Big Brother 19 spotlight: Meet Jason Dent a.k.a. rodeo clown Whistlenut

Jason Dent is clearly someone cast on Big Brother 19 in order to be a big character. He’s a rodeo clown named Whistlenut, a goofy guy with a big laugh, and someone entirely clueless. Yet, there is an odd sort of self-awareness to him. He understands that he hasn’t seen the show, and he has no idea what he needs to do in order to win. Whether or not he has the tools to do that, however, very much remains to be seen.

Below, you can get a further sense of what Whistlenut is bringing to the table in terms of skills … whatever those skills may be.

Current City – Humeston, Iowa. It’s a tiny place with under 500 people. He’s certainly a true example of someone with a small-town background as opposed to some of those young guys who claim to have that charm but are really living in a big city after going to Texas A&M.

Age – 37. He is the second-oldest guy this season next to Kevin. The fact that he’s not the oldest, given the casting history of the show, is something worth celebrating.

Job – As we noted, rodeo clown. He seems to enjoy it, but he’s also hesitant to lean too much into it given that not everyone likes clowns.

Past houseguest comparison – He compares himself to James Huling, but he’s also never seen the show. Therefore, let’s hope that he plays a little better than James did for most of last season. Personality-wise, we do understand some of the comparisons between him and Jace from season 17.

Strengths – He’s not a threat in virtually any sense given that he doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s got a lot of stories, seems to be reasonably likable, and has an interesting job. He’s also not going to mess around with a showmance given that he’s married and has a kid. Maybe he can win a few competitions here and there, but not so many that he is looked at as some sort of big target.

Weaknesses – He’s utterly clueless and therefore has no real shot at winning the game. He’s not going to excel in the memory tasks, and he’s probably not going to run around and manipulate anyone. He may get dragged fairly far into the game, but only occasionally do we have someone like Paul who comes in clueless and figures it all out over the season. (Granted, even he didn’t figure it all out, given that he would’ve taken James to the end if that was the case.)

Prediction – Zero chance of winning. He may be entertaining along the way, but even that’s not a guarantee given that even with him being oblivious about the game, he seems reasonably self-aware about himself and what he brings to the table.

How do you think Jason is going to fare on Big Brother 19? Share in the comments!

For some further spotlights of the houseguests this season (we’re posting several of them a day), be sure to head over to the link here! (Photo: CBS.)