Did the Big Brother 28 “icons” have an advantage, or were they disadvantaged?
Many fans feel they had unfair advantages, while the BB28 winner and executive producers disagree.
The debate continues online. Especially with rumors about more “icons” on Big Brother 29.
Let’s dive into this a bit.
Rick Devens addresses accusations of advantages on Big Brother 28
Devens spoke about the fan debate during his exit interviews. As Entertainment Weekly reported, “Many fans argued that contest was unfair because only the icons were able to compete for the week 1 Head of Household, and that all three were obviously going to receive an opportunity to compete for a Time Capsule power (or punishment) in the game due to their already built-in fanbases.”
It was unsurprising that Angela Murray, Devens, and Dee Valladares had the most votes for the first three Time Capsule weeks.
While Angela didn’t get a power, Dee and Devens acquired game-changing powers that altered the BB28 outcome.
“There are some perceived unfair advantages,” Devens also told EW.
“Like, we were gonna win that week 1 HOH, there’s no doubt about it. But there’s 11 weeks after that, that you can get us out,” he added.
Indeed, there were many chances to get the “icons” out later, but those two advantages saved them.
“In the end, we were 20 percent of the house. If they wanted us out, they could’ve got us out any time, except that we were winning HOHs, we were putting alliances together, we were working hard for our game. So, no, I think more than anything, it was a disadvantage,” Devens elaborated.
Devens also added that he thought half the house would be “icons” on BB28. That could have really changed the game. Maybe for the better?
Producers address the possible Big Brother 28 advantages
Big Brother executive producers Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan also spoke about the possible advantages. They feel that since everyone was eligible for the powers and had to be earned, they didn’t give the “icons” an advantage.
Some fans might disagree. The theory that fans would overwhelmingly vote for a new player over someone already known seems fishy.
“Look, ultimately, they have to win. They have to go in and win something. So it wasn’t vote for them and they get it. It was: ‘If someone is voted, they have to go now earn it. Can they earn that advantage?’ And then we doubled the number. If there was three of them, there were six opportunities for people to earn either advantages or punishments. So we kind of thought that was fair,” Meehan told EW.
Meehan also agrees with Devens that other players could have targeted the “icons” after Week 1.
The debate will likely never be resolved
Many Big Brother fans want the show to feature only new people. They want no returning houseguests and nobody from other shows.
Other fans enjoy seeing reality TV legends pop up on other shows, and would even like to see some Big Brother alums play on future Survivor seasons.
Because of this, the debate will continue about who has an advantage on the show. The good news is that it has us talking about Big Brother during the offseason. That continued buzz is always good.
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