‘Big Brother’ Winners: Where Are They Now?
Since Big Brother premiered in July 2000, viewers have been introduced to hundreds of houseguests, many of whom have become fan favorites and competed on the show multiple times.
It all started with Eddie McGee, who became the first player to walk away with the $500,000 grand prize. Since then, the Julie Chen-hosted CBS reality competition has taken over televisions across the U.S. every summer — plus bonus seasons in 2008 and 2016 — and it has only become more popular as the years have gone by.
To date, 22 everyday people have won Big Brother (not including celebrity winners Marissa Jaret Winokur and Tamar Braxton) and become household names in their own right. Many of them, like Jordan Lloyd and Rachel Reilly, have continued to work with CBS through the years, making guest appearances at the Big Brother house as well as competing on the network’s other reality shows such as The Amazing Race.
Other winners have found success on competitor channels, most notably MTV, which started incorporating Big Brother houseguests on programs including Ex on the Beach and The Challenge in recent years.
Some Big Brother champs, on the other hand, have completely shied away from the spotlight. Season 4 winner Jun Song moved to Belgium after her reality TV stint, while season 5’s Drew Daniel and season 6’s Maggie Ausburn do not even have social media accounts.
With that said, there are plenty of winners who continue to keep fans up-to-date on their personal lives. Lloyd and Reilly, for example, both found love during their time in the game, marrying and starting families with Jeff Schroeder and Brendon Villegas, respectively. Season 8’s Dick “Evel Dick” Donato and season 10’s Dan Gheesling, for their part, have developed fan bases thanks to their online presences.
In honor of Big Brother’s 20th anniversary, Us Weekly tracked down every winner since McGee to see what they are up to now. Scroll down to get an update on your favorites!
Since winning the freshman season in 2000, McGee has worked as an actor in films including The Human Race (2013) and God’s Pocket (2014).
Shutterstock; Courtesy of Eddie McGee/Instagram
Like McGee, Big Brother’s first female winner pursued an acting career after her reality TV stint, landing guest roles on Entourage and Dr. Vegas. She now works as a photographer.
Courtesy of Lisa Donahue/Instagram
After Big Brother, Song married longshoreman Davy Goethals in 2010 and moved to his native Belgium. They went on to welcome son Noah before splitting in 2017. Song now works at a software start-up.
Courtesy of Jun Song/Instagram
The Ohio native has kept a relatively low profile since winning Big Brother in 2004. He does not use social media.
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Ausburn followed in Daniel’s footsteps by stepping away from the spotlight after her win. She reportedly got married and had twins.
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The Big Brother: All-Stars winner, who is considered by many to be one of the show’s most infamous players of all time, served as a mentor on VH1’s Famous Food in 2011 and had minor roles in TV shows and movies such as Monk, Hood of Horror and Gun.
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The TV villain won season 8 in 2007 and returned to the game four years later, only to leave on day six. He later announced that he abruptly departed after the show’s medical staff informed him that he is HIV positive. These days, Donato hosts a digital Big Brother recap show titled Dick at Night. His once-estranged daughter, Daniele Donato, competed alongside him on seasons 8 and 13. Daniele married their costar Dominic Briones in 2013 before playing again in the 2020 All-Stars season.
Courtesy of Evel Dick/Twitter
One year after winning Big Brother, the New Jersey native was arrested on drug possession charges and failing to file a tax return for the year he took home the show’s $500,000 prize. He was sentenced in 2011 and served four years in federal prison for the crimes. Jasinski announced that he was eight years sober in 2017, the same year he published a book titled My Kid’s on Drugs, Now What?
Courtesy of Adam Jasinski/Instagram
Gheesling, who has been hailed as one of the greatest Big Brother houseguests ever after winning season 10 and finishing as the runner-up on season 14, has popular gaming channels on YouTube and Twitch. He married Chelsea Niemiec in July 2011, and they share two sons: Desmond and Miles.
Courtesy of Dan Gheesling/Instagram
After winning Big Brother in 2009 and finding love with her housemate Jeff Schroeder, Lloyd and Schroeder competed on The Amazing Race season 16. They finished in seventh place. The couple played Big Brother again in 2011 and got engaged in 2014 while visiting the season 16 houseguests. They married in March 2016 and went on to welcome two sons: Lawson and Layton.
Courtesy of Jordan Lloyd/Instagram
The Arizona native joined the cast of Survivor: Blood vs. Water in 2013, three years after he won Big Brother. He competed in the Philippines with his then-girlfriend, Kat Edorsson, and finished in seventh place.
Courtesy of Hayden Moss/Instagram
Reilly remains a huge fan of Big Brother — for good reason. During season 12, she met her future husband, Brendon Villegas, in the house. They played the game again on season 13, which Reilly won, and she has since made several guest appearances on the show. Reilly later competed on three seasons of The Amazing Race, two with Villegas and one with her sister, Elissa Slater. The couple also won a 2017 episode of Fear Factor. Reilly and Villegas, who married in September 2012, share daughter Adora and announced in May 2020 that they have a second child on the way.
Courtesy of Rachel Reilly/Instagram
After winning season 14 in 2012, the Pittsburgh native graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans with a chemical engineering degree. He later moved to Houston, where he worked as a physics teacher before becoming a consulting analyst. He competed on the second All-Stars season in 2020.
CBS
Big Brother’s first openly gay winner has a strong presence on social media, where he notably called out the show for its “problem with minority representation” in June 2020. The Chicago resident has also used his platform to speak out against other social injustices.
Courtesy of Andy Herren/Instagram
The retired police sergeant serves as an investigator on Investigation Discovery’s Breaking Homicide. In 2018, he published a book titled The Undercover Edge. He shares daughters Tenley and Peyton with his wife, Jana Donlin, whom he married in April 2011.
Courtesy of Derrick Levasseur/Instagram
Moses graduated from the State University of New York at Fredonia in 2016 after winning Big Brother. After getting his MFA in sound design at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, he moved to Orlando, Florida, where he owns a territory of his franchise, Oasis Senior Advisors.
CBS
After competing on season 16 and taking home the grand prize two years later, the nurse began dating her season 18 costar Victor Arroyo. They competed on The Amazing Race in 2018 and got engaged that September. Together, the couple host a podcast titled “Coco Caliente.” Franzel returned to the Big Brother house in 2020 to play as an all-star.
Courtesy of Nicole Franzel/Instagram
The Texas native, who won the sole installment of CBS All Access’ Big Brother spinoff, starred on season 2 of MTV’s Ex on the Beach from 2018 to 2019. She later competed on The Challenge: War of the Worlds, where she met her now-boyfriend, Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio.
Courtesy of Morgan Willett/Instagram
The self-proclaimed “meatball” also joined the MTV world after Big Brother. He appeared on The Challenge: War of the Worlds, The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 and The Challenge: Total Madness.
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Clark competed alongside Martinez on The Challenge: Total Madness in 2020. She has been in a relationship with model Tayler Jiminez since 2019.
Courtesy of Kaycee Clark/Instagram
In January 2020, the Nashville native moved to Los Angeles with season 21 runner-up Holly Allen, whom he began dating in the Big Brother house. They broke up six months later. The former server is now a social media influencer.
Courtesy of Jackson Michie/Instagram
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