Yankee Swap (also known as the Prize Swapping Competition) is a recurring Power of Veto and Head of Household competition. It is unique among competitions in that the winner of the competition does not automatically win the POV or HOH. This competition is notable for being the one that causes an unlucky houseguest to wear a Unitard for a week or be in Solitary Confinement for 24 hours.
Rules[]
The players will compete in a series of rounds where they must try to score the highest number. The player with the lowest score each round will be eliminated from the game. If two or more players tie for the lowest score, they will play a tiebreaker round. Once they are eliminated, they must claim a prize which may contain money, vacations, advantages in the game, punishments, the power of veto, or the HOH key. The players that are eliminated in later rounds will have the option of keeping the prize that they have received or trading it for other prizes that have already been revealed. The player with the power of veto (or HOH key) in their possession at the end of the final round will win POV or HOH.
List of the Yankee Swap Competitions[]
United States[]
| Season | Week | Competition Variant | Name Variant | Competition Winner | Veto Holder or HOH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 2 | Power of Veto | "Cutthroat Christmas" | ||
| 9 | 4 | "Color of Veto" | |||
| 10 | "Big Brother Slapshot" | ||||
| 11 | 6 | Head of Household | "HoH Invitational Golf Tournament" | ||
| 12 | 4 | Power of Veto | "The Wizards of Pinball" | ||
| 13 | 6 | "Big Brother Cornhole" | |||
| 14 | 4 | "Field of Veto" | |||
| 15 | 6 | "Frog Darts" | |||
| 16 | 4 | "BB Cup" | |||
| 17 | 6 | "Game of Throws" | |||
| 18 | 8 | "Zingbot for President" | |||
| 19 | 7 | "BB Adventure Tours" | |||
| 20 | 6 | "Boom Power Trip" | |||
| 21 | "Tossed in Space" | ||||
| 22 | 5 | "Mathcathalon" | |||
| 23 | "Kingdom of Curl-A-Lot" | ||||
| 24 | 6 | "Punkaroo" | |||
| 25 | "Buddy Ball" | ||||
| 26 | "A.I. Apocalypse" | ||||
Canada[]
Civilian[]
| Season | Week | Competition Variant | Name Variant | Competition Winner | Veto Holder |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 4 | Power of Veto | "Lacrosse Fire" |
Celebrity (Quebec)[]
| Season | Week | Competition Variant | Name Variant | Competition Winner | Veto Holder |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 7 | Power of Veto | "OTEV the Beaver" | ||
| 3 | 8 | "OTEV's Beach" | |||
| 4 | 8 | "Sweet Dreams OTEV" | |||
Trivia[]
- Big Brother 11 (US) is the only season where this competition was played as a Head of Household competition. This competition was originally going to be a Veto competition, however, because of Chima Simone's expulsion, it was later played as an HOH competition instead.
- Big Brother 8 (US) is the only season where none of the prizes and punishments were traded.
- Big Brother 8 (US) is also the only season where the Power of Veto was awarded last. In all of the subsequent seasons that featured this competition the veto was awarded first.
- Ryan Quicksall, Libra Thompson, Judd Daugherty, Caleb Reynolds, Elena Davies, Tyler Crispen, and Sarah Miller won the competition in their respective seasons, however, they choose not to take the Power of Veto and took the prizes instead.
- Ryan, Judd, Caleb, and Elena took the cash prize instead of the veto, Libra and Tyler took the vacation, while Sarah Miller from BBCAN2 took the Slop Pass.
- Angela Rummans from Big Brother 20 (US) was eliminated the earliest from the competition to still win the Power of Veto, being eliminated in the 2nd round.
- Of the Canada Players, Allison White was eliminated the earliest and won the POV. She was eliminated in the 3rd round in Big Brother Canada 2.
- Jeff Schroeder, Jordan Lloyd, James Huling, and Paul Abrahamian have played this competition twice. Dani Briones and Nicole Franzel have played this competition three times.
- Jeff and James made it to the final round twice.
- Paul was eliminated in the first round and received a punishment both times he played.
- Dani won once and lost the other two times.
- Nicole lost this competition all three times and received a Unitard from it twice.
- The one time she did not receive a Unitard, she was already wearing one as a different punishment, and her showmance Corey Brooks received the Unitard instead.
- Dan Gheesling and Brendon Villegas were present for this competition twice but never played. Rachel Reilly and Britney Haynes played this competition on their first season but didn't play it on their second season.
- The earliest week that this competition was played was in Week 2 during Big Brother 8 (US), while the latest week that this competition was played was in Week 8 during Big Brother 18 (US).
- Jessica Milagros, Britini D'Angelo, and Kyle Capener are the only people that won both the competition and the HOH or POV and have never made it to the final five.