Returning Players

This Page Is Under Construction, Please Do Not Do Large Edits, Thank You!

Returning Players (or Veteran HouseGuests) is a recurring twist in Big Brother. This twist gives players that have previously won the opportunity to come back and win again, as well as giving previously evicted players the chance to win for the first time.

Big Brother All-Stars (US)
Big Brother All-Stars featured 20 candidates, comprised of House Guests from all of the first six seasons of Big Brother. The House Guests were only eligible to enter the house based on fan votes, which would trim the cast down to 14, leaving 6 people ineligible to return (although the Producers chose 6/20 candidates on their own, meaning only 8 candidates entered based on the public vote).

Big Brother 11 (US)
Big Brother 11 featured 4 previous players returning for a chance for only one to enter the game. Each returning player represented one of the four cliques in the game (Athletes, Brains, Off-Beat, and Popular). To re-enter the game, the returning player had to have a member of their respective clique be the last one left in an Endurance Challenge. The returning player would also be the very first HOH for the week.

Big Brother 13 (US)
Big Brother 13 featured 6 returning players against 8 new players. The 6 returnees were paired up in a duo with another player from the past season (Each duo of returning players was male/female).

Big Brother 14 (US)
Big Brother 14 featured 4 previous players who would become "coaches" and mentor 12 other new players (3 on each team). Each week, the Coaches would compete in an individual challenge in order to give a member of their team Immunity from being nominated or trade for someone for another team. During the third week, the Coaches were offered the opportunity to join the game as individual players, which all but one coach accepted.

Big Brother 18 (US)
Big Brother 18 featured 4 returning players along with 12 new players. The 4 returnees were split up into 4 separate teams where they played alongside 3 new players.

Big Brother: Over The Top
Big Brother OTT featured 2 well known pre-jurors from the last 2 seasons who were up for voting to be the final HouseGuest of the season.

North America
Out of the six seasons that featured returning players, four of them (All-Stars, Big Brother 13, Big Brother 14, Big Brother 18, and Big Brother: Over The Top) saw returning players reach the Final Two. These players include Mike "Boogie" Malin and Erika Landin (Big Brother All Stars - entire cast was returning players), Rachel Reilly (Big Brother 13), Dan Gheesling (Big Brother 14), Nicole Franzel (Big Brother 18), and Jason Roy (Big Brother: Over The Top). Mike "Boogie," Rachel, and Nicole then went on to win the game, while Erika, Dan, and Jason were the runner-ups in their seasons. Big Brother 11 was the only season with a returning player that didn't make the Final Two, as Jessie Godderz was the returning player of that season and became the first Juror.

Returning Players By Season
For a list of returning contestants, check here.

North America

 * There have been 28 returning house guests as of Big Brother: Over The Top, with 2 of them returning twice, making a total of 30 times house guests have returned to compete in another season.
 * Big Brother 11 and Big Brother: Over The Top feature the fewest returning players with only one each (Jessie Godderz and Jason Roy respectively).
 * Due to Jessie and Jason being the sole returning players in their seasons, the odds of them making finale were drastically lower, as other seasons have had at least 4, 6, or 14 playing.
 * However, unlike Jessie, who ended up as the first Juror during his second season, Jason managed to beat the odds and made it all the way to the final 2, however he did not win the game.
 * Big Brother 9, Big Brother 13, Big Brother 15, and Big Brother 18 are the only seasons to have had no house guests return for a subsequent appearance.
 * Ironically, Big Brother 13 was the first non All-Stars season to bring back more than one returning player at a time.
 * However, Big Brother 18 had a house guest eligible to return, but he did not make it in.
 * For every season to feature returning players, with the exception of Big Brother 11, a returning player has reached the final 2.
 * In All-Stars, Mike "Boogie Malin" became the winner, while Erika Landin became the runner-up.
 * It should be noted that in All-Stars, it was guaranteed that 2 returning players would be in the final 2, as the entire cast was returning players.
 * In Big Brother 13, Rachel Reilly became the winner.
 * In Big Brother 14, Dan Gheesling became the runner-up.
 * In Big Brother 18, Nicole Franzel became the winner.
 * In Big Brother: Over The Top, Jason Roy became the runner-up.
 * Howie Gordon, Janelle Pierzina, James Rhine, Kaysar Ridha, Jessie Godderz, Rachel Reilly, Brendon Villegas, Da'Vonne Rogers, and James Huling all played back to back seasons.
 * Howie Gordon, Janelle Pierzina, James Rhine, and Kaysar Ridha all played on Big Brother 6 and Big Brother 7
 * Jessie Godderz played on Big Brother 10 and Big Brother 11
 * Rachel Reilly and Brendon Villegas played on Big Brother 12 and Big Brother 13
 * Da'Vonne Rogers and James Huling played on Big Brother 17 and Big Brother 18
 * Big Brother 6 currently has the most returning players out of all seasons, with 4.
 * Dan Gheesling has had the best result of any returning houseguest across Big Brother 10 and Big Brother 14 finishing 1st and 2nd.
 * Alison Irwin, from Big Brother 4 and Big Brother All-Stars, has had the worst result of returning houseguest going from 2nd to 14th.
 * Jason Roy, from Big Brother 17 and Big Brother: Over The Top, currently has the biggest placement jump as he went from 13th place to 2nd place.
 * Janelle Pierzina, James Rhine, and Kaysar Ridha, all from Big Brother 6 and Big Brother All-Stars, along with George Allen Boswell from Big Brother 1 and Big Brother All-Stars all currently have the lowest placement jumps, receiving 3rd place, 7th place, 10th place, and 5th place respectively in both of their seasons.
 * This makes the three from BB6 the only players to receive the same placement back to back as well.
 * Evel Dick and Dan Gheesling are the only houseguests to never be voted out every time they played.
 * Dick won Big Brother 8 and walked from Big Brother 13, never actually being evicted.
 * Dan won Big Brother 10 and was the runner-up of Big Brother 14.
 * Mike "Boogie" Malin and Janelle Pierzina are the only houseguests to play 3 times.
 * Big Brother 10, Big Brother 12, and Big Brother 17's returnees are the only sets of returnees whom didn't all return together to one season.
 * In BB10's case, Dan returned to BB14, while Jessie returned to BB11.
 * In BB12's case, Brendon and Rachel returned to BB13, while Britney returned to BB14.
 * In BB17's case, Da'Vonne and James returned to BB18, while Jason returned to BBOTT.
 * Ironically, Dan, Rachel, and Jason all made it to the final 2 in the season they returned in, however only Rachel won the game her 2nd time.
 * Bunky Miller, Monica Bailey, Lisa Donahue, Dana Varela, Michael "Cowboy" Ellis, Ivette Corredero, Jessica Hughbanks, Brian Hart, and Jozea Flores are the only houseguests who were candidates to play again, but did not make it in.
 * Bunky, Monica, Lisa, Dana, Cowboy, and Ivette were all potential All-Stars candidates, but were not voted in by America or selected by production.
 * Cowboy, Jessica, and Brian were all potential Big Brother 11 candidates, but their cliques did not win the HoH competition, so none of them made it in.
 * Jozea was a potential Big Brother OTT candidate, but was not voted in by America.
 * Cowboy is the only houseguest to have had 2 separate chances to play the game again and not return for either of them.
 * Janelle Pierzina and James Huling spent the most days in the house with 177 days, with Janelle's time spanning thoughout 3 seasons (BB6 - 76 days, BB7 - 67 days, BB14 - 34 days), and James' spanning throughout 2 (BB17 - 78 days, BB18 - 99 days).