Breakout Big Brother stars of the 2010s: Big Brother 15
By Tim Gross
With the 2010s soon to be in the rearview mirror, we decided to look back at Big Brother seasons of the past decade. Over the next several days, we will look at the most notable breakout player from each season (in our opinion) this decade. This will mean Big Brother 12 to Big Brother 21 with Over the Top and Celebrity versions included.
With the 2010s soon to be in the rearview mirror, we decided to look back at Big Brother seasons of the past decade. Over the next several days, we will look at the most notable breakout player from each season (in our opinion) this decade. This will mean Big Brother 12 to Big Brother 21 with Over the Top and Celebrity versions included.
Next up, we will be examining the breakout star of Big Brother 15. I wish this season didn’t exist. It is just so hard to stomach with all the racism and bigotry controversy in this season. It is easily one of the worst seasons in Big Brother history. Unfortunately, it does and as a result we have to pick someone as the breakout star of this season. Amanda Zuckerman was the breakout star of Big Brother 15 in our opinion.
Big Brother 15’s breakout star: Amanda Zuckerman
Often at the center of controversy and arguments, Amanda made a splash as one of the most notorious villains in Big Brother history this season. She was one of the most dominant players of the season until her eviction in week 10.
For the first 6 weeks of Big Brother 15, there was an M.V.P. twist. This allowed viewers to vote for who they felt was playing the best game each week. The M.V.P. would make a 3rd nomination. It was up to the M.V.P. whether to let people know if they had the power or not.
Amanda was able to remain safe during the first 4 weeks of the game. During the first 3 weeks, Elissa Slater was named M.V.P. as she was related to former houseguest Rachel Reilly. This gave her a significant advantage in the votes as she had both Rachel and her husband, Brendon Villegas’ fans voting for her. Amanda saw this as an opportunity to weaponize Elissa and control the M.V.P.’s nomination.
In week 1, Amanda and her alliance used Elissa’s M.V.P. power to evict David Girton. During this time, she formed a close bond with McCrae Olson, which soon would turn romantic. In week 2, they were able to backdoor Nick Uhas. In week 3, Spencer Clawson was nominated with the M.V.P. power, but the real target was Jeremy McGuire. Jeremy was successfully backdoored after Kaitlin Barnaby won POV to save herself.
From week 4 until week 6 when the twist dissolved, America was named the M.V.P. The M.V.P. vote didn’t affect Amanda as she was able to successfully get Kaitlin evicted.
In week 5, HOH Aaryn Gries nominated Howard Overby and Spencer for eviction, with the intention of evicting Howard as Amanda planned. However, America selected Amanda as the 3rd nominee that week. Spencer won the POV to save himself that week and Candice Stewart was named the replacement nominee. Howard was evicted 7-1-0 over Candice and Amanda. Amanda didn’t receive a vote against her.
Week 6 was a double eviction. In the front end of the double eviction, GInaMarie Zimmerman won HOH. She nominated Candice alongside Jessie Kowalski for eviction. For the 2nd straight week, America voted for Amanda to be the 3rd nominee. Unaware that America was the M.V.P, Amanda began suspecting Judd was nominating her and began telling people of her suspicions. Jessie won the POV to save herself that week and Spencer was named the replacement nominee.
During the POV competition, Amanda overheard Candice telling Judd that Amanda suspected Judd of nominating her as M.V.P. This led to a big argument between Amanda and Candice. Sensing an opportunity to take Amanda out, Candice and Jessie teamed up to try and sway votes against Amanda. Helen Kim and Elissa were initially on board but backed out. At the live eviction, Candice was evicted 7-0-0.
On the back end of week 6’s double eviction, Amanda was able to successfully convince HOH Helen to backdoor Judd. Judd was evicted 7-0.
In week 7, Amanda formed an alliance with Andy Herren, Aaryn, and McCrae. Their first target was Jessie. In a bid to save herself, Jessie spilled the beans to Amanda that Helen and Elissa had been part of the plan to evict her the previous week. Andy also confirmed that Helen had campaigned against Amanda, making Helen a huge target. However, this failed to save Jessie as she was evicted in a 6-0 vote.
In week 8, Aaryn won HOH and nominated Elissa and Helen. Elissa won the POV to save herself that week. After the POV Competition, Aaryn and Amanda got into a big argument over something that happened in week 1. As a result, Aaryn considered backdooring Amanda. At the POV ceremony, Aaryn stuck with her alliance and nominated Spencer instead. Amanda was able to get Helen evicted in a 4-1 vote.
In week 9, Judd re-entered the game after defeating Candice, Jessie, and Helen in a competition. Elissa won HOH and nominated McCrae and Aaryn for eviction. Realizing that Amanda was controlling the game, Elissa teamed up with Judd, Aaryn, and GinaMarie to backdoor Amanda. Elissa’s plan backfired when Amanda won the POV that week and used it to save McCrae. Andy was nominated in McCrae’s place and Aaryn was evicted 5-0.
In week 10, GinaMarie won HOH. Amanda tried to pressure GinaMarie into nominating Elissa and Judd. However, Amanda was in for a shock when GinaMarie nominated her alongside McCrae for eviction. McCrae won the POV that week and Spencer was named the replacement nominee.
Unbeknownst to Amanda, Andy had begun working with GinaMarie, Spencer, and Judd. So, Amanda thought she only needed one vote to stay. She was able to successfully flip Elissa’s vote as Elissa realized she’d be the next biggest threat with Amanda gone. However, at the live eviction, Andy betrayed Amanda and the vote came back 2-2. As HOH, GinaMarie broke the tie and voted to evict Amanda, making Amanda the 5th member of the jury. On finale night, Amanda voted for Andy to win Big Brother 15 despite his betrayal.
The pickings for Big Brother 15’s breakout star were pretty slim. While controversial, nobody had a bigger hand in Big Brother 15 than Amanda did. It is very unfortunate her game was surrounded by so much controversy. I think because of the controversy, everyone forgets just how good she was at the game. However, we haven’t forgotten and she gets the nod as Big Brother 15’s breakout star.
Who is your breakout star of Big Brother 15? Let us know in the comments!