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Michael Brian Bruner was a houseguest on Big Brother 24 (US).

Being a long-time superfan, Michael was known to be an observant and strategic player who would keep his cards hidden from his housemates. Although he was first nominated and targeted by Head of Household Daniel Durston for being a threat, Michael won the Power of Veto to keep himself safe, starting an impressive competition run. He built great relationships among the people in the house, most notably with Brittany Hoopes and Taylor Hale. He also ingratiated himself with the different alliances that started forming inside the house, but was mostly loyal to the dominant alliance of the season, The Leftovers.

Although Michael was extremely pivotal to The Leftovers' hold on power because of his historic nine competition wins (three Head of Household and six Power of Veto wins), this was also the reason his target grew on his back and several houseguests, including his closest ally Taylor, plotted to get rid of him when the opportunity came. That opportunity arrived during the second half of the Double Eviction on Week 9 when Matt Turner became the Head of Household. While Michael wasn't Turner's original target, Monte Taylor won the Power of Veto and convinced Turner to put Michael on the block instead once the veto was used on Alyssa Snider. When Michael realized that he most likely would go home if he was nominated beside his ally Brittany, he campaigned hard to the house to stay safe. Once Turner made him the replacement nominee, Michael gave a memorable speech that threw Brittany under the bus by exposing her multiple deals with other houseguests. This was all for naught as Michael was deemed a huge threat who would likely win the game by his fellow housemates and he was voted out by a unanimous vote of 3-0, with Michael's exit from the house being regarded as one of the most iconic moments of the season.

On Finale Night, he voted for his close ally and friend Taylor to win the game.

Michael became the first houseguest to win 4 PoV's pre-jury, 6 in a single season and the first male to win 9 competitions tying Janelle Pierzina's Season 7 record for the most in any season. Because of this, Michael has been considered by viewers and fellow houseguests as one of the greatest physical competitors in the history of the show, as well as one of the greatest to not win.

Biography[]

Michael Bruner Biography

Retrieved from Parade.com
Age: 28
Hometown: Saint Michael, Minn.
Current City: Rochester, Minn.
Occupation: Attorney

What’s the best advice you received before coming out to play?
To enjoy myself. Whenever I play a game, I can get really, really intense and focused so much on winning. And I think that could really rub people the wrong way if I'm so intense all the time. So just enjoy myself, lay back and have a good time and really let my personality come out. Make those genuine connections without coming across too intimidating.

What do you think people will perceive you as?
I think the second I walk into the house, people are going to perceive me as a nerdy character. I've got the glasses. I'm 6'4". I've got gangly noodle arms. (Laughs.) I'm clearly not the musclehead bro the season. So I think people are going to clock me pretty quickly that I'm the nerd.

What types of players would you least want in your alliance?
People who are very go-with-the-flow, "I just want to do what the house wants." Ultimately, those aren't allies that you can count on. If I can't count on you to have my back when I need you because you're going to do what the house or HoH wants, I don't want you in my alliance. I want someone who's willing to stick their neck out, fight for a veto to try to pull me off, or try to sway some votes in my favor. Because that's ultimately what I want to do for my allies, and I really want them to do the same.

What’s something the other houseguests may dislike about you?
If I let it peek through, it's definitely my intensity when it comes to games. I like to win at all costs. And I think that can really rub people the wrong way, especially people who aren't superfans of the game and who maybe don't get it quite as much. They're like, "Relax, chill, it's not a big deal." But for me, this is a big deal. So keeping all of that under wraps is gonna be really tough. And if I let it peek through, I think that could rub people the wrong way.

On eviction night, would you rather flip the votes against the house to help your individual game, or go with the house to help your overall alliance?
I am more than willing to flip a vote. And I would much rather flip a vote to try to further my individual game than just go with the house to help a larger group of people. Ultimately, an alliance is going to crumble. We're going to have to turn on each other. There are only two chairs in the finale and one winner. So I'm going to do everything that I can to set myself up for success.[1]

Player History - Big Brother 24 (US)[]

Competition History[]

Week 1 HOH Part 1 Loss
HOH Part 2 Ineligible
POV Win
Week 2 HOH Part 1 Win
HOH Part 2 Loss
POV Win
Week 3 HOH Loss
Co-POV Win
Week 4 HOH Part 1 Loss
HOH Part 2 Ineligible
Co-POV Not Picked
Week 5 HOH Win
Co-POV Win
Week 6 HOH Previous HOH
POV Not Picked
Week 7 HOH Win
POV Loss
POV Ineligible
Week 8 HOH Previous HOH
POV Win
Week 9 HOH Win
POV Win
HOH Previous HOH
POV Loss

Have/Have-Not History[]

Week 1 Have-Not
Week 2 Have
Week 3 Have
Week 4 Have
Week 5 Have/Have-Not Phase Over
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9

Voting History[]

Week Position Voted for With Majority?
1 Used POV on Self Nominations Void
2 POV Holder Pooch Pucciarelli Yes
3 Used POV on Self Ameerah Jones Yes
4 Nicole Layog Yes
5 HOH/POV
6 Terrance Higgins No
7 HOH
8 POV Holder Kyle Capener Yes
9 HOH/POV
Post-POV Nominee
Finale Jury Member Taylor Hale Yes

HOH History[]

Original Nominees Post-Veto Nominees Intended Target
Week 5
Daniel Durston
 Evicted
Daniel
Week 7
(Group 1)
Jasmine Davis
 Evicted
Jasmine
Week 9
Terrance Higgins
 Evicted
Terrance

Post Big Brother[]

Trivia[]

  • Michael is the first houseguest on Big Brother 24 (US) to win HOH more than once.
  • Michael is the fastest houseguest to win four Power of Veto competitions, winning his fourth POV by Week 5.
  • Michael is the seventh houseguest to complete a "Trifecta Veto", in which they won the POV as a nominee, as the HOH and as a picked player. He follows Daniele Briones, Shane Meaney, Paulie Calafiore, Corey Brooks, Jason Dent and Jackson Michie. He was followed by Jag Bains and Makensy Manbeck.
    • Michael is the only person to complete the Trifecta twice.
  • Michael is the first person to win the Power of Veto six times, breaking the record of five, first set by Janelle in Big Brother 7 (US). Coincidentally, Janelle is Michael's favorite player. His record would later be broken by Jag Bains, who won seven.
    • With Michael's sixth POV win, he also tied Janelle's other record from Big Brother 7, the most competition wins in a single season, with nine (3 HoH's and 6 PoV's). He also tied her exact win ratio, as they both won 9/15 competitions they competed in for a 60% win rate. Coincidentally, both lost only 4 HoH's and 2 PoV's during their seasons as well. This record would also later be broken by Jag, who won ten.
    • He is the first male to ever win 9 competitions in a single season, followed by Jag.
  • Michael has the lowest place finish for a Houseguest who won 7 competitions or more in a single season, finishing in 6th place.
  • During the Week 11 eviction night episode of Big Brother 17, one of Michael’s tweets was shown on screen.

References[]

  1. The Houseguests Have Arrived! Meet the Full Cast of 'Big Brother 24'. Parade (5 July 2022). Retrieved on 5 July 2022.
Big Brother 24 (US) Houseguests
US24 Small Taylor
US24 Small Monte
US24 Small Turner
US24 Small Brittany
US24 Small Alyssa
US24 Small Michael
Michael
US24 Small Terrance
US24 Small Kyle
US24 Small Joseph
US24 Small Jasmine
US24 Small Indy
US24 Small Daniel
US24 Small Nicole
US24 Small Ameerah
US24 Small Pooch
US24 Small Paloma
Winner
Runner-Up
Jury
Evicted
Walked
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