Big Brother 2 (American season)

Big Brother 2 is the second season of the American reality television series Big Brother. It is based upon the Dutch series of the same name, which gained notoriety in 1999 and 2000. The season premiered on CBS on July 5, 2001. The HouseGuests entered the house on June 30 with the series lasting 82 days. The season concluded on September 20, 2001, with Dr. Will Kirby being crowned the winner, and Nicole Nilson Schaffrich the runner-up.

The series revolved around twelve strangers living in a house together with no communication with the outside world. They were constantly filmed during their time in the house and were not permitted to communicate with those filming them. Unlike the first season, the format of the series was revamped to emphasize the competition – with HouseGuests now competing in competitions for power before voting each other out of the house. One HouseGuest, known as the Head of Household, had the task of nominating two of their fellow HouseGuests for eviction. The HouseGuests then voted to evict one of the nominees, with the HouseGuest who received the most votes being evicted from the house. When only two HouseGuests remained, the previously evicted HouseGuests would decide which of them would win the $500,000 grand prize.

Format Big Brother is a game show in which a group of contestants, referred to as HouseGuests, lived in a custom built "house", constantly under video surveillance. While in the house, the contestants were completely isolated from the outside world, meaning no phone, television, internet, magazines, newspaper, or contact with those not in the house. This rule could be broken, however, in the event of a family emergency or death. At the start of each week in the house, the HouseGuests would compete for the title of Head of Household. The Head of Household for each week would have luxuries such as their own personal bedroom and free laundry service, but was responsible for nominating two HouseGuests for eviction. The Head of Household would not be able to compete in the following week's Head of Household competition, meaning that a HouseGuest could not hold the title for two weeks in a row. All HouseGuests excluding the Head of Household and nominees later vote to determine which of the two nominees should be evicted, and the nominated HouseGuest who received the most votes was evicted during a live episode. If there is a tie in the voting, the reigning Head of Household is required to make the tie-breaker decision. Unlike other versions of Big Brother, the HouseGuests may discuss the nomination and eviction process openly and freely. When only two HouseGuests remained, the previously evicted HouseGuests returned to decide which of the two should win the game.

The HouseGuests also competed in food competitions, in which the losers were required to solely eat peanut butter and jelly for the rest of the week; this twist would later be known as "Have-Not" in future seasons. The HouseGuests also participated in weekly luxury competitions, in which those competing could win prizes. The players were competing for a $500,000 prize, though the Runner-up would receive a $50,000 prize. The format of the series was mainly seen as a social experiment, and required HouseGuests to interact with others who may have differing ideals, beliefs, and prejudices. HouseGuests were also required to make visits to the Diary Room during their stay in the house, where they were able to share their thoughts and feelings on their fellow HouseGuests and the game. While in the house, the HouseGuests are given no information from the outside world. This includes the families and loved ones of the HouseGuests, whom they are not permitted to see or speak to. The house featured no telephones, televisions, or reading material other than for religious use. HouseGuests could voluntarily leave the house at any time, however, would not be able to return. In addition, a HouseGuest could be removed from the house at any time for breaking the rules; removal from the house meant the HouseGuest would not be eligible to return to the house or appear at the finale (which also include voting as a member of the Jury).

HouseGuests

Name Age Occupation Residence Result 28 Physician Tallahassee, Florida WinnerDay 82 31 Personal chef Atlanta, Georgia Day 82 40 Candy store manager Bedford-Stuyvesant, New York 31 Bouncer York, Pennsylvania 37 Technical writer Harrisburg, North Carolina 28 Waitress Opelousas, Louisiana 46 Mortgage Broker Powell, Tennessee 30 Bar owner Los Angeles, California 29 Realtor San Antonio, Texas 28 Aspiring singer Irving, Texas 43 Interior Designer Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 26 Investment Operations Associate Bayonne, New Jersey ExpelledDay 10

Future appearances Mike Malin and Will Kirby returned for Big Brother: All Stars. Bunky Miller and Monica Bailey were also candidates for Big Brother: All Stars, but were not chosen to compete. Nicole Schaffrich made an appearance on Big Brother: All Stars to host a few competitions. Mike Malin also returned for Big Brother 10 to host a food competition along with other Big Brother alumni, before returning for Big Brother 14, where he competed as a coach. In 2013, Kirby moderated the Big Brother 15 jury roundtable segment, a role he would continue to assume annually (excluding Big Brother: All Stars & Big Brother 23 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), until his last appearance during Big Brother 25.

In 2005, Mike Malin and Will Kirby competed on the Bravo reality competition show Battle of the Network Reality Stars. In 2025, Kirby competed on the NBC reality competition show, Deal or No Deal Island.

Summary On Day 1, the original twelve HouseGuests entered the house. Nicole quickly came off as too strong to her fellow HouseGuests, while Bunky opted not to reveal his sexuality to his housemates. Following the introductions, the HouseGuests competed in their first food competition, "All Stuffed Up". For this competition, they took bags of groceries and attempted to fit them inside a 2002 Buick Rendezvous; they won if they fit all of the groceries plus all of the HouseGuests inside of the car for sixty seconds. The group won the challenge and then learned that the last HouseGuest remaining in the car would keep it. The game came down to Autumn and Kent, with Kent winning.http://www.starpulse.com/Television/Big_Brother_2-spb4825087/Episode_Guides/episode/4936459/ On Day 2, the HouseGuests competed in the "Wheel of First Impressions" Head of Household competition. They spun a wheel that landed on two adjectives, with the HouseGuest who spun choosing the two HouseGuests they felt the adjectives best described. The HouseGuests not selected would then vote between the two selected HouseGuests as to who should become the new Head of Household. The HouseGuest with the fewest votes was eliminated, with this process continuing until only Mike and Sheryl remained. The HouseGuests then voted for which of the two should become the Head of Household, with Mike being the winner. With Mike now in power, Kent attempted to form an alliance between himself, Mike, Justin, Bunky, and Will. Meanwhile, roommates Mike, Will, and Shannon began to form a close bond and later began referring to themselves as Chilltown. Bunky first revealed that he was gay to Autumn and slowly began revealing this information to the other women in the house. Despite his worries that conservative Kent would be upset, all of the HouseGuests came to accept Bunky. Later that week, the HouseGuests competed in the "Dirty Dozen" luxury competition. Mike, as Head of Household, entered an inflatable pool of mud and searched to find a key with the name of a HouseGuest on it; that person then entered the pool and searched for keys as well. If the group found all twelve of the keys within six minutes, they would earn the hot tub; they were successful.http://www.starpulse.com/Television/Big_Brother_2-spb4825087/Episode_Guides/episode/4927425/

With nominations looming, Mike debated nominating HouseGuests such as Autumn, Kent, and Nicole, seeing them as the most annoying in the group. He later got the idea of nominating a disliked HouseGuest against a well-liked HouseGuest, seemingly ensuring the eviction of the disliked HouseGuest. On Day 6, Mike nominated Nicole and Sheryl for eviction, with Nicole being his target. Shannon and Will began to form a romantic relationship in the house, despite Shannon having a boyfriend. Justin and Krista also became closer, forming a more flirtatious relationship. The HouseGuests formed a dislike towards the Chilltown group, feeling that they were stand-offish and immature. This led to the formation of the Hot Box alliance, named after the heat of the bedroom they slept in, which consisted of Autumn, Bunky, Hardy, Krista, Kent, Monica, and Nicole. The group formed a plan to keep Nicole in the game as a way to weaken the Chilltown alliance. The HouseGuests competed in the "Birds Eye View" luxury competition. For this competition, they had to spell out a word using their bodies, and Head of Household Mike was required to figure out the word; if Mike guessed correctly, they would win the food they spelled. The group was successful. On Day 10, Justin was expelled from the house after an incident with Krista. While making out with an intoxicated Krista, Justin jokingly swung a sweeper at her head and held a knife to her neck. While holding the knife to her neck, he asked her, "Would you get mad if I killed you?" before removing the knife. This incident followed a series of rule-breaking from Justin, and after consulting with the show's psychologist it was decided that he should be expelled. Despite Justin's departure, the scheduled eviction continued. On Day 12, Sheryl became the first HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a vote of five to three.

Sheryl's eviction came as a shock to the Chilltown group, who had believed that Nicole would be evicted. Following this, the "To the Mat" Head of Household competition was held in the backyard. HouseGuests were asked questions regarding their housemates and answered each question by either stepping off of their individual mat or staying in place; each player was blind-folded and could not see how the others answered. Krista was the winner. Krista asked each HouseGuest individually who should be nominated for eviction, with the majority selecting Shannon and Will. Despite this, Krista didn't see Will as a threat and instead felt that Autumn should be evicted as she often complained about life in the house. On Day 13, the group played in the "Pound of Flesh" food competition. The HouseGuests competed as guys against girls and wrote down the weight they believed they were. The group later weighed themselves in the backyard, and the group with the least difference between their guessed weight and actual weight earned food for the week; the guys won, placing the girls on the peanut butter and jelly diet for the week. On Day 14, Krista shocked the house when she nominated Autumn and Kent for eviction, hoping to see Autumn leave. Krista and Monica, who began to form a strong friendship, formed the Untouchables alliance with Hardy. On Day 15, the HouseGuests competed in the "Ride the Bull" luxury competition. The HouseGuests again competed as men against women and attempted to ride a mechanical bull for a set amount of time; the winning team would earn the ingredients to make a barbecue dinner that night. The women won. On Day 16, it was revealed that the America's Vote for the week determined whether Mike or Krista, who both had birthdays that week, would earn a video message from home and a dinner for two; Krista was selected by the viewers to win the prize and chose to enjoy the dinner with Mike. The house later decided as a group that Autumn should be evicted and return home to her child. On Day 19, Autumn became the second HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a vote of seven to zero.