Big Brother: Reindeer Games is a holiday edition of the broadcasted edition of Big Brother (U.S.) and the 30th season overall.
Background[]
During the final four eviction episode of Big Brother 25 (US), Julie Chen-Moonves announced that a "holiday surprise" would be awaiting Big Brother fans for the holidays, and that it would be announced days later on the finale.[1]
On November 9, 2023, past houseguests Danielle Reyes, Britney Haynes & Frankie Grande appeared in a pre-taped segment where they snuck back into the house to fix the "Big Brother Multiverse" of the previous season. However, as the three fixed it, it converted the house into a Christmas themed multiverse.[2] Julie then announced that Big Brother: Reindeer Games would be taking place that holiday season with former houseguests included one of the houseguests from season 25.
Minutes later, Paramount Press Express released the following Press Release: [3]
| November 9, 2023 Press Release |
|---|
Someone from the Most Recent Season, Through the Most Holiday-Riffic Competitions to Win the Grand Prize and Save the Holidays The Six-Episode, Two-Week Special Event to Premiere Monday, Dec. 11, 8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT Was Announced in Tonight’s “Big Brother” Live Finale In tonight’s season 25 live finale, BIG BROTHER announced BIG BROTHER REINDEER GAMES’ two-hour premiere Monday, Dec. 11 (8:00-10:00 PM, live ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs)*. It was revealed tonight that BIG BROTHER’s Frankie Grande, Britney Haynes and Danielle Reyes “broke in” to the BIG BROTHER House in an attempt to close the multiverse they opened that kicked off the season. Inadvertently, the trio opened the BB Holiday Universe, transformed the house into a winter wonderland and unleased the hit reality show’s first holiday special, BIG BROTHER REINDEER GAMES, a new game with a new set of rules and a cast of BB legends. “Fly on The Wall is excited to bring a new competition series to the BIG BROTHER Universe and get a chance to ring in the holidays with some of our most memorable houseguests,” said executive producers Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan. BIG BROTHER REINDEER GAMES kicks off when Santa invites nine iconic former BIG BROTHER players, including someone from the most recent season, to his magical world where the “Reindeer Games” will take place. Over six action-packed holiday themed episodes, “Santa’s Elves” – Derek Xiao (S23), Tiffany Mitchell (S23) and Jordan Lloyd (S11 and S13) – guide BB Legends through the most holiday-riffic, challenging and unpredictable competitions. Each episode features three competitions culminating in “Santa’s Showdown” that determines which player goes home at the end of that episode. Only four BB Legends make it to the finale and one player with the festive fortitude will walk away with the $100,000 grand prize and, of course, save the holidays. BIG BROTHER REINDEER GAMES is produced by Fly On The Wall Entertainment in association with Banijay Americas. Allison Grodner, Rich Meehan and Chris Roach serve as executive producers. Houseguests will be announced at a later date. Episode Air Schedule:
Tuesday
Thursday
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The official CBS and Paramount+ websites describe the show as "a new game with a new set of rules and a cast of BB legends who will compete through the most Holiday-riffic competitions to win the grand prize and save the holidays."[4] On the day of the cast reveal rollout, they also announced that the premiere episode would be moving from a 8-10 PM to 9-11 PM and that the second episode would be extended from an hour to 90 minutes.[5] Eventually, the third episode was also extended to 90 minutes, with houseguest Taylor Hale teasing on TikTok Live that there is a specific reason during both episodes that caused them to need an extension.
Air Schedule[]
| Big Brother: Reindeer Games Schedule - December 2023 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 11th Premiere 9-11pm ET/PT |
12th Normal 9-10:30pm ET/PT |
13th No Episode |
14th Normal 8-9:30pm ET/PT |
15th No Episode |
16th No Episode | |
| 17th No Episode |
18th Normal 9-10pm ET/PT |
19th Normal 9-10pm ET/PT |
20th No Episode |
21st Finale 8-9pm ET/PT |
||
Development[]
During exit press for season 25, Julie revealed that she will not be involved in the season at all, with hosting duties solely falling on the aforementioned trio of returning players: Derek Xiao, Jordan Lloyd and Tiffany Mitchell.
Casting[]
As prior mentioned during the season's announcement, one of the houseguests from season 25 would be invited to return immediately, later revealed to be Cameron Hardin. Britney, Danielle and Frankie's involvement was speculated due to their involvement with the season's teasers, and was later confirmed during the cast reveal. The remainder of the cast was officially confirmed in a rollout between various media outlets on December 6 and 7. Five of this season's contestants and two of the hosts had participated in the Big Brother: 25th Anniversary Celebration special earlier that year. When the cast of contestants was officially revealed, fans were questioning if they had met CBS' 50% BIPOC reality cast mandate, and it was stated that they successfully did so by including "Elf Ambassadors" as part of the cast.
Twists[]
- Returning Players: Legendary Big Brother players are set to return and compete to be the last one standing. Three other former houseguests will also be returning to co-host as Elf Ambassadors, but they will not be competing.
- Pre-Recorded Series: Due to the structure of the season, the entire season will be pre-recorded before the series premieres.
- Houseguests Not Living Inside the House: Due to the limited schedule and timeframe of the series, the houseguests will not be living inside of the house or spending the night. However, they will still spend some time in the house during the filming hours in between competitions, going back and forth between the studio and sequester.
- No Live Feeds: Due to the pre-recorded nature of the series, this series will be the first in American franchise history to not feature any kind of Live Feeds.
- New Competition Structure: The series will follow a new format of rules for the contestants to follow. Each episode, three competitions will take place ending with a Hit The Road competition named Santa's Showdown which determines which houseguest is eliminated at the end of the episode.[6]
- Naughty & Nice Challenge: The winner of this competition will be put on the "Nice List" and earn an advantage in the Jingle Bell Brawl. They will also earn the power to put someone on the "Naughty List", giving them a disadvantage in the same competition.
- Jingle Bell Brawl: This power is the equivalent of being Head of Household, where the winner earns safety and will then nominate two players to compete in Santa's Showdown. The difference is that the rules of the competitions will vary per round: sometimes they may compete in pairs or as teams instead of individually, and the power can be won in back to back rounds. In the event of team competitions, the winning team will save one member of the losing team, leaving the remaining members nominated and heading into the Showdown.
- Two Jingle Bell Brawls: In Episode 5, two Jingle Bell Brawls took place, however there was a twist. The holder of the Naughty & Nice Power would force someone else to sit out of the first Brawl. The remaining four houseguests would compete and the winner would earn the first spot in the Reindeer Games. That houseguest would then select another player to bypass the rest of the round and join them in the Reindeer Games, taking up the second spot. The remaining three houseguests would then battle in the second Brawl, where the winner simply earns the third spot and no added power. The remaining two are then nominated by default and set to compete in the final Santa's Showdown of the season to fight for the last spot in the Reindeer Games.
- Santa's Showdown: Houseguests nominated by the Jingle Bell Brawl winner(s) will compete to avoid elimination. The loser will be sent home immediately.
- Callout Twist: In Episode 3, the Jingle Bell Brawl winner will only nominate one person to compete in Santa's Showdown. If they cannot complete the challenge in time, they will be eliminated. If they complete the challenge, they will have to call out another competitor to try and complete it in less time, and if they fail then they will be eliminated instead, and so on.
- Four Finalists: For the first time in the English American version, four finalists will be left at the end to compete in the namesake Reindeer Games tournament and determine the winner of the $100,000 grand prize. The Final Four will be broken up into two brackets decided by the winner of the final Naughty & Nice Challenge, and one player from each will advance to the final round. The two houseguests who are eliminated in the first round of the semifinals will tie for 3rd place.
- Santa's Gift: Upon elimination, each houseguest is given a thanks from Santa for participating, and are told to choose any gift box to claim a consolation prize, which could range from $5,000 to "some of Santa's favorite fruit cakes".
HouseGuests[]
Elf Ambassadors[]
Status History[]
| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||
| Nicole | Safe | Safe | Jingle Bell | Win | Taken | Win | Winner | |||
| Taylor | Safe | Co-Jingle Bell |
Safe | Co-Jingle Bell |
Co-Jingle Bell |
Win | Runner-Up | |||
| Frankie | Jingle Bell | Win | Win | Co-Jingle Bell |
Co-Jingle Bell |
Loss | Co-Third Place | |||
| Xavier | Win | Win | Called Out #1 Win |
Safe | Win | Loss | Co-Third Place | |||
| Britney | Safe | Co-Jingle Bell |
Called Out #2 Win |
Safe | Loss | | ||||
| Josh | Safe | Co-Jingle Bell |
Safe | Loss | | |||||
| Danielle | Safe | Co-Jingle Bell |
Called Out #3 Loss |
| ||||||
| Cody | Safe | Loss | | |||||||
| Cameron | Loss | | ||||||||
| Key: | Nice List | Naughty List | Jingle Bell Brawl Winner | Nominated | Santa's Showdown Winner | Eliminated |
Santa's Gift History[]
| Eliminated Houseguest |
Santa's Gift | |
|---|---|---|
| Episode 1 |  Cameron |
1 Year Jelly of the Month Club Subscription |
| Episode 2 |  Cody |
Fruit Cake |
| Episode 3 |  Danielle |
$5,000 |
| Episode 4 |  Josh |
Ugly Sweater |
| Episode 5 |  Britney |
Underwear & Socks |
Competition History[]
| # | Competition | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode | Day(s) | Type | Name | |
| 1 | 1 | Naughty & Nice | "DJ Scroogee" | Britney wins an Advantage |
| Jingle Bell Brawl | "Letters to Santa" |  Frankie wins the Brawl | ||
| Santa's Showdown | "Yeti Sweater" |  Xavier wins the Showdown | ||
Cameron is eliminated | ||||
| 2 | 2 | Naughty & Nice | "Cranky Carolers" | Cody wins an Advantage |
| Jingle Bell Brawl | "Tippy Trees" |  Red Team wins the Brawl | ||
| Santa's Showdown | "Perfect Gift" | Xavier & Frankie win the Showdown | ||
Cody is eliminated | ||||
| 3 | 3 | Naughty & Nice | "Crestfallen Crooner" | Taylor wins an Advantage |
| Jingle Bell Brawl | "Injured-Bread Man" |  Nicole wins the Brawl | ||
| Santa's Showdown | "The Cursed Ornament" | Frankie, Xavier & Britney win the Showdown | ||
Danielle is eliminated | ||||
| 4 | 4 | Naughty & Nice | "Who Took Jill Frost?" | Frankie wins an Advantage |
| Jingle Bell Brawl | "Pack Your Sleigh" | Frankie & Taylor win the Brawl | ||
| Santa's Showdown | "Candy Cane Rodeo" | Nicole wins the Showdown | ||
Josh is eliminated | ||||
| 5 | 5 | Naughty & Nice | "The Right Key" | Nicole wins an Advantage |
| Jingle Bell Brawl | "Missing Ingredient" | Taylor wins the Brawl | ||
| "Musical Quiz" | Frankie wins the Brawl | |||
| Santa's Showdown | "Krampus' Billboards" | Xavier wins the Showdown | ||
Britney is eliminated | ||||
| 6 | 6 | Naughty & Nice | "Name The Forgery" | Xavier wins an Advantage |
| Reindeer Games | "Nutcracker Repair" | Nicole wins Part 1 | ||
Xavier places co-third | ||||
| "Five Guilty Elves" | Taylor wins Part 2 | |||
Frankie places co-third | ||||
| "The Three Enchanted Items: The Magical Mistletoe The Ancient Antlers The Sacred Snowflake" |
Nicole wins the season | |||
Taylor places second | ||||
Game History[]
| # | Nice List | Naughty List | Jingle Bell Brawl |
Santa's Showdown Nominations |
Eliminated | Finish | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Britney |
Cody |
Frankie |
Cameron |
Xavier |
Cameron |
1st Eliminated Day 1 | |||||
| 2 | Cody |
Taylor |
Red Team |
Cody |
Frankie |
Xavier |
Cody |
2nd Eliminated Day 2 | ||||
| 3 | Taylor |
Josh |
Nicole |
Frankie |
Xavier |
Danielle |
3rd Eliminated Day 3 | |||||
Britney |
Danielle | |||||||||||
| 4 | Frankie |
Nicole & Xavier |
Frankie & Taylor |
Josh |
Nicole |
Josh |
4th Eliminated Day 4 | |||||
| 5 | Nicole |
Xavier |
Taylor |
Frankie |
Britney |
Xavier |
Britney |
5th Eliminated Day 5 | ||||
| 6 | Xavier |
Nicole |
Xavier |
Nicole |
Xavier |
Co-Third Place | ||||||
Frankie |
Taylor |
Frankie | ||||||||||
Taylor |
Runner-Up | |||||||||||
Nicole |
Winner | |||||||||||
Episode 1[]
Episode 2[]
Episode 3[]
Episode 4[]
Episode 5[]
Finale[]
Trivia[]
- This is the third spin-off series of Big Brother (U.S.), following Big Brother: Over The Top and Celebrity Big Brother.
- This is the first season of Big Brother (U.S.) to not be hosted by Julie Chen-Moonves in any capacity.
- This season holds the record for the least amount of Houseguests on Big Brother (U.S.), with only 9 competing.
- This season also holds the record for the least amount of days spent on Big Brother (U.S.), only lasting for 6.
- As confirmed by the dates attached to press photos on Getty Images and cast member statements after the season's airing, this season is the first to have filming of the game paused and resumed mid-run, with no filming of the game occurring for two days. The cast photos and other social media press material were taken/recorded during those off-days.[7]
- This season features the most returning winners, with five former winners coming back to compete, and a sixth participating as a host.
- Every time someone would be put on the Naughty List, they ended up winning the Naughty & Nice Challenge the following round, with the sole exception of Josh between Episodes 3 and 4.
- Nicole and Xavier both ended up on the Naughty List in Episode 4, with Nicole winning in Episode 5 and putting Xavier on it again, who then won it himself in Episode 6 and put Nicole on it again, making them the only two players to end up on the Naughty List more than once.
Ratings[]
| Big Brother: Reindeer Games Ratings | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Date | 18–49 Demo (rating/share) |
Viewers (millions) |
Season Avg Viewers (millions) |
Rank | Source | |||
| Week | Episode | Timeslot | Night | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | Monday, December 11, 2023 | 0.3/2 | 1.53 | 1.53 | 2 | 5 | [8] | [9] |
| 2 | Tuesday, December 12, 2023 | 0.2/3 | 1.59 | 1.56 | 3 | 6 | [10] | ||
| 3 | Thursday, December 14, 2023 | 0.3/3 | 2.04 | 1.72 | 3 | 3 | [11] | ||
| 2 | 4 | Monday, December 18, 2023 | 0.3/3 | 1.78 | 1.73 | 3 | 4 | [12] | |
| 5 | Tuesday, December 19, 2023 | 0.3/3 | 2.03 | 1.79 | 2 | 3 | [13] | ||
| 6 | Thursday, December 21, 2023 | 0.3/3 | 2.29 | 1.88 | 1 | 1 | [14] | ||
| Key: | Increase | Decrease | No Change |
References[]
External Links[]
| United States Seasons | ||
|---|---|---|
| English | Broadcast | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20 · 21 · 22 · 23 · 24 · 25 · 26 · 27 |
| Digital | 1 | |
| Celebrity | 1 · 2 · 3 | |
| Holiday | 1 | |
| Spanish | Civilian | 1 |
| Celebrity | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 | |
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