4 Houseguests who worked in bars in Los Angeles who fared very well on Big Brother

Throughout the 26 seasons of Big Brother, Houseguests who have worked at or owned bars in Los Angeles have fared very well with three of them actually winning their seasons.

Who knows if the nature of working in such an environment helped these players get so far and do so well or if the fact they lived and worked in the Los Angeles metropolitan area—the site of the Big Brother house—made them better Houseguests.

Whatever it was, it worked. We already looked at how well many Big Brother contestants who were waitresses fared in the game, so let’s look at a bartender, a bar manager, and two bar owners who all made it to the Final 2.

Other players like Rubina Bernabe (BB26, Event bartender), Reilly Smedley (BB25, bartender), Kaitlin Barnaby (BB15, bartender), JoJo Spatafora (BB14, bartender), Annie Whittington (BB12, bartender), Jen Diturno (BB9, bartender), Amanda Craig (BB4, bartender), and Justin Sebek (BB2, bartender)—the first US player expelled—also were bartenders when they all made the show.

Lisa Donahue, winner Season 3

Lisa Donahue is the only bartender to have won Big Brother, doing so on Big Brother 3 when the Los Angeles resident beat runner-up Danielle Reyes in a 9-1 vote in a house with 12 players In 2002. Jason Guy was the lone vote for Danielle.

The Princess of Darkness lasted all 82 days and won two Head of Households (Weeks 4 and 10) and won Veto (Week 5). She was nominated twice for eviction (Weeks 4 and 10). Lisa was 26 when she entered the Big Brother house and is now 48. She won $500,000 for winning the season.

Mike “Boogie” Malin, winner Season 7 (All-Stars)

Mike “Boogie” Malin is the only bar owner who has ever won Big Brother, capturing Big Brother 7: All-Stars in his second time playing the game. We were introduced to Mike Boogie and Dr. Will Kirby and their Chilltown alliance in Big Brother 2, where Dr. Will was the winner of the most entertaining season to date with Boogie being evicted on Day 33 and finishing in eighth place.

He returned again for Season 7 where Dr. Will helped him last all 72 days and win the $500,000, also taking home an additional $10,000, a plasma TV, a trip to Aruba, and a Pontiac Solstice.

Mike would return for another season of All-Stars (Big Brother 14) where he began the game as the coach of Team Boogie but entered the game where he was evicted in tenth place on Day 48. Boogie won an additional $16,000 in his last season. He was 30 when he first played Big Brother and is now 54.

Evel Dick Donato, winner Season 8

One of the best, funniest, and most controversial players on Big Brother was “Evel Dick” Donato, who won Season 8 ($500,000) with his daughter Daniele finishing as the runner-up ($50,000). When he finally made the cut and entered the house at age 44, he was a bar manager in Los Angeles.

ED has played Big Brother two times (BB13: All-Stars) and never been evicted and is the oldest US player to ever win Big Brother. He has one of, if not the best Big Brother podcast-streams with his tri-weekly (when the show is on) Dick At Nite.

Dick, now 61, finally got sick of the silliness of living in the state of Florida and moved to Ireland this summer with his cats. The last season of Big Brother that Evel Dick really liked was Big Brother Greece 404 B.C. when Plato beat teacher Socrates by a 7-2 vote.

Memphis Garrett, runner-up, Season 10

Robert “Memphis” Garrett was a 25-year-old mixologist in Los Angeles when he entered the house in Big Brother 10, and he and Dan Gheesling formed The Renegades alliance and cruised through the house with Dan winning by a unanimous vote and Memphis becoming the first Final 2 member to ever get 0 Jury votes. He did win $50,000 though as runner-up and a mint condition 1969 Chevrolet Camaro.

Memphis eventually became a bar owner and returned to play on Big Brother 22 and lasted 72 days where he finished in fifth place. He also married another Big Brother alum, Christmas Abbott, but the two are now divorced.

Memphis is now 41 and a restaurateur—the CEO of Garrett Hospitality Group—and started a fitness kick living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He has a 9-year-old son named River whom he shares time with his ex-wife Ashley Zuppas.