Big Brother introduced eight of this season’s 16 competitors in Part 1 of the Season 16 premiere, in which host Julie Chen announced two game-changing new twists.

Meet The Contestants

Paola ‘Pow Pow’ Shea is a 27-year-old DJ, who has posed for Maxim and is an avid gamer. She’s looking to use her womanly wiles to manipulate the men of the house, “even the ugly ones!”

Donny Thompson, 42, is a school groundskeeper and definitely one of the most visually recognizable housemates this season. His big beard looks straight out of Duck Dynasty, and his claim to fame is that he was the janitor at Kellie Pickler’s high school.

Cody Calafiore, 23, a sales account executive, is a former professional soccer player. For his introduction package, he parades around shirtless on the soccer field – yes, ladies and gentlemen, he is single. According to his online bio, he’s also a member of Seventeen Magazine’s “2014 Hot Guy Panelist” where he gives his expert opinion on fashion and dating.

Frankie Grande, 31, joins the Big Brother house from New York City, where he teaches dance. Oh, and he just happens to be Ariana Grande’s older brother, though he’s keeping that piece of trivia a secret from his housemates, and a YouTube personality. “It’s going to be TORTURE not seeing my sister and TORTURE not knowing when her album goes to number one!”

Amber Borzotra, 26, is a tough Southern girl who knows her way around a shotgun and loves to be active outdoors. The model is confident she’s going to win: “I am definitely gonna win Big Brother.”

Nicole Franzel, 21, is a Big Brother junkie, so she knows how the game is played. “My mom told me not to lie, my dad told me not to lie, but if I have to lie, I’m going to lie – that’s Big Brother.”

Devin Shepherd, 26, is a former professional baseball player, and he’s counting on his physical strength and winning charm to get win the game. The self-proclaimed “better-looking” Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is a single dad to a baby girl, and he says that his daughter will motivate him to win: “Never underestimate a father’s love for his daughter.”

Joey Van Pelt, 27, is a makeup artist and self-proclaimed super liberal: “My way is the highway. Left wing is the only way to be.” She has no tolerance for high-maintenance girls and is certainly not against hooking up during her stay in the house.

Paola And Joey Form An All Female Alliance

Julie Chen welcomes them all into the house, and the girls are quick to claim their beds while the men are a bit more apprehensive. Donny, especially, is having a hard time adjusting to his new surroundings as he’s never really left home before. “I feel like I’ve been shot out of a cannon and landed on Mars,” he tells the audience.

Frankie and Joey bond over their love of bright hair color – Joey has an electric blue ‘do which complements Frankie’s pink mowhawk look. Cody is very intrigued by Paula – a crush that is reciprocated – and is curious to know where ‘Pow Pow’ got her nickname (wink, wink). Joey is an immediate hit in the house when she announces she is a makeup artist, and Devin confesses she is just his type.

The first eight contestants in the house immediately declare themselves allies – the Crazy Eights. Once their alliance was decided, players began working on building more personal alliances. Devin decided to pursue an alliance with Donny. His strategy is that it would be an alliance their housemates wouldn’t see coming.

While the guys bond, Paola gathers the girls in an attempt to form an all-female alliance. It’s time for a woman to win, and Paola and Joey both say that they came into the show with the goal of creating an all-female alliance. “We have to, like, seriously give America hope that girls can work together,” says Paola. And thus, the El Quatro alliance is born.

HoH Is No Longer Safe From Eviction

Chen announced that one of the eight contestants would be the first Head of Household, and introduced the first twist of the season: Heads of Household will no longer be safe from eviction.

Frankie Grande Is First Head Of Household

The group doesn’t get much time to consider what the twist really means for the competition because it’s time for the fist challenge. Players had to balance on a rotating log while holding onto a kite string; the last one standing wins. Paola was the first to go, followed later by Joey and Nicole.

Eventually, Amber and Frankie were the last two standing, and Amber, knowing that the HoH wouldn’t be safe from eviction, decided to throw the game and Frankie was made HoH.

Twist: There Will Be 2 HoH

After Frankie’s first Big Brother victory, Chen announced the second part of the HoH twist: the next eight contestants will also have their own head of household. Every week, there will be two heads of household, but by the end of the week there will only be one left standing, meaning the other HoH will be on the chopping block.

New Team America Feature

The second big twist of the season is Team America. Viewers will vote online for the player they would want to form an alliance with. The top three contestants with the most votes will be given “secret missions,” which will supposedly give them the opportunity to advance in the competition.

The remaining eight contestants will be introduced in Part 2 of the Season 16 premiere Thursday at 8 p.m. on CBS.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.