Nothing will save Christmas’s game after Week 5 of Big Brother: All-Stars. This week will go down as a harsh lesson of letting the Head of Household power get to your head. Christmas took that power trip and drove it straight into the ground. She had been doing so well the last few weeks to build connections and repair her image after Big Brother 19; however, all of that work has gone to waste. The same can be said about the other houseguests in the Big Brother: All-Stars house – their behavior and decisions have hurt them for the worst.
Particularly, Daniele, Nicole F., Memphis, Tyler, and Christmas are walking away from Week 5 in a much worse position, both in the house and in the outside world. Firstly, we need to discuss the disparaging comments made about Ian and him being on the autism spectrum by his fellow houseguests. Dani, Nicole, Memphis, and Christmas should never have made fun of him or his behavior in the house – they should’ve supported him!
Earlier this season, Ian shared that he was on the autism spectrum and that people made fun of him back on Big Brother 14 about it and his rocking tendencies. (Ian’s constant rocking back-and-forth is his soothing technique to find comfort in a stressful game.) He has been open about why he does this, and after being medically forced by the doctors to rest/not compete in the Power of Veto competition, it was well-known the game was getting to him. Christmas blaming Ian for not competing in POV, Dani mentioning Ian using autism as a strategy, and then Memphis/Dani talking about how Ian makes them uncomfortable (while Nicole laughed lots!) made them all look inconsiderate and cruel.
The other controversial and huge blow-up during Week 5 stemmed from Tyler’s wish to be evicted and leave the game. If Tyler wanted to leave the game, he should’ve been able to go. Plenty of people want to compete on Big Brother, so if he didn’t want to be there in the first place, let him go so the others who do want to play can stay. However, Christmas’s reluctance to let him go and Tyler’s switch to stay was a frustrating and exhausting outcome.
The series of events that led to the controversy is messy and complicated, so here is a short breakdown:
- For weeks now, Tyler wasn’t having fun and wanted to leave the game. He was open about declining the season invite in the first place, but he reluctantly signed up.
- Daniele and Nicole F. spent weeks planting seeds and campaigning to get Bayleigh and Da’Vonne nominated. Tyler did this as well, but he tried to play both sides and repair his friendship with Bayleigh.
- Christmas and Bayleigh developed a good friendship/connection in the game – they were somewhat working together. Bayleigh said Da’Vonne was her “untouchable” (i.e. someone she wouldn’t nominate). Christmas didn’t mention hers, but she had a Final 2 with Tyler.
- Tyler told Bayleigh/Da’Vonne that Dani campaigned against them. Dani confronted Bay about Bay’s vibe to her and they chatted about the targeting “rumors.”
- Christmas won HOH and Tyler pushed for Bayleigh and Da’Vonne to be nominated. The pair were subsequently nominated for eviction.
- Tyler’s depression hit a low and he wanted to get evicted (while also keeping his $40K appearance stipend).
- Tyler blamed himself for Bayleigh/Da’Vonne being nominated, so he told them that he wanted to get evicted and would push Christmas to backdoor him with the POV. Tyler mentioned his heart wasn’t in the game and he wanted to keep Bayleigh/Da’Vonne in the house because they wanted to stay AND they were competing for a “much bigger cause” (i.e. Black Lives Matter). He told them he would chat with Christmas and for them to throw him under the bus with their campaigning.
- Christmas/Tyler chat. She’s reluctant and doesn’t want him to go, but she tells him to sleep on it. Christmas wins the POV.
- Tyler goes into the Diary Room and is reminded that he can’t tell people to vote him out since it’s against the rules.
- Da’Vonne creates a girls’ alliance with Christmas, Nicole, and Daniele. Da’Vonne/Christmas chat separately to dispel Christmas’s fears of Bayleigh hating her. Da’Vonne mentions that Bayleigh isn’t mad at Christmas, she’s madder at Tyler and wants him out due to being nominated and their history from Big Brother 20.
- Christmas tells Tyler that Bayleigh is mad at him and that Bayleigh/Da’Vonne campaigned to get him nominated. Tyler is upset hearing the pair previously talked about getting him nominated/Bayleigh not trusting Tyler – he changes his mind about leaving. Christmas agrees because she didn’t want him to go anyway; she tells him she won’t be using the POV.
- Tyler lies to Bayleigh/Da’Vonne that he doesn’t know if Christmas will use the POV. He helps Bayleigh with her POV speech; including the reasons why she’s mad at Tyler. Bayleigh and Da’Vonne’s hopes are still high throughout the day/since the previous day.
- Christmas doesn’t use the POV. Post-POV, Tyler makes light-hearted jokes and continues to throw Bayleigh/Da’Vonne under the bus.
- An argument breaks out because Christmas acts like the victim and expects Bayleigh/Da’Vonne to not be upset they’re nominated. Bayleigh feels betrayed because she was close with Christmas and she shared personal game information that was used against her. Christmas gets heated and yells while Bayleigh and Da’Vonne try to calm her down in a respectful manner, leading to Da’Vonne getting upset.
Firstly, I do believe Tyler wanted to quit the game; his lack of interest was evident throughout the season. The problem here, however, is that he used BLM (he didn’t say the name, but he referenced the movement) as one of the reasons why he wanted to keep Bayleigh/Da’Vonne in the house. Based on how quickly he changed his tune, it’s evident that reason wasn’t a driving force for him and it was merely a performative reason to further justify him quitting.
Let’s be clear: his main reason to quit was that he wanted to go home to be with Angela, his Big Brother 20 romance. Tyler shouldn’t have used BLM and gotten Bayleigh’s/Da’Vonne’s hopes up if he wasn’t serious about his motivation. Also, he didn’t need to keep lying or throwing them under the bus after he found out he was staying; Tyler could’ve done anything (like a push for a different nominee) if he truly wanted to help Bayleigh and Da’Vonne. It’s a bad and disingenuous look from him overall.
And secondly, someone needs to teach Christmas to recognize and fix her microaggressions. Telling her alliance that she’s afraid Bayleigh will “shoot her” after being nominated, that she needs to be protected because they’ll blow-up on her, that Bayleigh will cut her/stab her with a fork, and that she’ll lock her HOH door at night are troubling signs rooted in a systematic issue. (Also, her clapping at Da’Vonne and Bayleigh while yelling wasn’t a good look either!) Christmas, as well as her alliance, needs to take a hard look at themselves because their behaviors keep promoting a negative trend. When an entire majority alliance/house bands together and sees the 4-5 BIPOC houseguests as the only feasible options for evictions/nominations, that should be the biggest telling sign that something isn’t right.
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Now, onto the big question at hand: was it a smart or right move for Christmas to nominate Bayleigh and Da’Vonne? A little yes, but mostly no. Yes because it’s no secret that Bayleigh and Da’Vonne were never going to nominate each other; both were allies and had strong social games, so they were eventual threats. However, it’s a resounding “No” because of the main fact that neither Bayleigh nor Da’Vonne was targeting Christmas. Bayleigh mentioned multiple times that she thought she was working with Christmas; Da’Vonne even trusted Christmas.
Why waste a pre-jury HOH on someone who could work with you and you might get their jury vote? This isn’t a situation like Tyler/Cody/Enzo considering backdooring Daniele (and vice versa) because there have been instances of being shady and plotting backdoors. Christmas had no reason to burn her bridges with Bayleigh and Da’Vonne when it didn’t help her – it worked in the reverse and made Christmas a bigger target to evict, even within her own alliance.
Bayleigh getting the boot wasn’t surprising based on the numbers in the house. Many of the people still left had a better relationship with Da’Vonne, while Bayleigh had formed connections with the other side before their evictions (i.e. Janelle, Kaysar, etc.). The house also viewed Bayleigh as the wildcard in the pair, so keeping Da’Vonne would allow for more planning and relationship-building. Plus, Bayleigh was happy to leave the game and ensure Da’Vonne stuck around. It’s a shame that Bayleigh left because she did have one of the best social games and could’ve taken it all the way, but there were certain factors that she couldn’t predict or expect (i.e. Christmas’s betrayal).
The BB Basement competition was the most exciting challenge of the week (both the HOH and the POV competitions were dull). Searching a dark room puts everyone on an even playing field, so you never know who will win. Case in point: David winning one of the three powers. Christmas and Daniele will obviously use their power to protect an ally or advance their position, but David is a wildcard that could do anything. No one is expecting much from David, so whenever he does use his power, it will no doubt throw everyone off!
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Week 5 of Big Brother: All-Stars erupted in utter chaos after a troubling series of events impacted the house. Players made terrible moves and some acted/said worse things about their fellow players. The majority alliance continued their dominance, so that kept the expectations low of seeing a major shift happen, but the drama came out in full force for the first time all season. Now that the houseguests have reached the jury, they better start making moves because they don’t have any time to waste with the weeks trickling down.
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