Celebrity Big Brother 2 spotlight: Does Joey Lawrence have winner upside?

The entire Celebrity Big Brother 2 cast is now official, and with that we’re spending this week previewing what to expect from many of them! Consider this article series your guide to understanding what each person brings to the table and also whether or not they have a legitimate chance of winning. In this piece, the focus is on Joey Lawrence, someone who should be appealing to a lot of old-school sitcom fans out there. He’s likable, and he’s been a part of business for quite some time. Because of that, he’ll certainly have some interesting stories to tell.

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Claim to Fame – Lawrence is an actor and producer, best known for playing Joey Russo on the classic show Blossom. He’s also appeared in American Dreams, Brotherly Love, and then eventually Melissa & Joey alongside another child star in Melissa Joan Hart. More recently, he appeared in a couple of episodes of Hawaii Five-0 as Aaron Wright. He has a history of doing reality TV, as he’s a former cast member on Dancing with the Stars.

Strengths – Joey’s been a part of the entertainment business (as mentioned) for a really long time, and we think that from a social standpoint he’ll be able to work with a lot of personalities. He also seems to be fairly even-keeled and he’s going to be willing to get along with a lot of people. He’s also in good-enough shape to perform well in some of the more physical tasks without looking like an obvious threat in anything. He’s the sort of contestant you could easily forget about, kind of like Mark McGrath from the first season — he may not do anything to overtly stand out and just work with people who he gets along with.

Weaknesses – This is the interesting trade-off with a guy like Joey. He doesn’t have a lot of overt strengths, but the flip side is that there are few glaring weaknesses. The biggest one we’d say he may have is just that he could be too self-aware for his own good. He’s a working actor outside the game so we’re not sure how far he’ll be willing to go to win the game — would he risk being a villain or stabbing someone in the back, or would he worry too much about it hurting his reputation or his popularity? Even though he’s played darker characters, he probably wants to present Joey Lawrence the performer in more of a positive light.

Outlook This Season – We like Joey a lot, and next to maybe Jonathan Bennett he’s the most-dangerous guy in the cast. Yet, we still can’t see him winning just because we don’t think the killer instinct is there. He’s more probably, more than likely, going to be the guy who finishes in around fifth or sixth place because he was too willing to go along with an alliance that will eventually find itself on the wrong side of the numbers. He won’t be picked off because people dislike him; he’ll just be a number that needs to be eliminated.

Related – Be sure to check out some more coverage of Celebrity Big Brother 2, including some other spotlights

What do you think the chances are of Joey Lawrence winning Celebrity Big Brother 2? Be sure to share some of your thoughts right now in the comments. (Photo: CBS.)