Depending on how you feel about showmances on “Big Brother,” one of the good/bad things about an all-stars installment is that most of these houseguests are older (you can debate whether they’re “wiser”) and probably married with kids or in a long-standing relationship (sometimes with people they had met in the house), which means there’s less of a chance of a showmance blooming.
There hasn’t been one (yet) on Season 22 — though some are trying to make Da’Vonne Rogers and David Alexander a thing, but it’s fetch — but let’s look back at some of the most memorable showmances in “Big Brother” history, some of whom are still together.
SEE ‘Big Brother 22’: Meet the all-stars
Jordan Lloyd and Jeff Schroeder
Seasons: 11, 13
America fell in love with Jeff and Jordan as we watched them get to know each other, flirt, and date all while competing as the underdogs of Season 11. Jordan won, and they continued dating once the season ended. After going on “The Amazing Race 16,” they returned for “Big Brother 13.” Jeff proposed to Jordan during a Season 16 appearance, and they wed in March 2016. She gave birth to their first son, Lawson, in October 2016, and their second son, Layton, in September 2018. In 2017, they relocated to Denver, where Jeff co-hosts the entertainment news show “Daily Blast Live.” After a break in 2018, he resumed hosting “Big Brother” pre-season cast interviews in 2019.
Jessica Graf and Cody Nickson
Season: 19
Cody and Jessica became early front-runners after surrounding themselves with other duos; however, the house turned against them after a series of poor HOH decisions made by Cody. Immediately after “Big Brother 19,” Jody competed on “The Amazing Race 30” and became the first “Big Brother” team to win the $1 million. They tied the knot in October 2018 and their daughter, Maverick, was born in March 2019. They announced in May 2020 they are expecting a second daughter.
Shannon Dragoo and Will Kirby
Season: 2
Shannon, the OG “BB” mean girl, had a boyfriend back home, but that didn’t stop her from hooking up with Dr. Will. They dated a few months after the show before splitting. In 2007, Will, who had a strategic showmance with Janelle Pierzina in Season 7, married two-time “For Love or Money” champ Erin Brodie, with whom he has a son, Cash, born in 2010, and a daughter, Scarlett, born in 2012.
Rachel Reilly and Brendon Villegas
Seasons: 12, 13
True superfans know to believe Rachel when she proclaims that “nobody gets between me and my man.” The duo played their first season as if it was them against the world and when they returned for a second go, they immediately paired up with Jeff and Jordan, forming a showmance superduo that catapulted Rachel to the win. Brendon and Rachel also competed on “The Amazing Race” in Seasons 20 and 24, finishing third both times. They became the first couple from “Big Brother” not only to get married, but to also have a baby when their daughter, Adora, was born in April 2016. Rachel competed on “The Amazing Race” for a third time on Season 31 in 2019, but this time with her sister and fellow “Big Brother” alum Elissa Slater, finishing in seventh. In May 2020, Brenchel announced they are expecting their second child.
Nicole Franzel and Corey Brooks
Season: 18
After a showmance with Hayden Voss on “Big Brother 16,” Nicole vowed to avoid one when she returned for the 18th season. But she became one-half of the NiCorey showmance. They dated after the show, but split by March 2017, when fans noticed that she had unfollowed Corey on Instagram. Shortly afterward, Nicole started dating their fellow Season 18 alum, Victor Arroyo. Vic proposed on Season 20, they now host a podcast called Coco Caliente, and finished fourth on “The Amazing Race 31.” Nicole, who’s back on Season 22, has referenced her bad breakup with Corey a few times on the live feeds.
Krista Stegall and Mike “Boogie” Malin
Season: 2
Before Will Kirby was credited with coining the term “showmance,” Krista and Boogie were one of the first couples in the game. Their romance culminated on finale night with Boogie going down on one knee to propose. The two quickly called off their engagement once they went back to their normal lives. When Boogie returned for “All-Stars” in Season 7, he learned from his past mistakes and started flirting with Erika Landen, this time with the sole goal to successfully manipulate his way to the cash prize.
Jackson Michie and Holly Allen
Season: 21
After a pre-feeds fling with Kat Dunn, Jackson hooked up with Holly. They were part of the toxic Gr8ful alliance that imploded early on, but they managed to hang on through the rest of the season because no one cared to break up a powerful showmance that was able to win comps. Jackson pocketed the win over Holly in a tense finale during which Julie Chen Moonves grilled him about his hateful behavior and racist comments. Jolly moved in together afterward and adopted a dog, but they announced their split in June 2020 after fans noticed they didn’t spend his birthday together and Holly didn’t even wish him a happy birthday. Holly later cited their age difference — she’s seven years older — as one of the reasons for their split.
Amanda Zuckerman and McCrae Olson
Season: 15
No two contestants proved that opposites attract more than Amanda (a successful real estate broker) and McCrae (a stoner pizza delivery boy). They manipulated their way throughout the entire game until the rest of the house caught on and pitted them against each other on the block in the final seven. Outside of the house, Amanda and McCrae learned they didn’t have much in common and split up in February 2014. She has since gotten married.
April Dowling and Bryan Ollie
Season: 10
April and Ollie, as he was called, were not the first couple to have sex in the house, but they definitely had the most sex by far. These two were not shy about getting it on anywhere and everywhere, day and night, and some of their graphic hookups live on on the interwebs (just search YouTube if you’re interested). But that passion didn’t last in the real world and they split shortly after the show. April is now married with two boys, born in 2010 and 2012.
Diane Henry and Drew Daniel
Season: 5
Diane and Drew nearly made it to the end together, but Drew opted to play with his head and not his heart. And so he chose to take Michael Ellis, aka Cowboy, to the final two over his showmance (and Drew, in fact, did win). Diane left the house in tears, but understood it was best for his game. They broke up a few months after the season ended.
Kat Dunn and Nick Maccarone
Season: 21
Nick asked Bella Wang to be his girlfriend before she was evicted, but he didn’t exactly keep up his end of the bargain, shamelessly canoodling with the other female houseguests almost immediately after walked out of the house. Bella dumped him on Twitter, which he wouldn’t find out about until the finale. But by then, he had started flirting with Kat in the jury house. They started dating long distance after the show, but broke up in April 2020 after a public spat on an Instagram Live.
Daniele Donato and Dominic Briones
Season: 13
No stranger to a “Big Brother” showmance, Dani, who’s on Season 22, was attached to multiple men throughout her first two seasons. In Season 13, she set her eyes on Dom and they became inseparable once her father, Evel Dick, prematurely left the game. Her alliance members resented her closeness with Dom, and it eventually led to both of their eliminations. They married in 2013, and their daughter, Tennessee, was born on Dani’s 32nd birthday on Aug. 20, 2018.
Amanda Craig and David Lane
Season: 4
Amanda was the first houseguest evicted in Season 4, making it difficult to label the two as a true couple in the game, but they will certainly go down in history as the first to have sex in the house in a season with heightened sexual tension. Due to the X-Factor twist, many of the original houseguests were forced to compete against their exes. Amanda and David did not last outside the house.
Zakiyah Everette and Paulie Calafiore
Season: 18
Zakiyah and Paulie were one of the most toxic relationships to ever unfold in the game. Going against the advice of her friends, Zakiyah turned against her alliance only to be disrespected and degraded verbally on national television by Paulie. They dated a few months after the show and tried to bury their breakup by announcing it on Super Bowl Sunday in 2017.
Liz Nolan and Austin Matelson
Season: 17
For most of the season, Liztin was more of a nomance than a showmance, as Liz repeatedly rejected the advances of Austin, who had a girlfriend back home. Maybe it was Stockholm syndrome or something, but she eventually gave in to him and his tuna beard (seriously, they would kiss with tuna in his beard). They gave it a shot after the season, but split in February 2016.
Elena Davies and Mark Jansen
Season: 19
Mark was crushing hard on Elena and she eventually realized she had feelings for him too. They moved in together after the show, but Elena announced on her “MiscELENAeous” podcast in March 2019 that they had split up after two years and that she had been “very dumped.” Four months later, they appeared on “Ex on the Beach,” on which Elena confronted Mark for allegedly cheating on her.
Jack Matthews and Analyse Talavera
Season: 21
These two’s relationship was 99 percent physical — they had an infamous sex stool in the HOH bathroom. After Gr8ful blew up, Jack was evicted first, but Analyse joined him in the jury house soon after. In the real world, they only lasted a month, announcing their breakup in November 2019.
Jessica Hughbanks and Eric Stein
Season: 8
Jessica and Eric grew quite serious on Season 8, and even used the L-word — Jessica said in her exit interview that she loved him and he said he loved her in his goodbye message. The pair returned to host the first HOH comp in Season 9 and dated for three years before calling it quits in 2010. Jessica has since married.
Bayleigh Dayton and Chris “Swaggy C” Williams
Season: 20
Bayleigh and Swaggy were one of the first couples of Season 20 and remained that way, despite him being the second person evicted. While Bay was still in the game and later the jury house, Swaggy got a head start meeting her parents. Bay was pregnant but sadly suffered a miscarriage in the jury house. On finale night, Swaggy popped the question. They have since gotten married, and she is back on Season 22.
Shelli Poole and Clay Honeycutt
Season: 17
Shelli and Clay quickly became inseparable on Season 17, but they kept things very chaste because she refused to kiss him on camera. (She had no problem, however, chewing him out for talking to her while she was putting her makeup on.) As a power couple, they were targeted on Week 6, and Clay lobbied for the house to keep Shelli. Alas, she was evicted the following week and became the first juror. They dated a few months after the show, but Shelli announced in November 2015 that they couldn’t make it work.
Haleigh Broucher and Faysal Shafaat
Season: 20
Because Haleigh wanted to focus on the game, despite Fessy’s persistence, Fayleigh didn’t really take off until after the show. They dated long distance since (he’s in Orlando; she, Houston) and at one point in 2019 were planning to move in together. But they split in July 2020 to “focus on ourselves.”
Natalie Negrotti and James Huling
Season: 18
The resident goofball and the NFL cheerleader were an odd pairing at first, but throughout Season 18, the duo became the bubbly heroes of the season in a cast full of unlikable and sometimes downright misogynistic houseguests. After the season, the two made their relationship official and traveled across the country to meet each other’s families, but they broke up in 2017 in a very public battle on social media with threats of legal action. Time has not healed any wounds; as of 2019, they still don’t speak and, safe to say, still can’t stand each other. Monty Brinton
Angela Rummans and Tyler Crispen
Season: 20
After flirting all season, weeks before the Season 20 finale, ice queen Angela confessed to Tyler, who’s on the 22nd season to get that win that eluded him, that she loves him, to which he responded with his version of “I love you too”: “I can’t believe we have the same secret.” Still, he honored his final two deal with Kaycee Clark, who edged him out for the $500,000. After the show, Tangela moved in together and have since launched a jewelry company.
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