Big Brother All-Stars Recap: Who Became the First Member of the Jury?

Rebecca Iannucci
·4 min read

A previous Big Brother champion and a onetime runner-up both faced eviction on Thursday night, capping a week in the All-Stars house that found things getting, dare I say, exciting?

With Daniele as Head of Household, and the Committee alliance in power once again, it seemed this week could be the last one for either David or Kevin, both of whom have been constant, easy targets for the Committee all summer. But after David saved himself with his BB Basement power, and Da’Vonne used the Power of Veto on Kevin, Dani was left to name not one, but two replacement nominees. Thus, BB14 winner Ian and BB20 runner-up Tyler landed on the block ahead of Thursday’s eviction.

Would it have been more interesting if Dani replaced Kevin with a pawn from her own alliance? Yes. Would it have been really, really interesting if that pawn were Christmas, who presumably would have used her BB Basement power to stay off the block, forcing Dani to nominate a fifth person in one week? You bet. But in a season where legitimate gameplay and bold moves have been hard to come by, I’ll settle for Dani’s chaotic HOH reign. Read on for the highlights of Thursday’s episode:

THE STRATEGY | After the veto ceremony, Nicole is in tears over Ian’s nomination, and she tells him she’s going to campaign for him to stay… which is easier said than done. Despite her best efforts to convince the Committee that keeping Ian is the better move, they shoot her down. Daniele flat-out tells Nicole that the Committee wants Tyler to stay, and Nicole needs to vote accordingly; later, when Nicole suggests to Memphis and Cody that she wants to vote in Ian’s favor — if only to keep her alliance that doesn’t include Ian a secret — they practically laugh her off the BB property. Publicly, Nicole continues to weep in bed over the idea of Ian leaving. Privately, in the Diary Room, she asserts that “now is the time” to get Tyler out and blow up the Committee.

Meanwhile, Ian grows increasingly frustrated with Dani’s decision to nominate him, especially as she grows increasingly cagey about her potential tiebreaker vote. Finally, he bluntly tells Dani that “I don’t hate you; I’m just disappointed in you” for putting him up against Tyler. “You shouldn’t make this mistake on your third time playing,” he adds, and reader, I gasped.

THE EVICTION | When eviction time rolls around, the first seven votes shake out exactly how you’d expect: Da’Vonne, Kevin and David all vote to oust Tyler, while the others — Christmas, Enzo, Cody and Memphis — all vote for Ian to leave. It all comes down to Nicole here… and through tears, she votes to evict Ian, stating that it’s “the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.” And with that, Ian becomes the season’s first jury member, by a vote of 5-3. (The first time he’s ever been evicted, no less!)

Despite the circumstances under which he left the house, Ian doesn’t seem to hold any grudges; he says he doesn’t feel betrayed by anyone in particular, nor would he pick a different strategy if he could do it all over again. In fact, when he sees his goodbye messages, he’s thrilled to learn the Committee — particularly Nicole — masterminded his eviction. “For a while, I thought I was just getting ganged up on by lousy players,” Ian admits to Julie Chen-Moonves. “But to see that it’s just a good plan and they got me — that’s awesome. Good for them. Kudos.”

THE HOH COMPETITION | For the second week in a row, the Head of Household competition extends past the broadcast’s runtime, leaving us to wait until Sunday’s episode to see who wins. (Houseguests need only put together a fairly simple puzzle this time around, rather than hang onto the side of a drenched billboard.)

But perhaps more interesting than this competition is who’s not playing in it: Despite her BB Basement power, which would have allowed her to compete for HOH two weeks in a row, Dani has opted not to use her power this week and watches from the sidelines.

OK, your turn! How do you feel about Ian’s eviction? And who do you want to see win Head of Household this week? Hit the comments below!

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