Season 19 of "Big Brother" is well underway, and my, what a season it's been so far! From broken bones and the return of a fan favorite to three — yes, three! — showmances, it's hard to believe the houseguests have only been living in the "Big Brother" house for a few months! Need to catch up on all the craziest, most drama-filled moments? Wonderwall.com has got you covered! Keep reading to catch up on our favorite summer TV guilty pleasure…
As soon as the houseguests were allowed into the "Big Brother" house, it was clear this season would be filled with twists and turns! This year, the game is all about temptation, and that message is clear in the house's decor — hence all the apples and snakes! But what would that mean for this summer's crop of contestants? Well, we found out pretty quickly — as houseguests were immediately tempted with $25,000. Unfortunately, because we're accustomed to expecting the unexpected, by accepting the money, that houseguest also unleashed the first major twist of the season. So which houseguest gave into temptation right from the start? That's up next!
It was Kevin! The only houseguest who bit at the first temptation was 55-year-old stay-at-home dad Kevin Schlehuber. On one hand, he earned himself a pretty easy $25,000, but on the other, he betrayed his fellow houseguests and introduced the first twist of the season: a "Big Brother" veteran would return to the house! But who would it be?
Paul Abrahamian is back! The master of friendship and runner-up from Season 18 entered the game once Kevin accepted that tempting money offer, and his arrival met the instant departure of one of the new players. Yikes! Another twist? Paul is the keeper of eight friendship bracelets and can hand them out to protect eight houseguests from this instant eviction. The rest have to battle it out in a competition to see who will end up with the three poison apples that land them on the block.
The three unlucky houseguests who found themselves with poison apples? Cameron Heard, Christmas Abbott and Jillian Parker. The three had to choose if they'd rather have their eviction put to a vote or engage in a competition and they opted to go with a good old-fashioned eviction vote. But who would be the loser who only spent mere hours in the "Big Brother" house?
That sad title went to "Big Brother" superfan Cameron Heard. The microbiologist found himself sitting down with Julie Chen after eight of the houseguests opted to evict him over the ladies.
Now that the houseguests were already one competitor down, it was time to find out who would first nab the power in the "Big Brother" game and win Head of Household. Tapped to host the very first Head of Household competition? Last year's winner, Nicole Franzel! Nicole officiated the game, which separated everyone into teams of four for the first phase, which was followed by a second phase of individual competitions among that team. But who would reign supreme?
It turned out that 32-year-old Marine-turned-construction sales rep Cody Nickson would take the top prize first on Season 19. Cody instantly made an alliance with the other two buff male contestants, Mark Jansen and Matthew Clines. They later recruited the "babes" of the house, Elena Davies, Raven Walton, Dominique Cooper and Cody's crush, Jessica Graf.
On Cody's hit list after winning Head of Household? Two "outsiders" not involved in his newly formed alliance — Megan Lowder and Jillian Parker. His reasoning? When announcing his nominees, Cody noted to Megan, "I just don't like you that much," and Jillian received her nomination purely for being guilty by association and aligning herself with Megan.
Bring on the showmances! Though we were just days into the game, it was clear that one romance was already getting pretty hot and heavy in the HOH room. Cody Nickson and 26-year-old VIP concierge Jessica Graf hit it off quickly and pretty much became inseparable.
Another quick pairing? Renovation consultant Matthew Clines, 33, and 23-year-old dance teacher Raven Walton. Once the two found themselves in the same alliance, they hit it off despite a 10-year age difference.
Rounding out the early showmances of the season? Personal trainer Mark Jansen and radio personality Elena Davies, both 26. Though these two have been a little more reserved in their affection for each other — especially compared to Cody and Jessica — their relationship became increasingly flirty.
After being put up for eviction and experiencing some run-ins with fellow houseguests like Josh Martinez and Jessica Graf, Megan Lowder headed to the diary room… only to never return. The 28 year old opted to self-evict and the houseguests were informed of her decision a few hours later. Because of this unexpected turn of events, Cody was forced to nominate another houseguest — and opted to put Alex Ow on the block.
One buzzword of this season? Temptation! The Den of Temptation was revealed to be a new twist in the game. It's a place where houseguests can be summoned and tempted by — who else?! — America! The first houseguest to be tempted was fan-favorite Paul, who chose to accept the offer of the Pendant of Protection, which would guarantee his safety for three weeks. But just like Kevin's temptation, a consequence would be unleashed — one houseguest (not yet revealed!) would be forced to put him or herself on the block in that same three-week span.
After Megan's exit left Jillian and newly nominated Alex on the block, it was time to play for the Power of Veto! The intense competition had contestants piling starfish to win, and Alex came out on top — which meant she could take herself off the chopping block and make Cody nominate yet another contestant — his fourth of the week! So who would he nominate? Another "outsider" like Kevin or Ramses? Nope, this time Cody wanted to make a big game move. He nominated Paul, who then had to reveal he had accepted the Pendant of Protection, thus foiling Cody's plan and making him put up a fifth nominee. Who would that unlucky houseguest be?
Christmas! Poor Christmas Abbott — the 33-year-old fitness superstar who had previously been in Cody's circle — found herself shockingly on the block to the dismay of all of Cody's alliance. The sneaky move confused the houseguests and enraged Cody's allies, who considered Christmas to be on their side. The bizarre gameplay resulted in chaos throughout the house, and the beginning of the end for Cody's alliance. After being put on the block, Christmas broke her foot while playing around with rodeo clown Jason Dent. When eviction night arrived, would Cody's crew really all opt to go along with his plan and vote out one of their own over outsider Jillian?
Nope! Despite Cody and Jessica assuming they were running the show and that their alliance would evict Christmas, it was Jillian who was the second (or third, if you count Megan's self-eviction) evicted houseguest of the season. The live eviction ceremony shocked Cody and Jessica and made it clear that the two were now on the outs with the rest of their alliance and completely on their own.
Next, it was time to crown a new Head of Household, via a Candy Crush game. With Cody sitting out, his only hope to have power was if Jessica pulled off a big win, but the couple quickly realized all their allies were now helping Paul. With the assistance of a slew of houseguests, Paul managed to dominate the competition and ended up winning Head of Household with ease. His next challenge would be finding competitors willing to go up on the block as pawns to ensure that his plan to backdoor Cody would go off without a hitch…
Lucky for Paul, most houseguests were quick to trust his plan. Both Josh and Alex agreed to go up as pawns, and Paul's plan to get rid of Cody was falling into place perfectly. Until that old pesky consequence of his temptation came back to bite him…
When Paul accepted three weeks of safety, he also ensured one houseguest would receive a punishment. That curse fell on Ramses Soto, who had to nominate himself for eviction. Ramses chose to throw himself on the block during Paul's time as Head of Household, assuming he'd be safe since Cody was a bigger threat.
Aside from being public enemy No. 1, Cody, along with Jessica and Jason, was also given a curse during his powerless week in the "Big Brother" house. Once Christmas accepted that latest offering from the Den of Temptation, she also selected three houseguests to receive a punishment. The penalty this week? They all had to wear toad costumes, hop around the house and only sit on lily pads scattered in certain rooms. Cody's only chance to save himself would have been if he or Jessica was selected to play in the Power of Veto and won… but unfortunately, their names weren't drawn.
After Paul won the Power of Veto, Cody's fate was sealed. He was placed on the block in lieu of Josh, and with no support behind him, he was essentially guaranteed to be sent home on eviction night.
When it came time for her to undergo surgery on her broken foot, "Big Brother" gave Christmas the option to leave the game or stay and recover in the house. She was notified that no games would be altered due to her injury, and there would be some competitions she wouldn't be able to participate in, but chose to stay in the game anyway. Because of her decision, she also had to cast her vote in the live eviction from her hospital bed — where she announced her surprising choice. Christmas voted to evict Ramses instead of Cody, who had up until that point been her greatest nemesis.
Despite Christmas's surprise vote, and Jessica and Kevin following suit and voting to evict Ramses, Cody was still evicted from the "Big Brother" house. While chatting with Julie Chen, Cody not only disclosed that he asked Jessica to be his girlfriend on the way out but also learned about the latest "Big Brother" twist: Like many seasons before, there would be a Battle Back competition in which evicted houseguests would get a chance to compete and re-enter the house the following week.
Elena and Alex were the final two standing during the next physically challenging Head of Household competition. Ultimately, Alex took home the win and nominated her rival in the house, Jessica, as well as Dominique, who made an enemy when she went head to head with Paul.
A crazy landslide! With a vote of 10 to 0, Dominique was the next person evicted from "Big Brother," despite sitting beside Jessica. It was her fight with Paul, which included her calling him a snake, that caused the house to turn on her and sent her out the door with a unanimous vote.
Shortly after being evicted, Dominique was informed she had a chance to get back in the house — it was time for the Battle Back competition! Fellow evicted houseguests Cody, Jillian and Cameron (Remember him? He was in the house for less than a day!) were all reunited on stage and sent to play in a three-round competition to fight their way back into the house.
After the first competition, the ladies were eliminated, leaving just Cameron and Cody to advance to round three. Unfortunately for Cameron, Cody continued to dominate and won the second round — which meant he'd be challenging a current houseguest that the other competitors nominated to try to stop him from making his way back into the game. But who would that houseguest be?
The houseguests spoke — and they all unanimously appointed Paul to play defense against Cody returning to the house! So for the final round of the Battle Back competition, Paul and Cody challenged one another. The winner? Well, Cody of course, who seemed happier to see his flame, Jessica, than to actually be back in the "Big Brother" house to compete for $500,000.
Reunited and it feels so good! Cody and Jessica were hot and heavy again after Cody battled his way back into the house. And just like before, they were still the other houseguests' No. 1 targets. The only way to stay together, it seemed, was to win competitions, so the pressure was on for the next Head of Household competition…
The couple also known as Jody weren't giving up without a fight! In the next Head of Household competition, Jessica dominated and ended up winning the difficult endurance comp. What made the win extra sweet? It happened to take place on the third anniversary of the death of her father, with whom she watched "Big Brother" as she was growing up. Aside from protecting herself and Cody, the win also meant she was free to nominate two houseguests of her choosing. She opted to nominate Ramses and Josh and ended up sending Ramses home that week.
Despite holding the "Halting Hex" bestowed on her by America, Jessica eventually found herself the next one out after Ramses. And with no Battle Back competition or way to re-enter the house, the romance between Cody and Jessica seemed to come to an end… for now. Unfortunately for the lovebirds, Jessica was the last houseguest evicted before jury, meaning Cody and all subsequent evictees would be sent straight to the Jury House after eviction to be sequestered until the final vote at the show's finale.
Another one bites the dust… again! Cody followed his love Jessica out the door the next week, but he wasn't the only casualty that night! A surprise double eviction meant one more houseguest was going to be joining Cody in the jury house.
Elena ended up being the next one evicted — as part of the plan to rid the house of the showmances. That only meant one thing… her in-house flirtation, Mark, would likely be the next one sent packing!
The houseguests left in the house were in for a treat when fan favorite and former Season 16 winner Derrick Levasseur stopped by! He spent some time with the competitors before hosting the next Head of Household competition — which ended up being won by Christmas!
After Christmas set a backdoor plan in place to get him out, Mark was the next one out the door. Though Christmas originally nominated Jason and Matt, it was Mark who she wanted gone, and after Jason won the veto and used it on himself, her plan worked perfectly and Elena's beau headed out of the house next.
The cereal eater is out! Next on the list of evicted houseguests? Yet another who fell victim to a showmance, Matt! He unfortunately spent most of his time cozied up to Raven or eating bowls of cereal — and less time strategizing or dominating competitions, which meant Matt was the next to go after Jason won HOH and put him up alongside his show fling, Raven.
In one of the more impressive moves of the season, Paul was able to manipulate all of the houseguests to throw the next Head of Household competition! He amazingly convinced all of his side alliances to trust that having Christmas or Josh win was best for everyone's game, while simultaneously crafting a masterplan to evict formidable opponents Jason and Alex. This resulted in Christmas, still with a broken foot, hilariously winning a foot race competition after everyone else intentionally disqualified themselves. Once the first part of the plan was finished, Christmas nominated Alex and Jason — under the guise of planning to backdoor Kevin.
Completely blindsided! After the houseguests' votes came in as a tie between Jason and Kevin, Jason was stunned when Christmas cast the deciding vote and sent him out of the house. He'd be even more shocked to learn he wouldn't be the only one leaving that night… the season's second double eviction was then underway!
Next on the chopping block? Raven! The dancer was also stunned when she was put on the block next to Kevin and sent home in a whirlwind competition, nomination ceremony and veto competition where Alex picked up HOH and Josh picked up the veto.