Big Brother 17 (US)

Big Brother 17 (also known as Big Brother: Takeover) is the seventeenth season of the popular American reality game show Big Brother. The season premiered on June 24, 2015, with the second part of the premiere airing on June 25, 2015.

Twists

 * Battle of the Block is back for its second season. For the first five weeks, two HOHs are crowned, each HOH nominates two houseguests for eviction. The nominated houseguests must battle for safety in the Battle of the Block competition where the winning pair is safe and the HOH who nominated them is dethroned. (This was said to be a "fan favorite".)
 * A new twist called BB Takeover unleashed a new twist each and every week. After the third week however, it was cancelled.
 * A throwback to the Big Brother 5's Project DNA, Big Brother 17 adopted part of the old twist: The Twin Twist. Houseguest Liz Nolan has an identical twin: Julia Nolan. The two girls alternate shifts in the house, secretly switching places throughout the first 5 weeks. They survived the first five evictions playing as Liz, so both twins entered the game and played as individuals.

Weekly History

 * Note: John was evicted for moments of Week 10, before winning his way back into the house

BB Takeover
For more information, see main article BB Takeover.

Though it was initially announced that the Takeover Twist would introduce a new twist every week, there have been no additional Takeovers since Week 3. There has been no official word addressing its absence from the game until August 11th, where Julie Chen discussed why the Takeover Twist was cancelled, main reason was because of the Twin Twist, and there being too much going on in the game.

Week 1
As the 17th season started, eight of the fourteen houseguests moved into the Big Brother house and alliances started to form. The first one consisted of Audrey, Shelli, and Da’Vonne. Another formed between Shelli and Clay. They played in the HOH competition and the first HOH is James with Da’Vonne choosing to sit out. The next day the remaining six houseguests moved in and Phil Keoghan, the host of The Amazing Race brought out the first BB Twist of the Summer and Jeff and Jackie moved in. They played in the HOH competition and the second HOH is Jason with Vanessa sitting out. As they were the ones who sat out, they got the BB Fast Forward, which would prevent them from being nominated or evicted. They had to choose another houseguest to bring along and they brought Liz and Austin respectively. James nominated Jackie and Steve while Jason nominated Becky and John. The decisions were made based off the fact that Audrey and Da’Vonne wanted to backdoor Jace, so they needed pawns to be on the block. Becky and John won the Battle of the Block, taking themselves off the block and removing Jason from his HOH position. Steve won the Power of Veto and removed himself from the block. As a result, James nominated Jace as the replacement nominee for being one of the power players in the game and trying to form an alliance with Audrey, Austin, Da’Vonne, and James. At the eviction ceremony, Jace was evicted in a 12-1 vote, with one vote by Audrey against Jackie.

Week 2
Soon after the eviction of Jace, seven of the remaining HouseGuests, other than the outgoing Head of Household, James, competed in the first HOH competition. Becky came out victorious and was crowned the first HOH of the week. Then, the second seven HouseGuests competed, and Shelli was crowned the second HOH of the week. At the nomination ceremony, Shelli nominated Da'Vonne and John, with John being the pawn, and Becky nominated Jason and Steve as pawns in a plan to backdoor Audrey. However, Shelli was gunning for Da'Vonne rather than Audrey. At the BOTB competition, John threw it, and Becky was dethroned as HOH as Jason and Steve won the BOTB comp. Then, the Power of Veto competition happened. Shelli, John, Da'Vonne, Meg, Steve, and Clay were chosen for the Veto, but John came out victorious. Rather than keeping the nominations the same as Clay and Shelli urged him to do, John used the Power of Veto to take himself off the block. Meg was chosen as the new pawn. Later, at the live eviction, Da'Vonne was evicted in a vote of 7-2, only receiving Jason's and Audrey's votes to stay.

Week 3
Following Da'Vonne's eviction, the eligible houseguests competed in the Head of Household competition. Austin was crowned the first HoH, and Vanessa, James, and Liz competed in a tiebreaker. After the tiebreaker, Vanessa was crowned the second HoH. At the nomination ceremony, Austin nominated Meg and Jason, while Vanessa nominated James and John, with them having John promise to throw the Battle of the Block competition. Vanessa confirmed to the house that she was backdooring Audrey, however, her real plan was to backdoor Jeff, with only Audrey, Austin, Clay, Liz, Shelli, and Steve knowing that this was the real plan. After the BotB, Vanessa remained as the sole HoH. Vanessa, James, John, Austin, Audrey, and Shelli competed in the POV competition. John won the Power of Veto, winning the power to remove himself from the block. Vanessa, as HOH, nominated Jeff in hopes of him being the next evicted houseguest. In the end, Jeff was evicted in a vote of 7-4.

Week 4
Following Jeff's eviction, the eligible houseguests competed in the Head of Household competition. The competition ended with Liz and Shelli being the only ones to get the correct answer on the third question making them both HOH's. At the nomination ceremony, Liz nominated James and Jackie, while Shelli nominated Jason and John, with them this time not telling John to throw the Battle of the Block competition. Shelli's original target was Jason due to Audrey lying to her about Jason coming after her, she then eventually found out Audrey lied to her about Jason and her target changed from Jason to Audrey. After the BotB, Shelli remained as the sole HoH once again. Shelli, Jason, John, Vanessa, Meg and James competed in the POV competition. Vanessa won the Power of Veto, deciding to remove Jason from the block. Shelli, as HOH, nominated Audrey without her showing up at the POV ceremony. Audrey was evicted 9-1 vote with 1 penalty vote against Audrey and Austin being the only one to evict John.

Week 5
Following Audrey's eviction, the eligible houseguests competed in the Head of Household competition. Jackie was crowned the first HOH, and the competition ended with Vanessa being crowned the second HOH. Vanessa found out from Jason and Meg that Austin told them about the twins making Vanessa's target Austin. Vanessa pulled Jackie aside and agreed not to backdoor each other and let Jackie become sole HOH and backdoor Austin so Vanessa wouldn't get any blood on her hands. At the nomination ceremony, Jackie nominated James and Liz, while Vanessa nominated Clay and Becky, with them having James to throw the Battle of the Block competition. After the BotB the plan failed with Liz and James winning and dethroning Jackie making Vanessa the sole HOH once again. Vanessa, Clay, Becky, Shelli, John and Liz competed in the POV competiton and in the end Clay won the Power of Veto. After the POV competiton Vanessa wanted to talk with Austin about why he told Jason about the twins and after the conversation, Vanessa decided to give Austin a second chance if he would not reveal secrets to anyone again to which he agreed. At the POV ceremony, Clay removed himself from the block, Vanessa, as HOH, nominated Jason after Austin telling him about the twins and hoping he would be the next evicted houseguest. At the eviction ceremony Jason got voted out 7-2 with Meg and James the only people who voted to evict Becky. After that it was official that there was 5 evictions and Julia and Liz earned their right to enter their house on their on and they did.

Week 6
Following Jason's evicted, the Twin Twist was officially revealed and Julia entered the game, and the Battle of the Block twist had ended. The eligible houseguests then all made their way to the backyard, where they participated in an endurance Head of Household competition. The last three standing were Shelli, John, and James. Shell decided to make a deal with John and James, having them promise her and Clay safety. As a result, James was crowned the first solo Head of Household. Since James was aware of the the Sixth Sense alliance, he, Jackie, and Meg deemed it best for him to go back on his deal. So, James nominated Clay and Shelli. Both Clay and Shelli were blindsided and betrayed since Shelli had made the deal with James to not nominate them. Clelli scrambled to find answers and make a plan for one of them to come off the block with the veto. At the Power of Veto competition, James won the veto, now holding all of the power. Clelli tried to get Austin backdoored, which proved fruitless when James did not use the veto and Austin became aware of what they had done to try and get him nominated. In the end Clay was evicted by the first unanimous vote of the season by 9-0.

Round 1
Following Clay's eviction, Julie announced that the remaining houseguests will be a part of the jury after their evictions. Then, the houseguests went out to compete in yet another endurance competition. In the end, Becky was crowned the new Head of Household. Since Becky had been riding the middle in recent weeks, she had to choose a side of the house. It became clear that she chose to align herself with James, Meg, and Jackie, since she planned her HoH reign with them. Together, they decided it would be best to nominate Shelli and Steve, with a plan to backdoor Vanessa. At the nomination ceremony, Becky went through with the plan to nominate Steve and Shelli. At this time, Shelli had known of the plan to backdoor Vanessa. Becky, Shelli, Steve, Austin, Meg, and Vanessa competed in the Veto competition. Steve won the Power of Veto, winning the ability to remove himself from the block. At the veto ceremony, Steve used the veto on himself and Becky blindsided Vanessa by naming her as the replacement nominee. However, Becky's allies decided to switch the target from Vanessa to Shelli at the last minute, getting support from Austin, Liz, and Julia as well. At the live eviction, Julie Chen annoucned that it was a double eviction night. By a vote of 8 to 0, Shelli was the first houeguest evicted in the night and became the first member of the jury.

Round 2
Following Shelli's eviction, the houseguests competed in the Getting Loopy Head of Household competition. Steve ultimately won, and immediately nominated Meg and Jackie for eviction. At the veto competition, John won his third Power of Veto of the summer, allowing the two biggest targets for this double to be safe. At the live eviction, Jackie was the second houseguest evicted by a vote of 6 to 1 with Becky being the only one to evict Meg and became the second member of the jury.

Week 8
Following Jackie's eviction, Liz won Head of Household. By this point, Liz, Julia, and Austin have lost their trust in former ally Vanessa. However, they decided to work with her this week, and let the other houseguests get her out in the following weeks, since she is one of the biggest targets in the house at this point. Liz ultimately decided to nominate Becky and John, with Becky as the week's target. At the power of veto competition, which was the anticipated OTEV competition, Liz won the veto, now holding all of the power. At the power of veto ceremony, Liz decided not to use the veto, leaving the nominations the same. At the live eviction, Becky was evicted by a unanimous 6 to 0 vote. That night, Julie announced that after the next eviction, the first four members of the jury will compete to return to the house.

Week 9
Following Becky's eviction, the eligible houseguests competed in the "Ready, Set, Woah" Head of Household competition. In the end, Austin became the new HoH. He decided to nominate John and Steve, with an original plan of backdooring Vanessa. Zingbot made a surprise appearance in the Big Brother house and was looking for a fembot girlfriend in the power of veto competition, "Newly Zingle". At the power of veto competition, Vanessa won the veto, causing Austin to rethink his plan to backdoor Vanessa. In the end, Vanessa decided not to use the Veto, thus leaving the nominations the same. Meg and James had a tough decision, having to choose between Johnny Mac and Steve. In the end, John was evicted by a unanimous vote of 5-0. As John being the fourth juror, Julie announced that Shelli, Jackie, Becky, and John would return to the house to compete to get back in the game. In the end, John won his way back into the house.

Round 1
Following John's re-entrance into the house, the eligible houseguests competed in the HoH competition, leaving Vanessa winning her 3rd HoH this season. Vanessa decided to stick with Austin's Angels and nominate the inseparable duo, Meg and James. The biggest threat out of the two - James - won the Power of Veto causing Vanessa to rethink her plans. With two groups of the house at Vanessa's disposal (Austin's Angels and the Vanessa, John, Steve alliance), she was forced to nominate someone out of one of the two groups. In the end, she chose Julia to be the replacement nominee, seeding doubt within Austin's Angels.

Round 2
It was revealed to the Houseguests before Meg's eviction that it would be a double eviction. Liz won her 3rd HoH of the season and immediately nominated John as a pawn and James as a target. James was happy to be nominated as he knew his only chance was the Power of Veto competition. When Julia won the veto, she chose to honor her sister's nominations and decided to not use the veto. James was evicted 4 votes to 0 as he was the only person outside of any alliance.

Week 11
Following James' eviction, the eligible houseguests competed in the HoH competition. In the end, Steve won his second HoH of the summer (first reign, he sent Jackie home). He decided to put up Austin and Liz, with Austin being the week's target. At the Veto competition, Austin won the veto, with the ability to remove himself off the block. At the veto ceremony, Steve decided to name Julia the replacement nominee, putting her up against her twin sister. At the eviction, the houseguests evicted Julia by a vote of 3 to zero.

Round 1
Following Julia's eviction, the eligible houseguests competed in the “Under the Rainbow" HoH competition.  In the end, Vanessa won her 4th HoH of the summer.  Since Julia had just went to Jury, Vanessa decided to keep Liz off the block.  Instead, she nominated John and Steve.  After the veto competition, Johnny Mac had pulled off a win.  So, at the veto ceremony, Vanessa decided to name Austin the replacement nominee (none knowing that this was round 1 of a special eviction). When the houseguests were surprised with the eviction, Liz voted to evict Steve, while John voted to evict Austin, causing Vanessa to be the final vote to break the tie. Austin and Liz were blindsided when Vanessa evicted Austin, making him a member of the jury.

Round 2
Following Austin's eviction, the eligible houseguests competed in "What the Bleep!?" HoH competition. In the end, Steve won his 3rd HoH of the summer. He then later puts up Vanessa Rousso and John McGuire, targeting Vanessa to get John and him to the final 3. At the PoV competition, Vanessa wins her 3rd PoV. At the PoV meeting, Vanessa removes herself from the block, with Liz Nolan being the only replacement, goes up. Vanessa then stood and explained why she was doing what she was doing, before choosing to evict John from the Big Brother house, and he placed 4th, becoming the 8th member of the Jury.

Notable Prizes

 * In a Week 3 Luxury Competition, Meg Maley won a cruise to the Bahamas with the NFL's New England Patriots Tight End, Rob Gronkowski.
 * After winning the Week 5 Battle of the Block, Liz Nolan, and James Huling won a private meal from Outback Steakhouse. Vanessa Rousso also won the prize as she was the remaining HOH. Each one was allowed to bring someone else. Liz brought Austin Matelson, Vanessa brought Becky Burgess, and James brought Clay Honeycutt.
 * Becky won $5,000 during the Week 6 Power of Veto competition.
 * Clay won an Irish vacation during the Week 6 Power of Veto competition.
 * Becky won another $5,000 (bringing her total to $10,000), a Never-Not Pass, along with the competition itself in the Week 7 Part 1 Head of Household competition.
 * In Week 12 HOH competition, Liz won a once in a lifetime experience trip outside the house with a guest. Former Big Brother 16 HouseGuest Frankie Grande arrives at the Big Brother house and took Liz and Vanessa to Ariana Grande's concert at Staples Center.

Notable Punishments

 * Due to Jason Roy and John McGuire losing the Week 4 Battle of the Block, and Liz Nolan being dethroned, they had to form a boy band known as the Whackstreet Boys and perform together any time their pager goes off, while wearing all white outfits for the entire week.
 * The band they spoofed, the Backstreet Boys tweeted about this and said "Hey Jason, Liz & John.. we're definitely fans of your moves! #whackstreetboys @CBSBigBrother #BB17."
 * AJ McLean would later attend a taping of Big Brother and take a picture with Julie Chen.
 * Audrey Middleton earned a penalty vote from breaking the Have-Not food rule.
 * After the Week 6 Power of Veto competition, various houseguests received punishments:
 * Shelli Poole had to win 2,400 battles with targets in 24 hours.
 * Vanessa Rousso and Jackie Ibarra had to be chained by the ankle while dressed as a squire and a knight respectively for 24 hours. Vanessa must constantly buff Jackie's shield, while Jackie must always wear her helmet, unless she is using the bathroom, which is when Vanessa buffs the helmet instead of the shield. Once the punishment was over, Vanessa didn't have to wear the squire costume anymore, but Jackie must continue to wear the knight costume for the week, as it is now called the Knight in Shining Armortard.

Trivia

 * This is the first season that had a transgender woman, Audrey Middleton, competing.
 * This season features the youngest cast in Big Brother history with an average age of 26.7, beating out previous record-holder, Big Brother 6.
 * With Julia Nolan entering the house after the week 5 eviction, this season holds the record for the most houseguests with 17
 * This season holds the record for most houseguests with the same first initial, with 7 houseguests' names beginning with the letter J (Jace, Jackie, James, Jason, Jeff, John, and Julia)
 * At the start of the season, Jace, James, Jason and John were the only J names in the house as Jackie and Jeff were added in the BB Takeover and Julia was added in the Twin Twist
 * This is the first season since Big Brother 14 to feature at least two houseguests who knew each other prior to entering the house and the first since Big Brother 9 to feature pre-existing relationships with brand new houseguests.
 * In this case, there are four: Liz & Julia and Jackie & Jeff.
 * This is the first season since Big Brother 6 to feature more female houseguests than male houseguests.
 * Until Week 7, only 3 houseguests have been permanent HOHs (James, Shelli, and Vanessa)
 * Every dethroned HOH has been a different houseguest (Jason, Becky, Austin, Liz, and Jackie)
 * This is the first time in Big Brother history that a duo from another television show has entered the Big Brother house as official houseguests.
 * In this case, these houseguests are Jackie & Jeff from Season 26 of The Amazing Race.
 * This season of Big Brother has a college football player, Clay Honeycutt who plays for Texas A & M.
 * This is the first season since Big Brother 13 to have more than one female in the final 3.
 * This is the first season to have 2 houseguests win 4 official HOH's.
 * In this case, Steve and Vanessa have both won 4 HOHs
 * This is the first season where each houseguest in the final 3 won 3 or more HOHs.
 * This the first season where 7 houseguests have won multiple HOHS
 * This is very likely because of the Double HOH twist.
 * This season is tied with Big Brother 6, Big Brother 15 and Big Brother 17 for having the highest amount of cast members winning at least 1 one major competition between HOH and POV which in this case, 12 or 17 have won at least one competition.