5 women who worked as waitresses who did extremely well on Big Brother

Big Brother history has shown us that contestants who have worked at or run bars (Evel Dick Donato, Memphis Garrett, Mike Boogie Malin, Lisa Donahue), especially waitresses, have fared very well through the 26 seasons as well as on Big Brother: Over The Top.

Granted, most of the women who were waitresses (or hostesses) when they entered the house usually don’t have that same job a year later, but the skills these women learned from being a waitress seem to have helped them an awful lot in the game, especially in the earlier years of our favorite show.

Why? Maybe it’s an ability to deal with a lot of people all at once and do so quickly while keeping a smile on your face, fake or not, while dealing with people of all walks. Or maybe it’s part of the physical nature of being on your feet all shift. Whatever it is, it has really seemed to work.

Notable Big Brother players besides the five we will talk about below also went into the house with jobs as waitresses including Krista Stegall (BB2), Diane Henry (BB5, third place, BB7), Amber Siyavus (BB8), Keesha Smith (BB10, fourth place, BB22), Porsche Briggs (BB13, second place) Jodi Rollins (BB14). Kryyssie Ridolfi (Big Brother: Over The Top, third place), and Leah Peters (BB26).

Peters was the first Houseguest to ever win HoH and PoV in the same week since Big Brother 22 (Nicole Franzel) and the first contestant to be voted out unanimously in the recently wrapped up Season 26, won unanimously (7-0) by Chelsie Banham.

Let’s look at five waitresses who did pretty darn where for themselves playing this game of weekly survival, stuck in a fake house built on a parking lot in Hollywood.

Ivette Cordero

On Big Brother 6, waitress Ivette Corredero finished in second place to her ally Maggie Ausburn, lasting all 80 days in the house and losing on Finale night by a final vote of 4 to 3 in front of 10 million viewers in the third all-women’s Final 2 in the first six seasons.

As a matter of fact, the final four players in the house were all women with another waitress—Janelle Pierzina—and April Lewis finishing in third place and fourth place respectively in 2005.

Ivette, a 25-year-old from Miami, won the $50,000 runner-up prize money along with two Vespa scooters, and was teamed up with secret partner Beau Beasley.

This secret partner theme would have rewarded the show’s winner $1,000,000 and the runner-up $250,000 should both secret partners reach the Final 2 and would have been the biggest prize in Big Brother history.

Ivette was in The Friendship Alliance and won two HoHs (Week 9, Week 11) and one PoV (Week 10). She had a chance to be voted into Big Brother 7: All-Stars in 2006, but didn’t make the final cut. 

Janelle Pierzina

Another Big Brother 6 (VIP cocktail) waitress was Janelle Pierzina, like Ivette, also 25, and also from the Miami area (Miami Beach). Janelle finished in third place on BB6, and her secret partner was Ashlea Evans.

Janelle won two HoHs (Week 7, Week 9), two PoVs (Week 7, Week 10), and was nominated six times. She won a Netflix membership and a trip to the Bahamas, but most importantly, gained a reputation as a great BB player and was asked back three more times.

Returning for Big Brother 7: All-Stars, the BB legend again finished in third place, but won four HoHs (Week 1, Week 4, Week 6, Week 8), five PoVs (Week 1, Week 5, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9), and was nominated five more times. She also won $25,000 for being Fan Favorite. 

So with six HoHs, seven PoVs, and 11 nominations in two seasons, you can see why this former waitress and now real estate agent in Minnesota quickly became a BB icon.

Janelle, now Janelle DeSanto, also returned for Big Brother 14: All Stars and entered the game as one of the four coaches before entering the game on Day 27 as an actual player. She was evicted on Day 34. She also played in Big Brother 22 and was evicted on Day 23, so she did much better in the game when she was a waitress than when she was in real estate.

Janelle also competed on The Traitors 2—with another BB alum, Dan Gheesling—as a Faithful and was banished in Episode 5. 

Daniele Donato

A member of one of the best Big Brother duos ever along with her dad Evel Dick, Daniel Donato entered Big Brother 8 as a 20-year-old waitress and finished as the runner-up—behind her dad—winning $50,000 as the outnumbered teammates navigated their way through one of the most entertaining seasons to date.

Dani had two HoH wins (Week 5, Week 7), and an amazing five PoV wins (Week 1, Week 2, Week 7, Week 9, Week 10), and was nominated four times, so she has a very similar resume and game style like Janelle.

When Dani returned with her dad on Big Brother 13, she finished in eighth place and had two HoH wins (Week 4, Week 6) and lasted 55 days in the duo-themed season. Dani, now Dani Briones, also came back on Big Brother 22, where she finished in seventh place, won one HoH (Week 6), and $5,000.

So when you add it all up, former waitress Dani won five HoHs, five PoVs, won $55,000, and found herself a husband (Dominic Briones) on this wonderful CBS reality show.

Jordan Lloyd

One of two waitresses who actually won a season of Big Brother, Jordan Lloyd, won on her first Big Brother appearance when she won $500,000 on BB11 after capturing two HoHs (Day 43, Week 10) and one PoV (Day 43) and beating runner-up Natalie Martinez by a 5 to 2 vote.

Jordan was 22 when she entered the house and a native of Charlotte, North Carolina and teamed up with Jeff Schroder—her future husband she met on BB11—and the two also competed on Big Brother 13 where Jordan won one HoH (Week 2), Jordan is 37 years old now and hosted Big Brother: Reindeer Games last winter.

Rachel Reilly

The other (cocktail) waitress who won Big Brother was Rachell Reilly, and like Dani and Jordan, Rachel met her husband (Brendon Villegas) on the show, and also like Jordan, formed one of the best pairs of teammates we have ever seen on the hit show.

The two met on Big Brother 12 and returned for Big Brother 13 where Rachel won the $500,000 grand prize, beating runner-up another cocktail waitress—Porsche Briggs—by a 4 to 3 vote. Rachel won four HoHs and two PoVs that memorable season.

Rachel also was on The Amazing Race three times, competed in The Traitors 1, and won the reality TV shows Snake in the Grass (co-winner) and Celebrity Fear Factor.

So as it stands, waitresses have won Big Brother twice, taken second place three times, ended up in third place at least four times, had one all-waitress Final 2, and have brought home over $1 million in prize money among Jordan, Rachel, Dani, and Porsche