Big Brother 11 is the eleventh season of the American reality television series Big Brother. It is based upon the Netherlands series of the same name, which gained notoriety in 1999 and 2000. The season premiered on CBS on July 9, 2009, and lasted ten weeks until the live finale on September 15, 2009. The eleventh season saw a slight increase in ratings when compared to the past season of the series, which had some of the lowest ratings to date. The season premiered to a total of 6.59 million viewers, a slight increase from the previous season's launch. Despite this, it is the second lowest premiere for a season behind Big Brother 10. The season finale had a total of 7.78 million viewers, continuing to average slightly above the past season. In total, the series averaged 7.19 million viewers, higher than that of the previous two seasons. Big Brother 11 featured a total of 13 HouseGuests, one of which was a returning player from a previous season. The series ended after 73 days, in which HouseGuest Jordan Lloyd was crowned the winner and Natalie Martinez the runner-up.
Format
The format remained largely unchanged from previous seasons. HouseGuests were incarcerated in the Big Brother House with no contact to and from the outside world. Each week, the HouseGuests took part in several compulsory challenges that determined who would win food, luxuries and power in the House. The winner of the Head of Household competition was immune from nominations and was instructed to nominate two fellow HouseGuests for eviction. After a HouseGuest became Head of Household he or she was ineligible to take part in the next Head of Household competition. The winner of the Power of Veto competition won the right to save one of the nominated HouseGuests from eviction. If the Veto winner exercised the power, the Head of Household then had to nominate another HouseGuest for eviction.
On eviction night all HouseGuests except for the Head of Household and the two nominees voted to evict one of the two nominees. Before the voting began the nominees had the chance to say a final message to their fellow HouseGuests. This compulsory vote was conducted in the privacy of the Diary Room by the host Julie Chen. In the event of a tie, the Head of Household would break the tie and reveal their vote in front of the other HouseGuests. Unlike other versions of Big Brother, the HouseGuests could discuss the nomination and eviction process open and freely. The nominee with the most votes from the other HouseGuests was evicted from the House on Thursday and interviewed by Julie Chen. HouseGuests could voluntarily leave the House at any time and those who broke the rules were expelled by Big Brother. The last seven evictees of the season form the Jury that voted for the winner on the season finale, they were known as the jury members. The jury members were sequestered in a separate house and were not allowed to watch the show except for segments that included all of the HouseGuests. The jury members were not shown any Diary Room interviews or any footage that included strategy or details regarding nominations.
In a change from previous seasons, the food competitions were changed to Have vs. Have-Not competitions. HouseGuests were divided into either the "Haves" or the "Have Nots" depending on their performance in the competitions. HouseGuests that became "Have Nots" for the week were only allowed to eat slop and a weekly food restriction, chosen by the viewing public, cold showers and sleeping on metal beds. A new rule was revealed this season, in the event a HouseGuest that would be part of the jury to determine the winner voluntarily leaves the House or is expelled by Big Brother the American public replaced that HouseGuest on the jury and voted for the winner along with the remaining jury members.
HouseGuests
Twelve of the thirteen HouseGuests were revealed during The Early Show on July 1, 2009, by Julie Chen. During the season premiere the Houseguests were split into four cliques and Jessie Godderz was revealed as the final Houseguest during the season premiere on July 9, 2009, after the Athletes clique won the first Head of Household competition.
Name Age on entry Occupation Residence Result 22 Waitress Charlotte, North Carolina WinnerDay 73 24 Taekwondo champion Gilbert, Arizona Day 73 29 Graphic designer Chula Vista, California 27 Neuroscientist Pasadena, California 31 Advertising salesman Norridge, Illinois 24 Mixed martial arts fighter Walnut Creek, California 24 Special effects make-up artist Torrance, California 32 Freelance journalist West Hollywood, California ExpelledDay 42 23 Professional bodybuilder Huntington Beach, California 30 Video game expert Belpre, Ohio 41 Fifth grade teacher St. Petersburg, Florida 21 Bikini model Atlanta, Georgia 28 Surfer Santa Monica, California
Future appearances Jordan Lloyd and Jeff Schroeder competed on The Amazing Race 16, then returned for Big Brother 12 the following year to participate in a Power of Veto competition. They later returned to compete on Big Brother 13 in 2011, then returned on Big Brother 16, in which Jeff proposed to Jordan.
In 2020, Kevin Campbell returned to compete on Big Brother: All-Stars.
In 2024, Jessie Godderz competed on E! Network reality TV series House of Villains.
Summary
On Day 1, twelve HouseGuests entered the house. Following introductions, the HouseGuests learned of the season's twist, in which they would be playing as members of common high-school cliques. Despite this, HouseGuests continued to play the game as individuals and competed in competitions as individuals, were nominated as individuals, and were evicted as individuals. They also learned that if a member of their clique won Head of Household, they could not be nominated for eviction. Upon entering the backyard to compete in their first Head of Household competition, the HouseGuests learned what cliques they were placed in. HouseGuests Jeff, Natalie, and Russell were in the Athletes clique, while Chima, Michele, and Ronnie were in the Brains clique. Casey, Kevin, and Lydia were placed in the Offbeat clique, leaving Braden, Jordan, and Laura in the Popular clique. Following this, HouseGuests competed in "The Wedgie" Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests wore a pair of over-sized underwear and held onto a toilet seat while being suspended by the underwear. The last HouseGuest remaining in the air would earn a fourth member for their clique, with this person becoming the first Head of Household of the season. The four eligible HouseGuests to enter the game were former HouseGuests Michael "Cowboy" Ellis for the Offbeat clique, Jessica Hughbanks for the Popular clique, Brian Hart for the Brains clique, and Jessie Godderz for the Athletes clique. Natalie and Russell were the last two HouseGuests remaining, thus earning immunity and a fourth clique member; Jessie entered the house as their fourth member and became the first Head of Household of the season. Jessie's entrance brought the number of HouseGuests to thirteen. In an attempt to keep himself safe, Ronnie and Jessie formed an alliance between the Brains clique and the Athletes clique. Hoping to hide their alliance, Jessie and Natalie proposed that Ronnie be nominated as a pawn, but he refused.
On Day 4, HouseGuests competed in the "Big Brother Rave" Have-Not competition. For this competition, HouseGuests were required to construct a series of pipes to spell the word "Have" while neon "Rave Juice" flowed through the piping. If done correctly, the pipes would cause the juice to spill onto a wheel and make it spin; the last team to complete the task would be the Have-Nots for the week. The Brains clique lost, meaning Chima, Michele, and Ronnie were the Have-Nots for the week. This greatly upset Chima, who stated on numerous occasions afterwards that she was debating walking from the game. Jessie took an immediate dislike to Laura and hoped to put her up, though his clique members attempted to convince him that Lydia should be evicted that week. Due to Ronnie refusing to be nominated as a pawn, Chima agreed to be the pawn. On Day 5, Jessie nominated Chima and Lydia for eviction, with Lydia his target for eviction. Worried they might not have the votes to keep Chima, Jessie and Russell formed an alliance with Laura in an attempt to get her to evict Lydia. When picking players for the Power of Veto competition, Russell, Natalie, and Jeff were selected to compete for the Power of Veto; Casey was selected to host. On Day 7, HouseGuests competed in the "Pop Goes the Veto!" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, HouseGuests had to pop "pimples" on an over-sized face, with various Scrabble tiles inside them. The HouseGuests would collect tiles and attempt to spell a word with their collected tiles; the HouseGuest with the longest correctly spelled word won the Power of Veto. Russell was the winner of the Power of Veto with “shotgun.” Following the competition, Jeff engaged in numerous arguments with Russell and Natalie, causing a rift in their clique. In an attempt to save herself, Lydia tried to convince Russell and Jessie to backdoor Braden by taking her off the block as a way to hurt Jeff. Russell told Ronnie that this was the plan, with Ronnie telling Braden, Jeff, and Jordan about the plan. On Day 9, Russell used the Power of Veto to remove Lydia from the block, with Braden nominated in her place. Following Braden's nomination, Jordan and Laura began campaigning to get the votes for him to stay and appeared to have themselves, Casey, Jeff, Michele, and Ronnie in agreement; Ronnie, however, was playing both sides and had no intention of keeping Braden in the game. On Day 12, Braden became the first HouseGuest to be evicted from the house when Jessie cast the tie-breaker vote in Chima's favor.