Daniele "Dani" Briones (née Donato) is the runner-up of Big Brother 8 (US). She later competed on Big Brother 13 (US) and Big Brother 22 (US).
Daniele first competed on Big Brother 8, alongside her estranged father Dick Donato, as a part of the rivals twist. While managing a tumultuous yet beneficial relationship with Dick throughout the season, she was able to win several competitions (2 HoH's and 5 PoV's), which helped her and Dick to eliminate their enemies and reach the finale night. She came in 2nd place as she lost to Dick, while receiving 2 votes to win.
Daniele also returned for Big Brother 13, where she was partnered with Dick once more. After Dick left the game, Daniele was given a Golden Key, allowing her to stay safe until the final ten. Initially entering the house as a part of the Veterans Alliance, she eventually defected from this alliance to team up with newbies Porsche Briggs and Kalia Booker. She also had a season-long feud with Big Brother 12 (US) houseguest and eventual winner Rachel Reilly. Deemed as a massive threat by her former allies, she was nominated by Jeff Schroeder evicted during the first half of the first Double Eviction by a vote of 3 to 2 placing 8th and becoming the second member of the Jury.
In Big Brother 22, Daniele was a key member of the dominant The Committee alliance and formed close relationships with fellow alliance members Nicole Franzel and Cody Calafiore. She also maintained a friendship with outsider Da'Vonne Rogers. After becoming the HoH in week 6, she targeted ally Tyler Crispen for throwing her under the bus the previous week after the disruptor power David Alexander from removed himself from the block. However, feeling anxious about her last appearance, Daniele decided to play it safe and patch things up with Tyler and nominated her former ally Ian Terry as the new target, This proved to be a fatal mistake as two weeks later during the triple eviction, she became the first victim when the Committee had to turn on themselves, as she was nominated by Tyler in the third round of the Triple Eviction against her ally Nicole. When her and Nicole failed to win the veto, Dani called out Tyler and Christmas for having a final 2 during plea speeches. Despite this, she was evicted unanimously over Nicole in a 4 to 0 vote. She had a dislike towards David Alexander, found quarrels with Kevin Campbell and a short-lived rivalry with Kaysar Ridha, but was one of a few people to tolerate Janelle Pierzina. She placed 7th and was the 5th member of the jury.
Daniele is often considered one of the best physical competitors in the history of the show. Across all her three seasons, she won a total of 5 HoH's and 5 PoV's, which is the third most competitions wins among multi seasons.
Biography[]
Retrieved from CBS
Retrieved from CBS
Name: Daniele Donato
Age: 24
Retrieved from CBS
Age: 33
Hometown: Orange County, California
Current city: Orange County, California
Occupation: Stay-at-home mom
Previous seasons: Big Brother 8 (runner-up) and Big Brother 13. Dani married her fellow Houseguest from Season 13, Dominic Briones.
Three adjectives that describe you: Practical, tenacious, and witty.
Favorite activities: I love doing anything with my daughter, working out, cooking, spending time with my husband and watching Real Housewives.
Why do you want to play Big Brother again?
I want to bring back the old-school Big Brother gameplay... also want to finally get my W!
What do you think will be the most difficult part about living inside the Big Brother house?
I will have a hard time being away from my baby girl, Tennessee Autumn.
Which past Big Brother cast member did you like most and why?
I respected the game play of Diane from BB5 and I like Eric from BB8 as a person, outside of the game.
What is your strategy for winning the game?
I plan to lay low for the first half and then turn the house upside down.
How does this strategy differ from the last time you played?
Last time I played too hard, too fast… oops!
Have you changed/evolved since the last time you were on the show?
Yes! Every time I play, I feel like a different person. I am older and hopefully wiser.
My life's motto is…
"I don't think I know everything, but I want to learn everything"
What would you take into the house and why?
-My daughter
-My cat
-Books
Fun facts about yourself:
-I have a hairless cat named Rudy Galindo.
-I was raised by my grandmother.
-I've road tripped through almost every state with my husband, and one day we will hit them all.
-I am a big St. Louis Cardinals fan.
[1]
Big Brother (US)[]
'Big Brother 8 (US)'[]
Daniele joined *Big Brother 8* in 2007, alongside her father, Dick. On Day 7, the House competed for the Power of Veto. Kail Harbick, as HoH, and Amber Siyavus and Carol Journey, as the nominees, automatically got to play. During the random draw, Kail drew "Houseguest Choice" and selected Daniele, Carol drew Nick's name, and Amber drew Jameka's. The competition, titled "Hide and Seek Veto," required players to hide a veto box inside the Big Brother house within one minute. After hiding all six veto boxes, players had a time limit to find another player's veto box. The player whose veto box remained unfound would win the Power of Veto. Daniele found Kail's veto box, making her the winner of the first Power of Veto competition. Meanwhile, Jen was beginning to annoy her fellow houseguests, leading to confrontations with Dick and Nick. Despite Daniele considering using the Veto to backdoor Jen, she chose to leave the nominations intact on Day 9.
On Day 14, Jen nominated Daniele and Dick for eviction, considering them the most negative people in the house. On Day 15, the houseguests competed for the Power of Veto. Amber, Mike, and Joe were drawn to play for the power. The competition, titled "Cutthroat Christmas," involved sliding a curling stone down an icy path towards a red line. The least accurate slider in each round was eliminated and had to choose a present from under a giant Christmas tree. The last player standing won the pick of the prizes. Daniele won the Power of Veto, Amber won a chance to be handcuffed to another houseguest, Dick won a plasma TV, Mike won a date with another houseguest, Jen won a red unitard, and Joe won a slop pass. On Day 17, Daniele used the Veto on herself, and Jen nominated Joe in her place.
On Day 34, the houseguests competed in the Endurance Head of Household competition, "Times Up," where they hung upside down on rocking pendulums. Players were eliminated if they fell off their pendulum or if their torso was raised above the bar. Daniele won the title of HoH after nearly two hours. On Day 35, Kail and Jen were nominated together for the third week in a row. Daniele informed Kail that she was merely a pawn and had a backdoor plan in mind. Daniele suspected Eric of casting the second vote against Kail, which was attributed to her best friend Nick. During the Veto Competition draw, Daniele picked Jameka, Jen picked Dustin, and Kail picked Zach. The competition, "The Numbers Don't Lie," required players to bid how many hours they would endure a difficult task. The player with the lowest bid was eliminated, while those in the middle avoided the task. Jen won the Power of Veto after agreeing to wear a bunny suit for 120 hours. Daniele, Kail, and Zach had to endure dumping smelly substances on themselves 24 times per hour, and Daniele, Jameka, Kail, and Zach had to eat slop for 720 hours. Jameka and Kail also forfeited their right to compete in the next five HoH competitions but failed to win the Veto. On Day 38, Jen used the Power of Veto on herself, and Daniele nominated Eric, as planned. Despite the Donatos' wishes, their former allies turned against them, and on Day 41, Kail was evicted by a close vote of 4 to 3, with votes from Jen, Dick, and Zach.
On Day 42, Dick and Daniele were nominated for eviction. During the Veto competition, "Shot for Shot," players drank concoctions to secure shots in a croquet game. The player with the most points in the game won the Power of Veto. Dick beat Dustin by one point and won the Power of Veto. On Day 45, he used the Veto to save Daniele.
On Day 48, Daniele won the "Strange Visitors" HoH Competition, where houseguests were visited by odd characters, including the Mad Hatter. Contestants answered true-or-false questions about the visitors. Daniele and Dick made a final four deal with showmance partners Eric and Jessica, forming the "Little Julie Chens" alliance. On Day 49, Daniele nominated Amber and Jameka for eviction. In the "Slop Pong" food competition, the house split into red and blue teams. The red team, consisting of Dick, Eric, Jessica, and Zach, won food for the week by beating the blue team, which included Amber, Daniele, Jameka, and Jen. Daniele was not put on slop as HoH. On Day 50, Daniele and Amber won a special prize during the Power of Veto competition, a chance to compete on the new reality game show *Power of 10*. Daniele won the Golden Power of Veto. On Day 52, she changed her nominations, removing Amber and nominating Jen instead. Jen was penalized for breaking the slop restriction, receiving a penalty eviction vote. She also had a controversial altercation with Dick, where she was burned by one of his cigarettes. On Day 55, Jen was evicted unanimously by a vote of 6-0.
On Day 64, former houseguest Janelle hosted the Veto competition "The Janelle-O-Vision," where players spun on a pink chair and identified mixed face swirls of houseguests. Daniele won her fourth Power of Veto of the season with seven correct swirls. On Day 66, she chose to keep the nominations intact.
After Zach won HOH, he and Jameka aimed to evict either Dick or Daniele. On Day 70, the father-daughter duo was nominated for the third time. On Day 71, during the final Power of Veto competition, "Big Brother Decoder," the final four houseguests matched clues to houseguests' faces and corresponding numbers. Daniele was the first to solve the puzzle and won her fifth Power of Veto, tying with Janelle for the most Veto wins in a single season. On Day 74, Daniele used the Power of Veto on her father instead of herself, making it the second time this season, and the third in *Big Brother* history, that a nominee won the Golden Power of Veto and left themselves on the block. Dick cast the sole vote against Jameka, leading to her eviction.
Dick won the final HoH competition and immediately evicted Zach, making Dick and Daniele the Final Two.
On Day 77, the Final Two houseguests participated in a three-hour session where jury members, connected via satellite from the jury house, questioned them about the game. On Day 81, during the live season finale, Dick won the game with a vote of 5 to 2, with Daniele receiving votes only from Jen and Jameka.
Big Brother 13 (US)[]
In 2011, Daniele and her father, Dick, were asked to appear on Big Brother 13, where they and other notable duos from past Big Brother seasons returned to play doubles with eight new houseguests for a chance to win the grand prize of $500,000.
Before the duos were announced, Daniele hosted a show on Superpass with Big Brother 12 contestant Ragan Fox called Rumor Control. People could call in and ask questions about the new season of Big Brother. The callers were unaware that Daniele was in sequester when she was hosting the second episode of Rumor Control. Her best friend Annie Whittington, also from Big Brother 12, took over for Dani on Rumor Control for the last episode when Dani was actually in the BB House.
On Day 6 of Big Brother 13, Dick had to leave the show for personal reasons, leaving Daniele without a partner and with a Golden Key. Shortly after, Daniele turned on her own alliance of veterans from past seasons and formed a new alliance with Kalia Booker and Porsche Briggs. Shortly after Dominic's eviction, the houseguests were informed that the Golden Key twist was over, and all houseguests except for Rachel competed in the next Head of Household competition, Big Brother Slalom. The houseguests had to hold on to a wall while standing on ‘skis,’ which moved from side to side while having snow blowing on them at random times. The first five eliminated houseguests had to choose a numbered snowball, four of which contained a punishment while one contained a prize. Lawon, Brendon, and Jordan picked the snowballs that contained Have-Not tickets; Adam was required to wear an elf suit for a week; and Jeff won $10,000. On Day 28, Daniele nominated Brendon and Rachel for eviction, and the next day, Brendon won his third Power of Veto competition, Time's Up. The six players had to complete mini-tasks based on previous competitions in as short a time as possible. Brendon chose to save Rachel from eviction. On Day 31, Daniele chose Jordan as the replacement nominee. Brendon was evicted from the house on Day 34 with Rachel and Porsche as the only two votes to evict Jordan.
Daniele won her second Head of Household competition, Count on America. Shelly and Adam were nominated for eviction the next day by Daniele. Daniele and Jeff threw the Power of Veto competition to Adam, Big Brother Cornhole, on Day 43, which saved Adam from eviction on Day 46. During the competition, houseguests competing won a variety of prizes, including a Caribbean vacation for Kalia, $5,000 for Jeff, a Veto ticket for Daniele ensuring her a spot in next week's Veto competition, 24-hour solitary confinement for Shelly with the privilege of receiving a phone call from home, and a "humilitard" to be worn by Jordan for a week. Daniele then nominated Brendon for eviction alongside Shelly. After a 5-1 vote in Shelly's favor, Brendon was once again evicted from the house, becoming the first Jury member.
However, after Jeff won Power of Veto, he removed Porsche from the block and replaced her with Daniele, completing his plan to "backdoor" Daniele. On Day 55, Daniele was evicted on a 3-2 vote, becoming the second Jury member.
Player History - Big Brother 8 (US)[]
Competition History[]
| Week 1 | HOH | Loss |
| Food | Loss | |
| POV | Win | |
| Week 2 | HOH | Loss |
| Food | Loss | |
| POV | Win | |
| Week 3 | HOH | Loss |
| Food | Win | |
| POV | Not Picked | |
| Week 4 | HOH | Loss |
| Food | Win | |
| POV | Loss | |
| Week 5 | HOH | Win |
| POV | Loss | |
| Week 6 | HOH | Previous HOH |
| Food | Loss | |
| POV | Loss | |
| Week 7 | HOH | Win |
| Food | Loss | |
| POV | Win | |
| Week 8 | HOH | Previous HOH |
| Luxury | Win | |
| POV | Loss | |
| Week 9 | HOH | Loss |
| POV | Win | |
| HOH | Loss | |
| POV | Loss | |
| Week 10 | HOH | Loss |
| POV | Win | |
| Week 11 | HOH Part 1 | Loss |
| HOH Part 2 | Loss | |
| HOH Part 3 | Unable to Play |
Food History[]
| Week 1 | Slop |
| Week 2 | Slop |
| Week 3 | Food |
| Week 4 | Food |
| Week 5 | Food |
| Week 6 | Slop |
| Week 7 | Food |
| Week 8 | Food Competition Phase Over |
| Week 9 | |
| Week 10 | |
| Week 11 |
Voting History[]
| Week | Position | Voted for | With Majority? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | POV Holder | Carol Journey | Yes |
| 2 | Used POV on Self | Joe Barber | Yes |
| 3 | – | Mike Dutz | Yes |
| 4 | – | Nick Starcevic | Yes |
| 5 | HOH | – | – |
| 6 | Vetoed | Dustin Erikstrup | Yes |
| 7 | HOH/POV | – | – |
| 8 | – | Amber Siyavus | Yes |
| 9 | POV Holder | Jessica Hughbanks | Yes |
| – | Eric Stein | Yes | |
| 10 | Nominated/POV | – | – |
| 11 | Nominated | – | – |
| Finale | Runner-Up | – | – |
HOH History[]
| Original Nominees | Post-Veto Nominees | Intended Target | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 5 | |||||
| Week 7 | |||||
Player History - Big Brother 13 (US)[]
Competition History[]
| Week 1 | HOH | Loss |
| Have/Have-Not | Have | |
| Co-POV | Golden Key | |
| Week 2 | HOH | Golden Key |
| Have/Have-Not | Golden Key | |
| POV | Golden Key | |
| Week 3 | HOH | Golden Key |
| Luxury | Loss | |
| POV | Golden Key | |
| Week 4 | HOH | Win |
| POV | Loss | |
| Week 5 | HOH | Previous HOH |
| Have/Have-Not | Have | |
| POV | Not Picked | |
| Week 6 | HOH | Win |
| POV | Loss | |
| Week 7 | HOH | Previous HOH |
| POV | Loss |
Have/Have-Not History[]
| Week 1 | Have |
| Week 2 | Have |
| Week 3 | Have |
| Week 4 | Have |
| Week 5 | Have |
| Week 6 | Have |
| Week 7 | Have-Not |
Voting History[]
| Week | Position | Voted for | With Majority? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golden Key Holder | Keith Henderson | Yes |
| 2 | Cassi Colvin | Yes | |
| 3 | Adam Poch | No | |
| 4 | HOH | – | – |
| 5 | – | Lawon Exum | Yes |
| 6 | HOH | – | – |
| 7 | Post-POV Nominee | – | – |
| Finale | Jury Member | Porsche Briggs | No |
HOH History[]
| Original Nominees | Post-Veto Nominees | Intended Target | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 4 | |||||
| Week 6 | |||||
Player History - Big Brother 22 (US)[]
Competition History[]
| Week 1 | HOH Part 1 | Loss |
| HOH Part 2 | Ineligible | |
| Safety Suite | Sat Out | |
| POV | Not Picked | |
| Week 2 | HOH | Loss |
| Safety Suite | Sat Out | |
| POV | Not Picked | |
| Week 3 | HOH | Loss |
| Safety Suite | Loss | |
| POV | Not Picked | |
| Week 4 | HOH | Loss |
| POV | Not Picked | |
| Week 5 | HOH | Loss |
| BB Basement | Win | |
| POV | Loss | |
| Week 6 | HOH | Win |
| POV | Loss | |
| Week 7 | HOH | Previous HOH |
| POV | Loss | |
| Week 8 | HOH | Loss |
| POV | Not Picked | |
| HOH | Loss | |
| POV | Loss | |
| HOH | Loss | |
| POV | Loss |
Have/Have-Not History[]
| Week 1 | Have |
| Week 2 | Have |
| Week 3 | Have |
| Week 4 | Have-Not |
| Week 5 | Never-Not |
| Week 6 | Never-Not |
| Week 7 | Never-Not |
| Week 8 | Never-Not |
Voting History[]
| Week | Position | Voted for | With Majority? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Keesha Smith | Yes |
| 2 | – | Nicole Anthony | Yes |
| 3 | – | Kaysar Ridha | No |
| 4 | – | Kaysar Ridha | Yes |
| 5 | – | Bayleigh Dayton | Yes |
| 6 | HOH | – | – |
| 7 | – | Kevin Campbell | No |
| 8 | – | Kevin Campbell | Yes |
| – | David Alexander | Yes | |
| Nominated | – | – | |
| Finale | Jury Member | Cody Calafiore | Yes |
HOH History[]
| Original Nominees | Post-Disruptor Nominees | Post-Veto Nominees | Intended Target | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 6 | THEN | THEN | |||||||||
Post-Big Brother[]
- Following her appearance on Big Brother 8, Daniele appeared on the companion series House Calls: The Big Brother Talk Show until its cancellation in 2010. She also appeared on the television series Reality Wanted as herself.
- Daniele briefly dated fellow houseguest Nick Starcevic outside of the house, though the two eventually broke up.
- Daniele and her father briefly appeared on Big Brother 9, however, they had stopped talking by 2009.
- Daniele married fellow Big Brother 13 (US) houseguest Dominic Briones on January 19, 2013.[2]
- Dominic and Daniele announced that Daniele was pregnant on Valentine's Day, 2018.[3]
- Their daughter, Tennessee Autumn Briones, was born on August 20, 2018, the same day as Daniele's birthday.[4]
- Daniele returned for Big Brother 20 (US) along with Derrick Levasseur, Paul Abrahamian, Josh Martinez, and Britney Haynes to celebrate Nicole Franzel and Victor Arroyo's engagement. Dominic was there as well, but since they brought Tennessee, he had to stay with her and did not enter the house (besides the Diary Room), and thus did not appear on the episode.[5][6][7]
- Daniele viewed the private livestream for Eric Stein's wedding on June 12, 2021.[8]
- On September 26, 2021, Daniele and Dominic announced they were expecting a second child.
- She gave birth to their second daughter, Lux, on November 19, 2021.[9]
Trivia[]
- Along with her father Dick, Daniele originally made it into the casting process for Big Brother 6 (US) where the duo was among forty potential houseguests but were not chosen to be one of the final fourteen houseguests for the start of the season.
- Daniele and Dick are the first parent-child duo to compete on Big Brother (US), followed by Cirie and Jared Fields.
- Daniele had a showmance in her first two seasons. Coincidentally, both men placed 11th.
- Daniele was the only houseguest to win HOH and POV in the same week in Big Brother 8.
- Daniele is the first person in Big Brother history to win the Power of Veto in all three situations (as HoH, as a nominee, and as a person picked to play), sometimes referred to as the Trifecta Veto. She would later be followed by Shane Meaney from Big Brother 14, Paulie Calafiore and Corey Brooks from Big Brother 18, Jason Dent from Big Brother 19, Jackson Michie from Big Brother 21, Michael Bruner from Big Brother 24, Jag Bains from Big Brother 25, and Makensy Manbeck from Big Brother 26.
- Daniele was the first houseguest, as well as the only female, to win the first two Power of Vetoes in a season. She was followed by Shane Meaney from Big Brother 14, Sam Smith from Big Brother 21, Derek Xiao from Big Brother 23, Michael Bruner from Big Brother 24, and Hisam Goueli from Big Brother 25.
- Daniele is one of seven people not to use the Power of Veto on themselves while being nominated. The other six are Marcellas Reynolds, Dick Donato, Brendon Villegas, Matthew Clines, Jedson Tavernier and Tucker Des Lauriers.
- She is the only female to achieve this feat.
- She is the second person to not use the Veto on herself while being nominated and not be evicted.
- Daniele is tied with Janelle Pierzina, Paul Abrahamian and Kaycee Clark for the third most Power of Veto wins out of any houseguest with 5 (during her duration on Big Brother 8).
- Daniele and her father were the Final Two in Big Brother 8 and were the last rivals left in the game.
- Daniele is currently tied for the youngest person to be in the Final 2, at the age of 21, with Ian Terry from Big Brother 14.
- However, as Ian was 21 before entering the house as opposed to Daniele, who turned 21 in the house, Daniele is technically the youngest.
- Daniele was the first person to be responsible for the eviction of someone twice in one season, as she evicted Brendon Villegas twice during Big Brother 13. She would be followed by Tychon Carter-Newman.
- Daniele was the only veteran to not vote for Rachel to win the game.
- However, Daniele revealed that if Adam made the Final 2 instead of Porsche, her vote would've been for Rachel.
- Daniele is one of eight females to win at least 3 PoV's in a single season, along with Janelle Pierzina, Michele Noonan, Britney Haynes, Vanessa Rousso, Kaycee Clark, Brittany Hoopes, and Makensy Manbeck.
- Daniele was the first person to fail to backdoor someone. She would be followed by Becky Burgess and Nick Maccarone.
- Daniele is the second houseguest to compete on the US version of Big Brother despite being under the age limit of 21 following Michelle Maradie.
- However, Daniele turned 21 while in the house.
- Dani is the first person to change her name in between seasons. She played Big Brother 8 and 13 as Daniele Donato, and as Daniele Briones in Big Brother 22.
- Dani and Nicole Franzel are the only players who have played three or more times to make it the Jury phase of the game every time they've played.
- Dani is the first person to win HOH on three separate seasons. She was followed by Nicole Franzel.
- Dani was the last woman to be nominated on Big Brother 22, receiving her first and only nomination on the second round of Day 58, the third overall round of the Triple Eviction.
- Dani is the only female juror to not win a Power of Veto competition in Big Brother 22 .
- Across three of her seasons, Daniele has won a total of 10 competitions (5 HoH's and 5 PoV's).
Reflist[]
- ↑ Dani Briones. CBS Big Brother (5 August 2020). Retrieved on 5 August 2020.
- ↑ https://people.com/tv/daniele-donato-and-dominic-briones-of-big-brother-marry/
- ↑ Big Brother's Daniele Donato And Dominic Briones Are Having A Baby!. CBS. Archived from the original on February 26, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm10_b6hNPk/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/BnsGrfrBz9m/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/DerrickL/status/1038977648138051584
- ↑ https://twitter.com/DerrickL/status/1039198716517859328
- ↑ Tharp, Sharon (13 June 2021). ‘Big Brother’ Fan Favorite Eric Stein Marries Longtime Love Marissa Nardi in New York City. Us Weekly. Retrieved on 15 June 2021.
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CWmUbXDJ4O4/
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