With casting for the new season of Big Brother around the corner, fans are hoping producers steer away from casting recruits.
Although Big Brother 25 just ended in November 2023, fans are already talking about next summer’s brand-new season. While casting for Big Brother 26 has yet to begin, many are hoping the producers do not cast recruits. Recruits have made up a large portion of the cast of many recent seasons.
This past season, Jag Bains was added to the long list of Big Brother winners. Similar to many past winners, Jag proved himself to be a competition beast. In addition to excelling in the competitions, and even breaking a Big Brother record, Jag also had a strong social game. It was obvious that he was very familiar with the game before heading into the milestone season.
Unlike Jag, there have been many past players, especially within recent years, who are not very familiar with the game. Some players have even gone into the season with absolutely no knowledge of how it is played other than the little they learned while watching past seasons during the pre-season sequester. These players who lack an understanding of the game are typically recruits. This means that when casting for a new season, the producers recruit, or reach out to, certain individuals with the opportunity to possibly be on the show. Often, these individuals have a large following on social media. Therefore, they are easy to find by the producers.
Casting Recruits Ruins the ‘Big Brother’ Game
While it may not seem like it would have much of an effect on the Big Brother game, whether a houseguest was a recruit, it could actually ruin a season. As casting recruits has become more and more popular among the Big Brother producers, there have been more and more people playing the game with very limited knowledge about what it truly entails. Although it is easy to learn the overall rules and format of the game once they are inside the house, there is so much more to succeeding on a season of Big Brother. The true game of Big Brother is made up of much more than simply the weekly competitions, power reigns, and evictions.
There is a ton of strategy and manipulation that goes into being a good Big Brother player. Without understanding this, a player quickly becomes quite messy while playing the game. Some of the most successful Big Brother players have based their game strategy on that of a past player. When a player goes into the game blind, they often make some not-so-smart game moves. This can be frustrating for viewers as they are tuning in to watch good game play and strategy unfold.
Because they have so much free time in between competitions, it is not uncommon for the houseguests to discuss the game, competitions, or even past seasons of the show while relaxing inside the house. It has happened often that live-feed viewers catch conversations between the houseguests during which certain players, who typically are recruits, ask other houseguests questions about the game. This tends to be one of the key indicators that a player is a recruit rather than an applicant. They will often ask questions regarding the game or past players and seasons. Additionally, they may not know of some of the most iconic Big Brother competitions, such as OTEV or Zingbot.
Some Housemates Join ‘Big Brother’ For the Love of the Game, Some For Fame
Before social media was big, the show mainly cast applicants. These players were people who dreamed of being on the show. Most times, they were super fans who had been planning their game strategy for some time as they hoped to one day get the chance to live it out. This always made for a better season because the players truly wanted to be there for the sake of playing and potentially winning the game. Unfortunately, when the show began recruiting players, this all changed. In recent years, there have been a handful of players to compete inside the house who were simply there for the money or potential fame and opportunities that can come with being on the show.
While it may be frustrating to avid Big Brother watchers when a cast is partially made up of recruits because of the way it negatively affects the game, that is not the worst part. The worst part is that for every recruit that gets cast for a season of the show, an applicant who may have dreamed of being on the show for years no longer gets the opportunity to. Some individuals have applied numerous times to be on the show. Although they may make a good applicant, their potential spot could be taken by a recruit who knows very little to nothing about the show. Ultimately, individuals who know and love the game are the most deserving of being cast should they meet all the requirements.
Despite it not being ideal to have recruits make up a portion of the cast of a season of Big Brother, it is not always a bad thing. There have been some great players to compete on the show who were recruited and had very little knowledge of the game before entering the house. These players used the little time they had in sequester to watch the old seasons in depth and quickly adapted to the game once they were thrown in it. Sometimes these recruits end up being better players than the houseguests who have dreamed of being on the show.
It can happen that applicants who have tuned in for nearly every season get wrapped up in the excitement of actually getting to live out their dream and their gameplay ultimately suffers from it. It is in these cases that casting recruits is not all that bad; however, it is ultimately much more enjoyable to watch die-hard fans of the show compete rather than individuals who have limited knowledge of the show.
With Big Brother 26 on the horizon, casting for the new season of the show will begin not long from now. Here’s hoping for a good cast made up of players that are there to compete and in it to win it. Season 25 of