Big Brother 20 aftermath: Ranking the ten recent winners
Yesterday, we did something similar with the ten most-recent seasons, and the reason why we’re only doing the past ten winners rather than the whole crop is the same: These are the ten seasons we’ve covered professionally and therefore, these are the ones we know the best. We’re basing our feelings on these winners based not on whether or not we like them personally, but instead on social game, strategy, if they benefited from luck / a twist, or the degree of difficulty of their season.
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10. Josh Martinez (season 19) – Josh did some smart things towards the end of the season, but he also did benefit from a twist at the very start of the game. He was also very abrasive to some of the jurors, and benefited greatly from being in the final two against a hated player in Paul. He underrated as a strategist, but we do think in a hypothetical final two with any of the winners ranked above him here, he would lose.
9. Jordan Lloyd (season 11) – A very strong social player who is innately likable. Jordan is one of the most-popular winners out there for casual fans, but it’s hard to ignore that she was aided significantly by the coup d’etat twist and also the perception that she was weak in other aspects of the game. She did what she needed to do to win, though, so she deserves credit for that.
8. Steve Moses (season 17) – While Steve wasn’t always in full control of the game this season, he did go on an impressive competition run near the end, was very likable to most of the jury, and deserves a lot of credit for eliminating Vanessa, one of the best overall players on this list who just fell victim to the final HoH. Steve wasn’t a perfect social player, but he knew when to blend into the background.
7. Rachel Reilly (season 13) – Given how big of a target she and Brendon were, it’s incredible that she made it to the final two in the first place … at least until you see the weak newbie competition this season. Rachel was able to become a likable underdog after Brendon left, so we’re mostly crediting her here for her adaptability and being able to win a lot of competitions at the end.
6. Ian Terry (season 14) – Like Steve, Ian wasn’t necessarily the person in control for much of the season, but he was a little bit higher on the pecking order for at least most of the Quack Pack’s run. His challenge won was impressive and he deserves a ton of credit for doing well on a season with a number of very good players — including Dan. Ian’s final speech is also very under-appreciated.
5. Nicole Franzel (season 18) – She and Corey weren’t always fun to watch on the feeds, but Nicole had a good bit of strategic control for much of the season and was very persuasive when she needed to. Take, for example, her planting seeds for Paul to take him to the end when it probably was not in his best interest to do so.
4. Kaycee Clark (season 20) – Probably one of the best social players in recent memory, everyone seems to like Kaycee and that aided her significantly. She won a ton of competitions and while she wasn’t the main strategic force in her season, she was at least on the right side of all of Level 6’s moves and understood when not to make a move. That’s very important in this game.
3. Andy Herren (season 15) – The final three players are, at least from our vantage point, the ones who dominated the most aspects of their seasons. Andy’s game may not be the most-appreciated in the history of the show, but he was exceptional at being able to gather information and play all sides. He knew what was going on every single week and when to flip on previous allies.
2. Hayden Moss (season 12) – Hayden may be one of the most overlooked players in Big Brother history. He was very smart, great in competitions, and also strong socially. He let Matt be the mastermind of the Brigade and then the alliance disposed of him when necessary. He was also able to adjust at a number of different points in the game and really had full control of everything in the home stretch.
1. Derrick Levasseur (season 16) – Do we think that Derrick had the best crop of players around him? No, but it’s impossible to deny the sheer wire-to-wire dominance he had this season. He didn’t have to win comps all the time because nobody ever wanted to target him. He was incredibly smart strategically, established great bonds, and managed to even make Cody feel so close to him that he ensured he was taken to the end over Victoria. That in itself is remarkable.
Who is your favorite Big Brother winner ever? Share in the comments!
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