Fanboys Anonymous

#BB16 - Big Brother 16 Logo

The 16th season of Big Brother is about to begin on June 25, 2014, and the cast has finally been announced.

There are 16 people this time around, and as expected, most of the stereotypes can be checked off. Even though Big Brother tends to cast generic archetypes, each individual person is different from everyone else who has been a part of the show in the past seasons, so you never know what you're in store for.

On top of this, there are more twists to the game itself. So what is going down this summer? Let's take a look!

• The house will be divided into two teams of eight.
• Both teams will have a Head of Household that will nominate two people on their team.
• The four nominees will compete in a new challenge called "Battle of the Block" where the victorious team will be safe from nominations along with their HoH.
• The winning HoH, the two former nominees, and three others selected by random will fight for the Power of Veto.
• Everyone except those three people are eligible for nomination, including the opposing team's HoH.

This seems so complicated and confusing right now, as though CBS is just tossing out extra rules for the sake of boredom. I'm not all too thrilled about the gimmick this time around.


Let's take a look at the people. Keep in mind that my first impressions are based on virtually nothing and usually change throughout the season. Many times, the way these people come off in their interviews and on the first few episodes is nothing like the people they are for the remainder of the game, so don't hold me to these generalizations! For all I know, the people I run down could be the nicest, and the ones I praise could be total assholes.

Amber Borzotra

OCCUPATION: Esthetician / Model

INFO / PREDICTION: Amber is super cute and very likable. She'll make a lot of friends and, in the process, make a lot of enemies. She doesn't seem to have that much of a strategy outside of creating an alliance with the girls, who could easily become jealous of her down the line and backstab her. Not only did she say in her interview that she's afraid she'll be too nice and that she's not that great of a liar, but she also chose that she'd rather be loved and lose than be hated and win. That mentality does not go far in the game. If she truly hates creating enemies like it seems and her only motivational pep talk for herself is the standardized "you might underestimate me by my looks" response, she'll be spending most of her time missing her big family and being upset over the emotional aspects of the game rather than playing to win. Calling yourself strong is not actually being strong, and most of the time, it's overcompensation. Amber risks making the mistake of trying too hard at the beginning to be likable and a competitor, causing people to view her as one of the opening threats and knock her out. Her kindness and inability to lie will kill her game unless she's so horrible at the challenges that people keep her around.

Brittany Martinez

OCCUPATION: Event Coordinator

INFO / PREDICTION: Judging by her picture, I expected her to be the airhead of this season, since she's clearly very attractive. She doesn't quite seem to be that, which is good for her. Brittany is a mother of 3 kids, which will most likely mean that she'll have more patience than others in the house. That, combined with her stamina at 29, should be a challenge to compete against. She also chose that she would rather be hated and win because there are always going to be people that hate you no matter what, which is a winning philosophy in my mind. One big negative is that she's not a fan of Big Brother from past seasons, so she may not be familiar with some typical moves that happen within the game. Not being a fan of Big Brother in the past doesn't necessarily mean that you're guaranteed to be screwed, but it definitely doesn't help at all. Brittany has a chance to make it far if she plays down her strengths and aligns herself with the right people who don't screw her over. She could be someone to watch out for as a finalist, but the pessimistic side of me thinks she'll get knocked out around the 3/4 double eviction point.

Caleb Reynolds

OCCUPATION: Adventure Hunting Guide

INFO / PREDICTION: His strategy is the "Bobber Hook & Sinker Effect," which translates to a plan of manipulating someone who will do the dirty work for him. He's going in with an open mind and no real attachments; he's here for the money and wants to win. I like him. I think he's a little arrogant, which could get in the way down the line with ego problems, but manipulative ones are usually the ones that I root for, and if they play their cards right, they can win. He doesn't seem to have hangups that are going to get in the way, and he seems to be in good shape. His job experience is weird and could be advantageous. I'm expecting him to be a possible winner, which probably means that I'll be disappointed and he'll get eliminated #2 or #3.


Christine Brecht

OCCUPATION: Barista

INFO / PREDICTION: She's a superfan and a dork and silly. Christine is going to be emotional about her husband (and even sounded choked up while saying that). She's trying to play the nice card while also being manipulative and seems a little cocky about her intelligence. She's very, very confident and enthusiastic, which is good, but who knows if that will pay off. I'm expecting her to make it to the midway point before she's removed at a week when someone turns their back on her. The team concept is going to either screw her or save her. She will either be an oddball that they knock out because she's an outcast or she'll be grouped with the right mix that she can play the puppeteer for.




Cody Calafiore

OCCUPATION: Sales Account Executive

INFO / PREDICTION: His salesmanship skills and attractiveness will help him with his social game. However, being too competitive will bite him in the ass and he'll get into arguments because of it, making enemies and turning friends into people willing to turn on him. Cody will be an IMMEDIATE target for his intimidating appearance. He also wants to win the first HOH, which won't help that whatsoever. The girls will want to knock him out because they always target the strong guys, and the other men will want to knock him out because they'll think he's their only threat. Cody can easily be the first person eliminated. If he isn't, I'll be shocked. Out of everyone on this list, he's the one person I would be confident in saying will not have a shot at winning.

Derrick Levasseur

OCCUPATION: Police Officer

INFO / PREDICTION: Cops are 50/50. The good ones are respectable, honorable people. The bad ones are some of the most despicable people on the planet. Derrick knows this and he has said that he's going to keep that from the houseguests. While he claims that he's been undercover (which will GREATLY help in this regard), it almost never seems to work well when people try to keep secrets. They break down after a few weeks. He has a 17-month-old daughter, which can help be a motivator as well as a means for sympathy. His athleticism will help him—and I'd venture a guess that he will be the person who will view Cody as the big threat and knock him out—but athleticism is not the main thing that wins this game. If you want a random prediction for a timeline of his eviction, I'd venture a guess at week 5.

Devin Shepherd

OCCUPATION: Motorcycle Sales Manager (former pro baseball player)

INFO / PREDICTION: Like the previous two, his athleticism is a huge benefit and a huge burden. He knows this paints a target on him, though. He's kind of bland, but that's very good for him. Bland people might not be the most exciting to watch, but they stick around a long time. If he doesn't intimidate them too much, he can end up slipping by the opening "vote out all the strong guys" barrage and win the game later on. That's an extremely tough thing to do, however, particularly if you look the way that Devin looks. I know if I were in this game, he'd be the first person that I'd look to make an alliance with and the first person that I would turn on in that alliance when given a chance to boot him out. He's too much of a danger to keep around because he could win it all.


Donny Thompson

OCCUPATION: School Groundskeeper

INFO / PREDICTION: The old man this season isn't really obscenely old, and he seems to be in okay shape. That could end up making him an underestimated threat. He knows he's a stingy person, so he'll have trouble with the games where you need to take risks. He also admits that he is a bad liar who can't look people in the eyes. Donny is odd, and that is either going to rub people the wrong way or will wear down their defenses and they'll keep him around for morale's sake. Donny's lasting a long time…a loooong time. Final three is a definite possibility.






Frankie Grande

OCCUPATION: YouTube Personality

INFO / PREDICTION: As a YouTube personality myself, you'd think that I would root for him to an extent. However, anytime someone is over the top and in my face in this game (as well as on YouTube), I tend to get exhausted and not want to bother with them anymore. He is Ariana Grande's brother. Who cares? I'll tell you who—America. Just being associated with her is going to get him so many votes, which is a shame. I really, really hope that he is playing up the flamboyant and SUPER FUN LOLOLZ gimmick right now and that he calms down on the show itself. Telling the houseguests of his famous sister will likely result in an immediate elimination, but if he can get past that, I'd expect him to last until the 3/4 mark.

Hayden Voss

OCCUPATION: Pedicab Driver

INFO / PREDICTION: So this guy is a rehash of "Crazy James," who I thought was beyond annoying. Duuuude he's like sooooo chillll. He fancies himself someone that everyone will like, but that doesn't always work out that way. As I mentioned above, if you're bland, that can be what saves you in this game. Hayden could easily be the type of guy who is the equivalent of background furniture. He'll be the quintessential floater this season. Because of that, there are two possible ways that this will end up for him. Either he will be the expendable person to eliminate on a week when the plans to awry and nobody wants to pull off any bit power moves, or he'll make it to the final stretch and everyone will be wondering how he did it, because he didn't contribute all that much.


Jocasta Odom

OCCUPATION: Minister

INFO / PREDICTION: The way she acts, I never would have assumed she's a minister. She's got a lot of spunk and she's flashy, rather than the reserved mentality that you normally see from people that are heavily rooted in religion. Jocasta doesn't stand out to me as anything particularly special or different in any way whatsoever, but that's in a good way for her game. She's probably not the best with the athletic side of the competitions, but she appears to be well-rounded with the social game to make up for it. She'll be a mid-season eviction when her team is up on the block and there's not all that much going on, so they just need a sacrificial lamb of sorts.


Joey Van Pelt

OCCUPATION: Hairstyle & Makeup Artist

INFO / PREDICTION: As a general rule of thumb, I hate it when people try to be quirky. Thus, Joey is off to a bad start with me. There are so many things that bother me about this type of a person. Women should not have male names (and vice versa, all you guys out there named Janice or Beth) because it isn't cute, it's needlessly confusing. That outfit and that hair? You're trying way too hard, Joey. All of this is a false sense of empowerment. I can't stand anything that has a goal of standing out and boosting someone's self-confidence just by being different—as if that's a compliment in and of itself. Different and better is good. Just different? Ugh. I can 100% see why she's on this show, though. She's a big personality, has a lot of energy, and there will be a buttload of people who are obsessed with her and love her to death. She'll make it far in the game. While I don't have anything specific to dislike about her right now other than judging the book by its cover, she's someone who will have to win me over as opposed to someone who is going in with a better first impression. Who knows, maybe that will happen, right?

Nicole Franzel

OCCUPATION: Nursing Graduate

INFO / PREDICTION: She says that women tend to dislike her. If that happens here, she's done. You can't win this game if you are a woman that the other women hate. At the very least, I can't remember a situation where that's resulted in a victory. Nicole seems rather young and impressionable. She'll be a fantastic person to add into your alliance for numbers purposes as well as a follower that will do what the majority wants. I can't see her making any big moves on her own and shaking up the system. She'll be the object of the affection for a lot of guys, which will keep her around longer in the game than what she'll accomplish on her own. I also think she'll have a few surprise wins up her sleeve in the physical competitions.


Paola Shea

OCCUPATION: DJ

INFO / PREDICTION: I have absolutely no read on Paola. I can't pinpoint anything about her. Part of me thinks she's going to win the whole thing, and part of me thinks she's the second or third person eliminated. She's definitely the most difficult personality to even attempt to crack. Paola could be an enormous threat on the social side of things by being able to befriend both sides of the house (as far as men and women go). In her interview, she says she has the memory of a goldfish, but earlier in it, she remembers what seasons Jeff appeared on when even he was confused, so maybe she's just selling herself short. Funny girl, infectious attitude, nothing offensive about her (so far)…watch out for her this season, everyone.


Victoria Rafaeli

OCCUPATION: Photographer

INFO / PREDICTION: Victoria is going to be the cause of fights, without a doubt. She seems privileged and entitled. Nothing in her strategy of dazzling everyone with her beauty and how amazing she is compared with everyone who is mean to her and has no reason to hate her sounds like an actual plan. She's there to stir trouble, and she'll do just that. Somehow, those people tend to last until at least the midway point in the game. You can blame it on a conspiracy theory with the producers wanting to keep them on board—and there may or may not be some truth to that, by the way—but one way or another, Victoria is going to be a big focal point and she definitely, without a doubt, will not win this game.



Zach Rance

OCCUPATION: Economics Graduate

INFO / PREDICTION: "I will lie, cheat, steal, and KILL for a chance at that money." Good. He's unemployed, which will make people think he's rich. That's bad. He considers himself a con artist and keeps talking himself up. He's easily the most arrogant person in the house, and that cockiness is problematic because it causes tension all the time. This guy plays up the camera more than anyone else, and he'll be fun as hell to watch for someone like me. His favorite player is Mike Boogie, who is in my top five (the other four being Will Kirby, Dan Gheesling, Eric Stein, and Evel Dick Donato).






The first episode hasn't even aired yet and personalities change throughout the entire season, so it's always difficult to know what's going to happen. Still, speculation is fun, and right now, I think this could end up being better than last year. If that's the case, you'll see more posts from me here about it, but at the very least, you can hit me up on Twitter @ToeKneeManGo to get my thoughts on Big Brother 16.

As of right now, I would say my personal favorites are Amber, Caleb, Devin, Paola, and Zach (in alphabetical order); my least favorites are Frankie, Hayden, Joey, and Victoria. The rest I'm indifferent to. When it comes to who I think will win, I could see the final three being Caleb, Paola, and Donny, with the victory going to Paola.