15 Notable LGBTQ+ Houseguests Who Competed on 'Big Brother'

These are queer ‘Big Brother’ legends!

CBS

Since its inception, Big Brother has been a social experiment about putting all sorts of different people inside a house and asking them to play a game for a hefty grand prize, which started out as $500,000 and has now evolved to $750,000.

Though viewers have taken issue with how certain people of color and LGBTQ+ contestants were portrayed in earlier seasons of Big Brother, that criticism was pretty much given out to all reality shows across the board. Over the years, Big Brother has evolved to become a much more diverse show.

Thankfully, Big Brother had quite a few LGBTQ+ players who paved the way over the years for the show to become better, fairer, and more inclusive. With Big Brother 25 premiering this Wednesday, August 2 on CBS, it feels like the perfect time to look back at some of the most legendary LGBTQ+ houseguests of all time.

Scroll through to learn more about the LGBTQ+ contestants who made history on Big Brother.

Andy Herren (Big Brother 15)

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Andy Herren won three Head of Household (HOH) competitions and two Power of Veto (POV) competitions over the course of BB15. His alliances also mostly consisted of female houseguests. In the end, Herren became the first out gay winner of Big Brother by a jury vote of 7-2.

Audrey Middleton (Big Brother 17)

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With her casting on Big Brother 17, Audrey Middleton became the first and only out trans person to compete in a US season of the series. Unfortunately, she was evicted pre-jury on week four.

Christie Murphy (Big Brother 21)

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Christie Murphy identified herself as a lesbian pretty much as soon as she walked into the Big Brother 21 house. The reason? Well, she already knew another contestant in the season – Tommy Bracco – from previously dating one of his female family members.

Claire Rehfuss (Big Brother 23)

CBS

Claire Rehfuss was one of the fan-favorite houseguests on Big Brother 23. Though she played a great game, she ultimately wasn’t able to go up against the almighty Cookout alliance. Nonetheless, queer fans were pleased to learn that Rehfuss identifies as bisexual.

Derek Frazier (Big Brother 23)

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Derek Frazier a.k.a. “Big D” made it all the way to the end of BB23 by trusting his Cookout alliance and staying loyal to them at all times. He played a strong social game, but ended up losing the competition by a unanimous 9-0 jury vote to Xavier Prather at the finale.

Frankie Grande (Big Brother 16)

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Frankie Grande was a polarizing contestant on Big Brother 16. At the same time that he was extremely competitive and aligned himself with the most powerful alliance in the game, some fans took issue with him siding with the male players who had been taking down the women week after week. In any case, Grande left a huge mark in the Big Brother canon.

Jason Roy (Big Brother 17 & OTT)

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After being an incredibly captivating contestant on Big Brother 17, Jason Roy came back to compete on the first and only season of Big Brother: Over the Top. During his second chance on the show, Roy played a fantastic game and finished as the runner-up.

Kaycee Clark (Big Brother 20)

CBS

On Big Brother 20, Kaycee Clark became the first out lesbian contestant to win the show. Besides playing one of the most impressive social games of all time, Clark had a string of competition wins toward the end of the season that swayed the jury members to vote for her to win.

Kevin Campbell (Big Brother 11 & 22)

CBS

Kevin Campbell was an entertaining and very savvy player on Big Brother 11. He was well on the way to win that season if he hadn’t lost the final HOH competition, which resulted in him placing third on the show. Campbell returned for Big Brother 22: All-Stars many years later, but wasn’t able to play as good of a game during that subsequent season.

Marcellas Reynolds (Big Brother 3 & 7)

CBS

Fans absolutely loved watching Marcellas Reynolds on Big Brother 3, which led him to being brought back for Big Brother 7: All-Stars. Though he never made it to a finale, Reynolds was a jury member both times, which means that he played a good enough game to stick around for several weeks.

Michael Bruner (Big Brother 24)

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Michael Bruner had everything it takes for someone to win Big Brother… except that he couldn’t control himself and ended up winning an unbelievable nine competitions during BB24. Those three HOH wins and six POV wins absolutely put a huge target on Bruner’s back, who was evicted as soon as he wasn’t able to secure any protections in week nine.

Paul Abrahamian (Big Brother 18 & 19)

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In 2020, Paul Abrahamian updated their pronouns to they/them. Abrahamian competed on BB18 and BB19, finishing as the runner-up in both seasons. Overall, they were a competitive beast on the show, winning eight comps in both seasons they competed.

Ragan Fox (Big Brother 12)

CBS

Big Brother 12 was largely steamrolled by The Brigade alliance. Nonetheless, Ragan Fox still managed to place fifth in the season and starred in one of the most hilarious fights in BB history where he read fellow contestant Rachel Reilly to filth.

Tommy Bracco (Big Brother 21)

CBS

Tommy Bracco placed fifth on BB21 and was one of the main contestants of that entire season. Besides his one HOH win and two POV wins, Bracco also played a great social game with his fellow houseguests.

Vanessa Rousso (Big Brother 17)

CBS

Vanessa Rousso is considered one of the best players in Big Brother history. In fact, she was so good of a player that her own ally, Steve Moses, chose to cut her at the grand finale of BB17 due to fear that he would lose the season to Rousso had he taken her to the end.