‘Big Brother’ Recap: New Houseguests Arrive, Jason Wins Second HoH Competition

The first Takeover brought two new houseguests from Amazing Race to the Big Brother house, and eight new contestants joined the game on the second episode of Season 17.

Big Brother S17 Recap: New Houseguests Are Introduced

Julie Chen introduced six new houseguests to the season at the top of the show, and Jace, apparently the resident social director, gathered the group in the kitchen for a get-to-know-you session.

First up: John McGuire, 27, announces that he’s just a dentist who is just happy to be here. Da’Vonne, the poker dealer who is lying about being a poker dealer (for reasons unknown to mankind) and claims she’s the queen of telling lies, says she thinks he’s lying about his occupation.

Liz Nolan is a marketing coordinator from Miami. In her introduction, she tells the house that she recently dumped her “bae” to compete on Big Brother, which peaks Jace’s interest immediately. She immediately pegs Clay as the hottie of the house and notes that she thinks jealousy will be the biggest threat in the game. Where Clay is concerned, she might be right, as Shelli was going crazy for the grad student/football player in Wednesday night’s episode.

Steve Moses, 22, is a college student studying audio engineering. He’s a numbers guy who isn’t so confident with his social skills – he’s what one might call “adorkable.” His main concern when entering the house: try to learn everyone’s name.

Then there’s Vanessa Rousso, 32, a professional poker player who has won millions. She comes in the house with one objective: collect as much information as she can. Because she doesn’t want to be pegged as untrustworthy, she lies about her profession and decides to “keep it simple” and say she’s a DJ. As “a game theorist,” she could be the rival secret poker dealer, Da’Vonne, has been waiting for.

Jason Roy, 25, or “little Jason” as Austin dubs him, is a ball of energy when he finally gets into the house. “Why is everyone so freakin’ beautiful?” he shouts out as the hugging begins. Jason introduces himself as a bag boy who lives in his mother’s basement, but is clearly desperate to move out. Oh, and he also announces he’s gay, “obviously.”

Becky Burgess, 26, is a Colorado native who loves the outdoors – meaning she could be a physical threat. But, the other houseguests don’t seem too worried about her because they’re too busy wondering about the two empty place settings around the table, meaning there are still two new houseguests who haven’t been introduced.

A ringing announces the first Big Brother Takeover Twist: the other two contestants are Jackie Ibarra, 27, and Jeff Weldon, 26, from Amazing Race. They aren’t dating, but they have a bond from competing together on Amazing Race, and Jeff, for one, seems pretty confident they’ll stick together going forward in the competition.

After all the new houseguests had arrived, it was time for another Head of Household competition – this time for the eight new contestants. As with the previous competition, one new houseguest had to sit out. Vanessa volunteered to sit it out – as a gambler she knows that the risky moves pay off. Oddly, this was similar to Da’Vonnes reasoning in the first episode. As to what that pay off will be, it’s too soon to tell (literally, they won’t tell us).

Jason Wins Second HoH Competition

The second HoH challenge was another physical challenge: each contestant had to grab onto a giant pole, and hold themselves in an awkward semi-squat position as green slime rained down on them and an “alien beam” pulls them up by the backs of their shirt. The last one holding onto the poll, to counteract the upward force of the “beam,” will be HoH.

“I’m using muscles I didn’t even know I had,” Jeff says. Jason continues to get major likeability points for making people laugh during the challenge. Steve is the first to go, and he worries that he’ll be an easy target for the more athletic of the bunch. Jeff, on the other hand, takes the opposite route, choosing to let go early in the hopes that he won’t be targeted as a physical threat and put on the block for eviction.

Dentist John and Becky are the next to go, leaving Jason, Jackie and Liz. Liz eventually let go, and it was down to Jackie and Jason. Jackie was at the top of the pole, but seemed to be hanging on with a zen strength. Jason, meanwhile, is sitting comfortably on his pole, but he’s quickly losing his resolve. Both Jason and Jackie are clearly over the competition, and, with Jackie almost off the pole, they make a deal: Jackie can let go and Jason won’t put her up for eviction. And, just like that, Jason is crowned second HoH.

With two male Heads of Household – James won the first HoH on Wednesday – Da’Vonne is worried that the guys are going to try to force out the girls, and she is not having it. “So, Jason and James are both Heads of Household. Two dudes, and we all know how this works out. Every season, the dudes get in power and send the girls packing. Not season 17, not on my watch. I’m not having it,” she says.

Big Brother continues on Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBS.

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