What These Popular Big Brother Winners Are Doing Today
They're our favorite strangers to spy on. But can these vicious sharks exist if the cameras aren't rolling? Mom life, to trouble with the law, here's what these"Big Brother" champs are up to now.
Transcript
00:00They're our favorite strangers to spy on, but can these vicious sharks exist if the
00:05cameras aren't rolling?
00:07Mom life to trouble with the law, here's what these Big Brother champs are up to now.
00:13Back when Eddie McGee played Big Brother on the show's debut season, it was an entirely
00:17different game.
00:18America used to vote for who to evict from the house, when that power is now left up
00:22to the houseguests, or jury, themselves.
00:26McGee won season one, but as he told Entertainment Weekly two decades later,
00:30"...my show was like watching f----- paint drying, man.
00:33It was f----- terrible, from what I heard.
00:36I don't know.
00:37I never watched it."
00:38Still, McGee was popular enough to leverage his Big Brother fame into a legitimate acting
00:42career.
00:43He's since appeared on shows like 9-1-1, Hunters, Chicago Med, and many more.
00:48He confessed to EW that he's grateful to Big Brother for giving him his start, adding,
00:52"...I have the acting career I have now because of it.
00:55I will never deny where I'm from, and I know I come from reality TV."
01:00Big Brother was quickly retooled for season two, and winner Dr. Will Kirby took full advantage
01:05of the new format.
01:07Leaning into a villainous, scheming persona, it was enough to earn him a prize of $500,000.
01:13Twenty years later, he explained to Entertainment Weekly,
01:15"...it was my goal to entertain the viewers, and I feel like I thoroughly accomplished
01:19that endeavor."
01:20"...the smartest thing I've done in this entire game was to falsely befriend Nicole."
01:23Kirby returned for Big Brother 7, an all-stars season, losing out on a back-to-back win thanks
01:29to the stellar gameplay of Mike Boogie Malin.
01:33These days, Kirby still works as a dermatologist, but the year after he won Big Brother, he
01:37hosted a dating show called Love Shack, voiced an episode of Robot Chicken, and made a cameo
01:43on the Disney Plus series The Book of Boba Fett in 2022.
01:47When June Song won Big Brother 4, she was surprised to see that her fellow houseguests
01:52weren't excited for her.
01:54But Song's willingness to throw anyone under the bus made her a Big Brother legend.
01:59As one fan on Reddit posted to the platform, she is the embodiment of the player that isn't
02:04there to make friends.
02:05She came to win, at any cost.
02:07"...they are not happy that we won, and I don't think they wanted to vote for either
02:12of us in all honesty, they had to."
02:14When Song won the game, she told Entertainment Weekly that she's primarily a single mother
02:18and a content marketer.
02:20She explained,
02:21"...my love life is pretty much in a do-not-resuscitate state, but I've never been more successful
02:26professionally."
02:27Mike Boogie Malin first competed on the second season of Big Brother, and he returned for
02:32Big Brother 7, cast with all returning players.
02:35This time, Malin claimed the top prize, having backstabbed his way to the end.
02:40He told Entertainment Weekly at the time,
02:42"...Dr. Will Kirby and I are very adept in providing entertaining television.
02:47That show doesn't work well when people sit around and are nice."
02:50Since the show, Malin was arrested for a DUI in 2020, to which he pled guilty.
02:55He was previously arrested in 2019 for stalking Kirby, his former Big Brother counterpart.
03:00He was found guilty the following year and sentenced to two years of probation.
03:04These days, Malin can be booked on Cameo, where he describes himself as a, quote, "'washed
03:09up' reality guy."
03:10Big Brother 8 featured family members in the house together.
03:14Evil Dick Donato played alongside his daughter, Danielle, and they tore through the competition,
03:19with Dick snagging the win.
03:20"...if anybody doesn't know who I am, Evil Dick from Big Brother 8, the only winner here."
03:26He returned for Season 13, but he left early.
03:29A few years later, on Couples Therapy, Donato revealed he was removed from Big Brother because
03:33of an HIV diagnosis.
03:35He told People,
03:36"'Look, I get that I'm a reality show villain, but for better or for worse, I have a platform,
03:42and I decided that it was time to just publicly say what I'm dealing with.'"
03:46Season 10 gave us champ Dan Giesling, widely considered to be one of the show's best-ever
03:51players.
03:52He returned four years later as a coach on Big Brother 14, ultimately entering the game
03:56as a player.
03:57He almost won the whole thing a second time, but ultimately lost out to Ian Terry.
04:02Speaking with Entertainment Weekly years after his last appearance on the show, Giesling
04:06shared,
04:07"'I am 100 percent a family man now.
04:10Any free time I have, I try to free up to spend with my kids.'"
04:13He also makes a living as a Twitch streamer, playing video games and chatting several times
04:18a week.
04:19Jordan Lloyd won Season 11, but her biggest contribution might just be her high-profile
04:24showmance with fellow contestant Jeff Schroeder.
04:27Having gotten together during their season, they've stayed together ever since.
04:31She told Entertainment Weekly that she was proud of the way she played, recalling,
04:34"'I won those last challenges when I needed to.
04:37It's nice when people think you're an underdog the whole time, but then you pull out a win.'"
04:41"'It's just too good to be true.
04:44Or maybe it's meant to be.'"
04:46Lloyd returned for Big Brother 13, but she didn't win again.
04:49She also told EW that she struggled after her TV days with vicious online haters.
04:54These days, Lloyd is focused on raising a family with Schroeder.
04:57They also have a podcast called Together Mess.
05:00Rachel Riley first competed on Season 12, and a reality TV legend was born.
05:05She only came in ninth place, but when she returned to compete the following year, Riley
05:10went all the way to the end.
05:12As she recalled to Entertainment Weekly,
05:13"'My proudest moments were when I was able to challenge myself to keep going, even when
05:18it was hard, when I was tired emotionally and physically, and when I just wanted to
05:22give up.'"
05:23After Big Brother, Riley competed on The Amazing Race twice.
05:26She won Snake in the Grass, and she also competed on The Traitors, and ultimately lost to Survivor
05:32vet Ceri Fields, who went on to join the cast of Big Brother 25.
05:37Season 14 was packed with strong personalities.
05:41It would have been easy for someone like Ian Terry to slip under the radar.
05:44In fact, that's exactly what he did, surviving all the way to the end and beating Gisling,
05:49his former coach.
05:50He told Entertainment Weekly,
05:51"'The way I play, I tend to want to link up with strong social players and have them do
05:55a lot of the legwork for me socially.
05:58As a result, I get saved much more often than the average player would when in bad spots."
06:03"'But I don't begrudge anyone for playing well.'"
06:06Terry returned for Season 22, the second All-Stars, but since then, Terry has moved on from the
06:11show and spends his time working as a consultant.
06:15Few people have rocked Big Brother the way Derek LeVasseur did in Season 16.
06:20The former undercover cop hid his profession from his fellow Hest guests, and he managed
06:24to stay off the block the entire season.
06:26He explained to The Hollywood Reporter,
06:28"'I'd rather win the game, be considered somewhat boring, and change my family's lives than
06:33make sure I give viewers a better show.'"
06:35"'I'm playing to win the money and provide a better life for my wife and daughter.'"
06:39These days, LeVasseur now runs a private investigation firm.
06:42He's also a podcaster, with both a true crime podcast and a reality TV podcast.
06:47He also revealed that he launched a line of coffee, called The Criminal Coffee Company.
06:52Steve Moses appeared on Big Brother 17.
06:54In a season full of big personalities, the quieter Moses was able to move along unnoticed,
07:00making his way to the very end.
07:02Shying away from post-season attention, Moses told Entertainment Weekly,
07:06"'My edit' helped me disappear into society more quickly."
07:09"'I by no means was floating through the game.
07:11I was building layers of protection around myself and building the bridges that I would
07:15need for this half of the game.'"
07:17After finishing college, Moses used his winnings to start a franchise of senior care consultants.
07:21He shared,
07:22"'It's a really rewarding business, because families usually come to us when they're at
07:25their low points, and it's awesome to work with them.'"
07:28Nicole Franzel won Season 18 after first competing two years prior.
07:32She recalled on Instagram several years later in 2021,
07:35"'I was cast as the quirky 21-year-old small-town girl with the big bun and glasses with the
07:40weird accent.
07:41I fell in love with the game as a little girl, and I became super good at it.'"
07:45"'I hold no record of the most days in this house.
07:49That is bad a**.'"
07:52Franzel returned for Season 22, the second all-star season, but she was cut by Cody Calafiore,
07:57who went on to win.
07:59After Big Brother, Franzel linked up with fellow house guest Victor Arroyo.
08:03The couple competed on The Amazing Race, and ultimately got married in 2021.
08:07They share their son, Arrow, together.
08:09The couple also has a podcast called Coco Caliente, where they cover reality shows.
08:15Cody Calafiore initially competed on Big Brother 16, landing in second place.
08:19He then returned for Season 22's All-Stars, and this time, he won.
08:23Well, he spent his second-place prize money quickly this time he left his winnings untouched,
08:28telling Entertainment Weekly,
08:29"'I didn't want to be stupid with the money, because you just never know what curveballs
08:33life is going to throw at you.'"
08:35"'It's really hard for me to contain how excited I am.'"
08:38Calafiore hosts a podcast with Levasseur, works in real estate, and still coaches soccer.
08:43He also competed on The Traitors, with fellow Big Brother winner Rachel Riley.
08:47Watching Taylor Hale play Big Brother 24, it felt like she had more support on the internet
08:52than any contestant in show history, and she went on to become the first black woman to
08:57take the top prize.
08:58"'I came to this game to represent something bigger, and to fight for black women in the
09:03real world and in this house.'"
09:05After her win, Hale capitalized on all the attention.
09:08Along with several brand deals, Hale landed a guest role on The Bold and the Beautiful,
09:12her mother's favorite soap opera.
09:14She told PopCrave,
09:15"'Being part of that set, being part of that production, it felt like I was honoring my
09:19mom, my grandma, my great-grandma, and all the things that they loved.'"