‘Big Brother’s 10 Worst Casting Mistakes

Like any reality competition show, Big Brother typically includes a mix of individuals who have auditioned to appear on the show and those who were approached and cast on the show to fit a specific type that producers feel is needed. This often results in competitors who are superfans and know the show in and out and those who have never seen an episode and are just looking to be on television or chasing an opportunity that has come their way.

In both instances, however, there have been casting mistakes. Some individuals who appeared on the show had fans puzzled as to why they were chosen. They may have initially come across as though they would have been great competitors, or at least entertaining for television. One even went on to win the game. But fans could have done without them on their respective seasons.

10

Adam Jasinski

Season 9 (Winner)

While most of the controversy surrounding Adam Jasinski came long after he appeared on and won the show, his game play and personality didn’t sit right with people even while his season was airing. He got into a lot of disagreements, said a lot of unsavory things, and ended up coasting along to the end. Many don’t believe he deserved to win his season.

This belief was solidified when the then public relations manager was charged a year later for possessing thousands of oxycodone pills with the intent to distribute. He admitted to this and using his winnings from the show to fund the operation. He also failed to file a tax return on his winnings. He ended up pleading guilty and going to prison for four years. While he claimed a drug addiction and bipolar disorder, his conduct both on and after the show made him one of the worst casted players ever.

9

Jared Fields

Season 25 (11th Place)

It was a solid theory that having Jared Fields play in the game with his mother, Survivor legend Cirie Fields, would be a great strategy. What made it even more potentially exciting was that no one in the house was privy to the knowledge that they even knew one another outside of the house, much less that they were mother and son. But this backfired terribly when Cirie ended up having to spend her time cleaning up his messes.

Jared was not only a bad casting decision, he was also one of the worst Big Brother players. He focused most of his time on his showmance with Blue Kim instead of actually game playing. Worse than a floater who doesn’t try to play the game is a player who does try but makes all the wrong moves. When he tried to play, he made bad decisions that impacted his personal game, the games of his alliance members, and Cirie’s game. She ended up wasting her time playing mother to him in the house, making fans wish she had the opportunity to play on her own instead.

8

Raven Walton

Season 19 (6th Place)

Raven Walton made it as long as she did on the show mainly because she was aligned with strong competitors who were able to protect her. But she offered nothing to the game and spent most of her time with her showmance partner, Matt Clines. Her bizarre behavior had fans wondering how she was cast in the first place.

She claimed to possess MENSA level intelligence and have a series of strange physical ailments. The most egregious moment, however, came when she suggested she was the puppet master of the game with absolutely no evidence to back this up. Her spot among the cast would have been better served by someone who truly knew and appreciated the game and was actually looking to play it.

7

Aaryn Gries

Season 15 (8th Place)

One of the most controversial players ever in the game on one of the worst seasons of Big Brother, Aaryn Gries rubbed people the wrong way from the get-go, both inside the house and watching at home. Her bullying, racist and homophobic remarks, and mean girl attitude had people sour on her quickly. She was so despised, in fact, that a petition was created to have her expelled. Once she was evicted from the house via votes, the live audience booed her. Host Julie Chen grilled her about some of the things she said, though she claimed to have meant no harm and was unaware of her hurtful words.

The former cheerleader was dropped from her talent agency following the show. Though she won competitions and was actively playing the game, her personality was not a match, showing true colors that fans felt should have been a red flag from the beginning.

6

Justin Sebik

Season 2 (12th Place; Expelled)

Fans questioned the vetting that was done prior to people being cast after Justin Sebik’s antics on the show. He held a knife to a fellow cast member’s neck and threatened others. While he claimed this was all in jest, his actions led to him becoming the first person ever to be expelled from the game. He was also not invited back to participate in the jury and vote for the winner.

Some believe that Justin’s actions are what led to the rationing of alcohol in the house in subsequent seasons, since it is believed that he was under the influence during his most heinous acts. Nonetheless, his erratic behavior and property destruction make him one of the worst ever on the show.

5

Makensy Manbeck

Season 26 (Runner-Up)

While Makensy Manbeck wasn’t involved in anything as awful as some of the others on this list, she proved that she was a poor casting decision. While she met so many of the qualifications for being a good player on the show, including having a strong social game and being fantastic at competitions, she completely missed the point of the game itself.

She let Chelsie Baham manipulate her and drive every single one of her decisions, even when it went against her best interests, like backdooring her closest ally Leah Peters. In the end, she talked up Chelsie as a person and her game when she was supposed to be competing for the grand prize and proving why she should win it instead. That might be admirable, but it made no sense for a game in which the purpose is to win. Chelsie understood the assignment and played the game flawlessly without compromising her morals and still coming out looking like a good person and a great game player. Makensy tried to make it sound as though she was standing by her integrity, but really, she got played terribly and had to save face.

4

Jen Johnson

Season 8 (8th Place)

There are a few rules that Big Brother players must follow, and some very simple ones that every player has respected for the sake of the game. But Jen Johnson disrespected the very fabric of the game when she broke ones. Even though she was deemed a Have Not, she purposely went into the kitchen and ate food, gloating for the cameras. This led to her getting a penalty vote because of it.

It was mostly her arguments with others that made her disliked, especially by Dick Donato. One of their fights was so heated, in fact, that she threw out his cigarettes and almost got burned on the hand from one of them during a physical altercation with him. She was also shallow, complaining about her photo in the house, and called herself a “Jenius.” She was all-around unlikable and fans wished someone else who respected the game more would have been cast.

3

Clay Honeycutt

Season 17 (12th Place)

Though season 17 was one of the best seasons of Big Brother, it seemed like Clay Honeycutt was on the show to literally flex his muscles and find a pretty woman to have a showmance with. While he and his showmance partner Shelli Poole did control the game for much of his time there, thanks to his performance in competitions, it seemed like he relied too heavily on that and wasn’t as into the game as he should have been.

In fact, he made the worst mistake possible when he asked the houseguests to vote him out instead of his showmance partner. This sent him packing for the sake of a woman he had literally just met and only known for a few weeks. Any player who asks to be voted out is an insult to others who try desperately to get on the show. To do so for the reason he did was mind-boggling.

2

Joe “Pooch” Pucciarelli

Season 24 (15th Place)

Being the first sent home is never fun. It’s even less fun for those who put themselves in a bad position to do so, believing so early in the game that they are somehow untouchable. This was the case with Joe “Pooch” Pucciarelli, who bafflingly volunteered himself as a pawn to help the house get Taylor Hale out. The decision backfired and he was sent home instead. Making it worse, Taylor went on to win the season thanks in part to one of the most shocking moves on the show in the formation of the The Cookout Alliance, which remains one of the most rock-solid ever on Big Brother.

While Joe was considered a physical and social threat, two valuable qualities in the game, his bad game play so early on made him a wasted talent. It was so bad, in fact, that his fellow housemates started using the term “Pooching himself” to describe when someone makes a terrible blunder in the game.

1

Scott Weintraub

Season 4 (13th Expelled)

Another expelled player from the game, Scott Weintraub, came in hot. The season featured a twist whereby houseguests were told after entering the house that they would be playing alongside exes. Scott’s ex, Amanda Craig, was there, and he was not happy about this X-Factor twist.

He started to act erratically, had angry outbursts, used vulgar language, and dealt with his emotions in the wrong way. In fairness, the casting decision was a bad one on the show’s part, not necessarily Scott himself. The twist that clearly re-opened old wounds and forced people to deal with them on camera in front of millions of viewers. Scott may have been the victim of that bad decision, but refusing to even go into the Diary Room to talk with producers, even threatening them, was a step too far.

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