Throughout the past three seasons, Big Brother has had several houseguests with great potential get evicted pre-jury, but they should have the chance to return for season 26. Hosted by Julie Chen Moonves, Big Brother 26 premieres with a two-night event on Wednesday, July 17 and Thursday, July 18, 2024. Teasers for the new season have included Julie, Zingbot, and the voices of fan favorite past houseguests.
The Big Brother 26 cast hasn’t been announced yet. However, there have been several houseguests in the past three seasons who went home too early, before becoming members of the jury, who would be perfect for it. In Big Brother 23 and 24, five houseguests left before the jury of nine was determined, while in Big Brother 25, there was a jury of seven, so seven contestants were eliminated pre-jury. Here are the pre-jury houseguests from the past three seasons who deserve the chance to return to the game to play Big Brother 26.
1
Brandon “Frenchie” French – Big Brother 23
Frenchie Played Too Hard Too Fast
Frenchie took Big Brother 23 by storm during week one when he won the first Head of Household (HOH) competition, but he was evicted during week two because he played way too hard from the beginning. Frenchie’s chaotic gameplay had him making promises that he couldn’t possibly keep to too many houseguests. After betraying his Slaughterhouse alliance, he was nominated for eviction by HOH Kyland Young, and eventually evicted by a vote of 11-1.
Frenchie has presumably learned from his Big Brother mistakes, and he should have the chance to return to the game to prove it. He had a lot of potential as a player, and he was very fun to watch as a houseguest. And, even if he’s learned nothing from his first Big Brother run, the potential for chaos that he could bring to the game would make for some very entertaining television.
2
Christian Birkenberger – Big Brother 23
Christian Was Betrayed By His Own Alliance Member
Christian lasted for only 37 days in the Big Brother 23 house, but he made his mark on the game with his incredible gameplay. Christian began Big Brother 23 as a frontrunner when he won the first competition and was able to handpick his Kings team, one of four teams that started off the season in a surprise twist. Christian then won the week 4 HOH and two veto competitions in a row in weeks 3 and 4, but betrayal came in week 5.
Christian’s own alliance member, Derek Xiao, won the week 5 HOH competition, and couldn’t resist the opportunity to backdoor Christian from the game when he had the chance. Christian had so much potential, and was a rare contestant who was phenomenal at competitions, but also was humble and had a heart of gold. Christian was also known for his sweet, but short-lived, showmance with Alyssa Lopez and his curly hair that earned him the nickname “Goldendoodle.” Christian is a fan favorite who was just getting started, and he deserves another chance in Big Brother 26.
3
Joe “Pooch” Pucciarelli – Big Brother 24
Pooch Forgot That Pawns Go Home
During Big Brother 24, Pooch made one of the biggest mistakes in the history of the game, when he volunteered to sit on the chopping block next to eventual-winner Taylor Hale. Because the house seemed so determined to evict Taylor, Pooch decided to sit next to her on the block as a pawn. He thought that this plan would guarantee Taylor’s eviction because he would either win the veto and keep nominations the same, thus preventing Taylor from saving herself, or he would have the votes to stay if someone else won.
However, what Pooch didn’t know was that HOH Jasmine Davis and some of the other houseguests saw this as their one opportunity to evict Pooch, a strong male player. When Pooch lost the veto competition, his plan backfired, and he was evicted unanimously by a vote of 12-0. This was especially heartbreaking because, during week one, Pooch had luckily picked a ticket at random which gave him complete safety as the Backstage Boss. He went from being untouchable to walking out the door in just one week. Pooch should be able to return for Big Brother 26 in order to redeem himself.
4
Ameerah Jones – Big Brother 24
Ameerah Was Overconfident During The Game
Big Brother 24 houseguest Ameerah was in three alliances–“Girls’ Girls,” “Old Skool,” and “Po’s Pack”–during her short-lived stint in the game. During week one, she helped form the “Girls’ Girls” alliance, which included almost all of the women in the house except for Taylor. The alliance bullied and ostracized Taylor, which troubled several of the other houseguests. However, in week two, Ameerah was a big part of Pooch’s blindside, as she was the first one to suggest that he should be the target instead of Taylor. Week three was Ameerah’s downfall when Matt “Turner” Turner won HOH.
Everyone expected that Turner would target Taylor for eviction, but he had other plans. After pawns Michael Bruner and Brittany Hoopes saved themselves by winning the Power of Veto, Turner stunned Ameerah’s side of the house by nominating her and Terrance Higgins for eviction instead. The newly formed “Leftovers” alliance backdoored Ameerah, and she left without ever winning a competition. Ameerah went on to compete in The Challenge: USA season 2, but she was eliminated first. If Ameerah has learned from her Big Brother mistake of being overconfident, she should return for Big Brother 26 to play a cleaner game.
5
Reilly Smedley – Big Brother 25
Reilly Was Seen As A Threat After Winning The First HOH
Big Brother 25 houseguest Reilly became a fan favorite and a frontrunner to win the whole game with her bubbly personality and competitive spirit. Reilly won the first HOH competition of the season, but, due to a twist in the game, her job wasn’t to nominate people, but instead to save two out of the four houseguests who’d lost competitions and were on the chopping block. Reilly was off to a great start, but, the following week, HOH Hisam Goueli targeted her for eviction.
Knowing that there was no hope for her to be saved, Reilly told her own alliance to vote her out so that they didn’t make themselves targets as well. Reilly was so much fun to watch in her short time on the show. She’s also a great person who deserved more. From her selfless exit to her kind treatment of deaf contestant Matt Klotz, whom she helped through the overwhelming conversations in the house, Reilly proved to be a houseguest with strong character. She was easy to root for, and she should come back for Big Brother 26.
6
Hisam Goueli – Big Brother 25
Hisam’s Alliance Turned On Him
Big Brother 25 houseguest Hisam began the game as a competitive and strategic threat. At age 45, he was one of the older players in the game, but he used that to his advantage. In just three weeks, he won the first two veto competitions and the week 2 HOH, during which he targeted and successfully evicted frontrunner Reilly. Hisam was a member of The Professors alliance, along with Felicia, Cirie Fields, Izzy Gleicher, Bowie Jane, Mecole Hayes, and Red Utley. They came together as the older houseguests, and they vowed to take the younger contestants to school.
However, during Hisam’s HOH reign, The Professors turned against him because they felt that he was acting like a dictator. They didn’t like the way that he steamrolled them and told the other houseguests that he didn’t really want to work with them. Therefore, when Felicia won the week 3 HOH, they came up with a plan to blindside and backdoor him. Although Hisam’s social game was sorely lacking, he was interesting to watch. He should come back for Big Brother 26, having learned from his mistakes.
7
Red Utley – Big Brother 25
Red Was Duped By Another Houseguest
Big Brother 25 houseguest Red had a Final 2 alliance called The Chillers with Cameron Hardin, but Jared Fields successfully destroyed it when he convinced Red that Cameron had betrayed him. When Jared was HOH, he told Red that Cameron had thrown him under the bus to save himself. Red was so upset that, instead of asking Cameron about it, he froze him out and ended the Chillers alliance. Red was devastated when he found out the truth after his eviction, especially since, despite Red’s behavior, Cameron had been one of the two votes for him to stay in the game.
Red was a joy to watch with his big personality and competitive spirit. He proved his endurance during the very first Scary-Verse nomination competition and the Pressure Cooker, during which he lasted for 10 hours and 8 minutes. He also won the Power of Veto during week 4 when Cameron was HOH, thus keeping all of the power in the Chillers’ hands. Red’s sweet demeanor allowed him to believe Jared’s lies, and he should have another chance to play Big Brother, having learned from this mistake.
8
Izzy Gleicher – Big Brother 25
Izzy Was Too Loyal To Cirie Fields
During the Big Brother 25 premiere, Survivor legend Cirie Fields was introduced as a houseguest in a surprise twist. She was secretly playing the game with her son, Jared. However, this was no secret to Cirie fan Izzy, who immediately recognized the duo as mother and son. Rather than use this to her advantage, Izzy fiercely protected Cirie’s secret, and was her most loyal ally in the game. Izzy was so devoted to Cirie that she said that she wouldn’t use the Power of Veto to save herself from eviction if it meant that Cirie might get backdoored.
Izzy was evicted during week 6 after Jared won the Power of Veto and kept Cameron’s nominations the same in order to protect Cirie. Although Izzy didn’t win any competitions during her Big Brother 25 run, she was instrumental in many of the vote flips that were planned early in the season. It would be exciting to see Izzy return to play Big Brother 26 without having to carry the burden of Cirie and Jared’s secret. She deserves to play her own game without any distractions.
Throughout the past three Big Brother seasons, several players have left the game in the pre-jury phase, and, for some, it was way too early. These contestants deserve another chance to play the game, hopefully having learned from the mistakes that they made the first time around. It would be thrilling if one or more of these houseguests were included in the Big Brother 26 cast.