The Jury was introduced in Big Brother 2 (US). The final seven evicted houseguests, not including the Final 2, are members of The Jury. They vote for the winner of Big Brother. Up until Big Brother 4 (US), all the evicted houseguests voted for the winner of Big Brother. The Jury became only the final seven evicted houseguests because, in Big Brother 3, Danielle Reyes lost the season because of her Diary Room confessions. Thus, The Jury and the Sequester House were born. From Big Brother 15 (US) onwards, the jury has consisted of nine houseguests. Big Brother: Over The Top had no jury, being the first season since its introduction in BB2 to not feature a jury. Celebrity Big Brother 1 (US) and Celebrity Big Brother 2 (US) returned to the original jury format, where all evicted houseguests were jurors, and instead of being sequestered, they went back home and returned on finale night.
The Jury House
As of Big Brother 4 (US), each member of the Jury lives the remainder of the Big Brother game in total seclusion, arriving in an undisclosed location, usually a tropical and beautiful house. They have access to movies and games, a pool, and (depending on the location) a private beach. They are not allowed communication with the outside world so that their votes are not tainted by behind-the-scenes information, such as secret alliances or betrayals that they may not be aware of.
The Jury stays privy to house happenings in the form of a DVD brought along with the most recent evicted houseguest, showcasing competitions, and other group activities. Secret meetings, Diary Room sessions, and other happenings that do not include the entire group of remaining houseguests are not disclosed.
In Big Brother Canada 1, Big Brother 15 (US) - Big Brother 18 (US), and Big Brother 20 (US), the jury members got a chance to return to the game. Big Brother Canada had a public vote, while the U.S. seasons had a competition.
Jury Fury
On some occasions, jury members may be allowed to re-enter the house in order to wreak havoc, but not the game. In its first occurrence in Big Brother 12 (US), juror Rachel Reilly, who was evicted in Week 5, was unleashed upon the remaining houseguests for 24 hours when HOH Brendon Villegas opened Pandora's Box in Week 6. Brendon himself was treated to a spa day in the Jury House, while Rachel was in the Big Brother House tormenting the other seven, notably sparking an infamous fight with houseguest Ragan Fox.
In Big Brother 16 (US), jurors Jocasta Odom, Hayden Voss, Zach Rance, Nicole Franzel, and Christine Brecht, who were all evicted between Weeks 6 and 10, returned to the house in Week 12 to compete in a Luxury Competition, while the remaining five houseguests drafted between the six of them. The competition winner and the person who drafted them would each win $5,000, ultimately won by Hayden and his drafter, Victoria Rafaeli.
Voting
On finale night, each juror casts a vote for whom they would like to see be the winner of Big Brother. Each vote is one of the names of the Final 2 written on a key (or a chip for BBCan), which the juror places in the nomination box. In the same format as a Nomination Ceremony, the keys are removed one at a time, revealing the winner of the season.
Big Brother 22 Jury Members
There are currently two Jurors in the BB22 Jury House.
- Ian Terry - Juror #1 - 11th Place - Day 44
- Da'Vonne Rogers - Juror #2 - 10th Place - Day 51
- TBD - Juror #3 - 9th Place - Day 58
- TBD - Juror #4 - 9th Place - Day 65
- TBD - Juror #5 - 8th Place - Day 72
- TBD - Juror #6 - 7th Place - Day 72
- TBD - Juror #7 - 5th Place - Day ??
- TBD - Juror #8 - 4th Place - Day ??
- TBD - Juror #9 - 3rd Place - Day 85
Jury Configurations
| Configurations | ||||
| Finalists | Jurors | Occurrences | Seasons (US) | Seasons (Can) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final Two | 6 + Public Vote | 3 | Seasons 8, 11 | Season 2 |
| Final Two | 7 | 12 | Seasons 4-7, 9-10, 12-14 | Seasons 1, 6-7 |
| Final Two | 9 (2 cancelled) | 1 | Season 2 | N/A |
| Final Two | 8 + Public Vote | 1 | N/A | Season 4 |
| Final Two | 9 | 10 | Seasons 15-22, CBB1-2 | Season 5 |
| Final Two | 10 (1 cancelled) | 1 | N/A | Season 3 |
| Final Two | 10 + Public Tiebreaker | 1 | Season 3 | N/A |
| Final Three | Public Vote | 2 | Seasons 1, OTT | N/A |
| No Finale - Season Cancelled | 1 | N/A | Season 8 | |
Trivia
- Big Brother 3 (US) and Big Brother Canada 3 currently hold the record for the most jury members with 10, however, in the latter, the Final 3 must strip one of the Jurors of their Jury vote, dropping it down to 9,
- Big Brother 2 (US) would have also had 10 jurors if Justin Sebik had not been expelled.
- In Big Brother 2 (US), the final two were given the option to nullify two jury votes (one per finalist), making it the first and so far only time in Big Brother history that two jury votes were negated.
- The five seasons in which the public has voted as a juror were Big Brother 3 (US) (the public picked the winner in case of a tie), Big Brother 8 (US) (as the public controlled Eric Stein's jury vote due to America's Player), Big Brother 11 (US) (due to the ejection of Chima Simone, a would be jury member), Big Brother Canada 2 (where the 7th vote was given to Canada in a twist), and Big Brother Canada 4 (due to Ramsey Aburaneh, a would be jury member, walking)
- In Big Brother 15 (US) the format was changed back to a jury of nine because of the number of houseguests (16) that season and it has been used ever since.
- Strangely, Big Brother 9 (US) and Big Brother 14 (US) both had 16 houseguests but still retained a jury of seven.
- Sheryl Braxton was the first ever jury member in Big Brother history.
- Dana Varela was the first jury member of a sequestered jury.
- The first 5 seasons of Big Brother Canada all had different jury configurations.
- In the middle of the jury phase in Big Brother 7 (US), the jurors had to evacuate and move to a different jury house from their first one due to a hurricane.
- Also during this season, James Rhine, Danielle Reyes, George Allen Boswell and Will Kirby all escaped the Jury house during an outing and partied. Danielle and Will were also spotted at a karaoke bar and were rumored to be kicked off of the Jury, which was proven false, while James hinted that there were more escapes. These escapes have caused production to be much more strict with the Jury in future seasons and taking away outings.[1][2]
- Nick Maccarone and Kathryn Dunn are the first contestants to form a Showmance in Jury.
- Lisa Donahue, Kevin Martin, and Tamar Braxton hold the record for most Jury votes received out of any finalist, with 9 each.
- Lisa received 9 votes out of 10, while Kevin and Tamar each received the votes of all 9 Jurors, with Kevin also winning with a Perfect Game.
- Dan Gheesling and Paul Abrahamian are the only two houseguests to receive votes from two different Juries, due to making it to the Final 2 twice, and they both have received 8 Jury votes total over their Big Brother seasons.
- Dan received all 7 Jury votes during his original season, where he also won with a Perfect Game, and received 1 vote during his second, while Paul received 4 votes each during both of his seasons.
- Due to their opponents winning with unanimous votes, Memphis Garrett, Karen Singbeil, Ricky Williams and Anthony Douglas are tied for the fewest Jury votes received by a finalist, with 0.