On Wednesday night, America’s most iconic front door will open once again, welcoming 11 people you’ve heard of before as the newest houseguests of “Celebrity Big Brother.” Series host Julie Chen Moonves will usher in athletes Lamar Odom, Miesha Tate and Mirai Nagasu, reality TV vets Cynthia Bailey, Shanna Moakler and Teddi Mellencamp, and TV and music performers Carson Kressley, Chris Kirkpatrick, Todrick Hall, Todd Bridges and Chris Kattan as they begin the craziest four weeks of their careers.
While the celebrity version of the 20+ year old show is shorter than normal, it will be no less intense. These celebs will have to hit the ground running, strategizing and playing as if every day is a live double eviction episode. And, hopefully, they’ve prepared by looking back at their peers that had success in the show’s first two seasons. Previously on “Celebrity Big Brother” … four years ago Marissa Jaret Winokur became the first celebrity winner, followed by Tamar Braxton in 2018 as the second. But who did they beat and how? That’s what the 11 new houseguests will want to know.
SEE ‘Big Brother’ winners list: All seasons, plus spin-offs
In the Season 1 finale, five players were left in the game: Marissa, of course, as well as Ariadna Gutiérrez, Mark McGrath, Omarosa and Ross Mathews. Ross won the Head of Household and Power of Veto competitions, earning the right to nominate and maintain his choices for eviction. He put Ariadna and Omarosa on the block, leaving Mark and Marissa to make the decision to send Omarosa home 5th in a 2-0 vote.
Breaking from tradition of the main show, the final HOH was held with the remaining four players competing. Marissa won a tiebreaker to claim the final power to choose which of the other three she’d take to the final two. After voting together the entire game, aside from the two times her voted to keep her in the game, Marissa stuck by her ally Ross and brought him along. Ross played a strategic game, winning two HOH and three POV comps, and expected to win, but Marissa snuck by him in the end, earning six of the nine jury votes.
SEE Why is ‘Big Brother’ called ‘Big Brother’? Name meaning explained
While Marissa made the right decision at the end of the game, the final HOH winner of Season 2 made the wrong one. In that finale, Ricky Williams held power for the entire last week of the game. As the final five HOH he sent Kandi Burruss home and when he won it again at final four he brought Tamar with him to the final, placing Dina Lohan and Lolo Jones on the jury. After keeping a low profile for much of the season, we’ll never know whether or not Ricky had a chance of beating any of the women with him on finale night, but it’s safe to say that Tamar winning in a unanimous jury vote is not something he expected. Aren’t we glad he made that choice though? That night Tamar became the first Black female to win a U.S. version of the show and the second player since Season 10 to do so unanimously.
Think of the main series as a marathon and “Celebrity Big Brother” as a sprint–the sport is the same, but the strategy and training are wildly different. In this iteration of the game, players must check their preconceptions at the door and build bridges to cross the canyons of each other’s egos. We’ve made our assessment of the new houseguests, but who do YOU think has the best shot at being the next Marissa or Tamar?
SEE exclusive predictions: Who will win ‘Big Brother’?
Be sure to make your predictions to influence our reality TV racetrack odds. You can keep changing your predictions until just before the eviction episode airs live on CBS. You’ll compete to win a $100 Amazon gift card and a spot on our “CBB3” leaderboard. See our contest rules and sound off with other fans in our reality TV forum. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
