The reality TV evolution of Janelle Pierzina

We first met Janelle Pierzina when the blond bombshell entered the Big Brother house at age 25 as a VIP cocktail waitress from Miami Beach Florida. Her ability to survive and do well at competitions helped her make a name for herself and a Big Brother star was born.

Janelle was born on January 10, 1980 in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. She married Jess DeSanto in 2010 and they now have three children, two daughters (Violet and Stella) and one son (Lincoln).

Back in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Janelle is now a thriving real estate agent at Edina Realty in Apple Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Big Brother 6

On Big Brother 6, Janelle entered the house with 13 other contestants who were assigned secret partners and former roommate Ashlea Evans was hers. Janelle would go on to finish in third place, being evicted on Day 76 on a season that saw two women in the Final 2, winner Maggie Ausburn and Ivette Cordero.

In her 76 days, Janelle won two Head of Households (Week 7, Week 10), two Power of Vetoes (Week 7, Week 9), and was nominated six times (Week 2, Week 4, Week 6, Week 8, Week 9, Week 11) and was a member of the Jury.

Jedi Janie was a member of the Sovereign Six Alliance with Ashlea, Howie Gordon, Kaysar Ridha, Rachel Plencner, and Michael Donnela and won a PB&J Pass, a subscription to Netflix, and a trip to the Bahamas. But her BB career was just beginning.

Big Brother 7: All-Stars

Janelle returned to Studio City the following year (2006) for Big Brother 7: All-Stars, and again she had a fabulous run through the season, but again she finished in third place in a season that saw the dynamic duo of Will Kirby (Dr. Will) and Mike Malin (Mike Boogie) return and again dominate the game with Mike winning this time around after Will won on Season 2.

Very popular with the fans, Janelle won the America’s Choice player that season and $25,000.

She lasted 67 days this time and had moved back to Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and was chosen by the public to return for the first-ever All-Stars season. During BB6, Janelle won every single America’s Choice award and was again on the Jury to help decide the winner.

Janelle won four Head of Households (Week 1, Week 4, Week 6, Week 8), five Power of Vetoes (Week 1, Week 5, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9), and was nominated five times (Week 5, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10). She was also named Big Brother Prom Queen.

Big Brother 14

Janelle came into Big Brother 14 as one of the four coaches—who would ultimately enter the game—along with Mike Boogie, Britney Haynes, and Dan Gheesling. She entered the game on Day 27 and was the first coach and fifth houseguest out (Day 34, 12th place) with Willie Hantz being expelled on Day 14.

By then, 32-year-old Janelle had moved to Lakeville, Minnesota. She won no HoHs or PoVs that season but did notch two Coach Wins (Week 2, Week 3). She was nominated just once (Week 4), the week she was voted out. 

Big Brother 22: All-Stars

Janelle returned for a second season of All-Stars on Big Brother 22 and was again evicted early on in the game on Day 23. But she set a record of being the first American houseguest to play in four seasons—Nicole Franzel recently tied this mark—and is just one BB appearance away from tying the world record of five, held by six different players in Portugal.

At age 40 in 2020, she called Minneapolis home and was into her current career as a real estate agent. Again she has zero HoH or PoV wins and just one nomination, again the week she got the boot. She finished in 14th place, her worst finish.

When all was said and done over her four seasons, Janelle spent 200 days in the Big Brother house, the 43rd most in the show’s international history. Nicole holds the US record with 261 days (#14 on the world list).

The Amazing Race 31

Janelle teamed up with Britney Haynes (Big Brother 12, Big Brother 14, Big Brother 20) to compete on another CBS reality competition show, The Amazing Race 31.

The two finished in eighth place, completed six legs with an average position of 6th place and visited six countries. Janelle had five Roadblocks (Britney had two).

Snake in the Grass 

Janelle appeared on the USA Network reality TV show called Snake in the Grass in 2022 with fellow Big Brother icon Rachel Reilly as a teammate along with Survivor players Cirie Fields and Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick.

Rachel, Cirie, and Janelle were all co-winners of the show, identifying Stephenie as “The Snake,” and split the $100,00 prize. The show only lasted one season.

The Traitors season 2

Janelle joined Big Brother 10 winner Dan Gheesling on The Traitors season 2 which airs on the Peacock streaming service, and the 43-year-old Faithful—who had then moved to her current residence of Lakeville, Minnesota—was banished on Episode 5.

One of the original two Traitors with Phaedra Parks (The Real Housewives of Atlanta), Dan was smoked out by the remaining Faithfuls and banished on Episode 6.

Awards and Honors

Janelle has a number of Big Brother distinctions including winning those four HoHs in one season (Big Brother 7)—tied for the American record with a number of other players—and those five aforementioned PoVs tied for third most in US show history (Jab Bains from Big Brother 25 had seven and Michael Bruner from Big Brother 24 had six).

She was also the first-ever America’s Favorite winner, the first woman to be on the Jury two times and the first contestant to ever reach 200 days spent in the house.

Janelle was also nominated in the Favorite Hottie category at the Fox Reality Awards in 2006 and BuddyTV named her as the biggest “winner” on Big Brother with 12.5 PoV and HoH wins in her first two seasons on the hit show.

She was also named VH1’s Big Reality Star of ‘06 at the VH1 Big Awards in 2006.

Janelle has appeared on a number of TV shows through the years including Friends (2001), Charmed (2002), Son of the Beach (2002), Las Vegas (2004),Two and a Half Men (2005), and Nautical Angels (2006) and has made guest appearances on Big Brother (Big Brother 8, Big Brother 10, Big Brother 11) as well as on Big Brother Canada.