to be one of the most upsetting and hard to watch weeks of this season, which is saying a lot. After bragging about how she finally won HOH on her own (insert eye roll), Christmas nominated Bayleigh Dayton and Da’Vonne, won the Veto, refused Tyler’s offer to go home to make up for damaging Bay and Day’s game, got into an argument with Bay and Day that (in addition to comments she made on the live feeds) led many fans and BB alums to call out Christmas’ racist microaggressions, and ultimately led the house in sending our beloved Bayleigh home.
Christmas Abbott and Da’Vonne Rogers, Big Brother All-Stars
BEST: Da’Vonne wins her first competition (Week 6)
Even though Da’Vonne was already likely going to be safe during Dani’s reign as HOH, she was smart enough to still gun for the Veto. And for the first time during her three seasons playing Big Brother, Da’Vonne won a comp! (Also, how cute was that teensy Veto necklace?) Despite having previously promised Dani she would keep the nominations the same, Da’Vonne used the POV to take Kevin Campbell down, smartly choosing to ensure the safety of her only reliable ally left. Da’Vonne’s win was truly one of the only pure and good things to happen this season, and we’re so glad she finally secured a comp win. However, what came after Day used the Veto remains a shame, including Nicole Franzel’s attempts to manipulate the audience with crocodile tears when she voted Ian out after being part of the group who mocked Ian’s autism (not to mention everything that happened the following week, when Nicole pinned the vote on David). But we’re grateful that Day finally got the win she’d been chasing for three seasons — and that she eventually came to see the truth about Nicole.
Da’Vonne Rogers, Big Brother All-Stars
BEST: Da’Vonne’s eviction speech (Week 7)
As hard as it was to say goodbye to Day, the final player left who we could have rooted for with our whole hearts, this three-time player delivered one of the best eviction speeches in Big Brother history. She not only let the players know that she wouldn’t forget who lied to her about the way the votes were going to go — and that these actions would influence her vote in the finale — but she took the opportunity to speak about why she decided to return to the game this summer.
“Cassandra Waldon was the very first houseguest to ever walk through those doors. She was a strong Black woman. Danielle Reyes sat in these two chairs — iconic and legendary — she as well was a strong Black woman, and almost won this game. The spinoff version – Celebrity Big Brother – Tamar Braxton, another strong Black woman, won this entire thing by a unanimous vote,” Da’Vonne said. “I had the desire to join that list of women and be the first African-American to ever win this game. Twenty-one seasons of winners and not one of those faces look like mine. So when I walked through those doors I had that desire, that determination to be the very first face to give hope to those behind me who have the desire to come in here and play this game. Because not seeing a face that looks like mine is very discouraging; it’s hurtful, and it does make me feel like maybe it’s impossible. But I’m wrong about that. Because it’s definitely possible. We can do it. It just hasn’t been done. Yet.”
WORST: The triple eviction is wasted (Week 8)
Call us foolish for being hopeful that Week 8 might actually give us some good moments, despite Cody being HOH. But between Dr. Will moving in next door, Enzo claiming he was ready to (finally!) make big moves, and the triple eviction, we thought we could actually see some entertaining moments and exciting power shifts. How wrong we were. Not only was the entire week largely a snooze — besides the unearned outrage at David choosing the $10,000 prize (which he’s donating to Black Lives Matter) rather than continuing to play for the Veto — but the biggest eviction night in Big Brother history was wasted when the house voted out Kevin, David, and Dani. In fact, this night was such a disaster that a fan who predicted what the worst-case scenario for the triple might look like got it 100 percent right. If we had to give an award to the single most infuriating moment of this week, it would have to be when Enzo “let’s take somebody out that’s big” Palumbo chose to vote out the rookie David over former winner Nicole. The joke’s really on us for ever thinking this scenario could have played out differently.
Nicole Franzel and David Alexander, Big Brother All-Stars
Big Brother All-Stars airs Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8/7c on CBS.
